Wandsworth council delighted with £3.2m fund to build cycle routes and 20mph zones

Wandsworth councillors have said they are delighted to be receiving a £3.2m fund to upgrade transport around the borough, with possible projects to include 20mph limits on local streets and new cycling routes.

The multi-million pound fund from Transport for London (TfL) will be subject to a consultation in which residents will have their say about the projects the council deems most suitable.

Council documents show that these could include:

• Installing 20mph limits on local streets, subject to local community support.
• Decluttering shopping streets and making them more accessible and attractive. Possible areas include Southfields Station area and Battersea High Street.
• Enhancing access at local train stations, including a potential schemes at Putney
• Developing new and improved cycle routes - possible schemes include Putney-Roehampton, Queenstown Road and the Wandle Trail
• Introducing two-way cycling on some one-way streets where it’s safe to do so.
• Improving crossings outside local schools including potential schemes at Hillbrook and Oasis Academy.
Resurfacing busy streets including parts of Queenstown Road, Merton Road, Tibbet's Corner Roundabout and Garratt Lane.

Aside from road resurfacing, with a budget of £500,000, the cycle routes and 20mph zones take the biggest share of potential funding, at £350,000 and £417,000 respectively.

We reported this week how the Mayor of London and Transport for London announced a package of £147.8m in funding for projects to improve road safety, and increase cycling and walking across the capital.

Funds will be spent across several London boroughs for their Local Implementation Plans (LIP), part of a London-wide transport plan. The City of London will receive £1.4m, £200,000 of which will “transform” the notorious Bank junction, where 26-year-old Ying Tao was killed in June, with wider pavements and cycle routes.

Westminster gets the biggest funding injection of £6.4m, which will be spent “to transform public spaces”. Of this £1m will go to the West End, including heavily criticised Cambridge Circus improvements, which is, in name, part of cycling “Quietway 19”, but campaigners have said gives no thought to cyclists.

Wandsworth Council’s transport spokesman Jonathan Cook said, “I’m delighted our application has been accepted and we can now develop detailed plans for these important upgrades. We have prioritised projects which will boost our local economy and targeted key streets and crossings which local residents highlight as needing improvement.”

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson MP, said, “This latest round of funding will help to transform scores of locations in all four corners of our great city. It is specifically targeted to help make our roads, town centres and open spaces more attractive places with better facilities for walking and safer cycling.”

London’s Transport Commissioner, Mike Brown MVO, said: “Londoners will see real improvements to their local areas as a result of this funding. Working with London boroughs, hundreds of transport projects will be delivered that will benefit pedestrians and road users, through safer streets and improved public squares and shopping areas. These improvements will help transform communities and boost the local economy.”

In addition to funding for boroughs, TfL says it is “working with them to help further improve the efficiency of the delivery of projects, ensuring value for money and keeping disruption to a minimum”.

Local Implementation Plans are prepared by each London borough (known as Local Transport Plans outside of London) to set out how each one proposes to meet the London-wide Mayor’s Transport Strategy (link is external) in their area. Encouraging people to cycle is a key Mayoral priority.