Boroughs given £168m by Boris to develop transport

BORIS JOHNSON today announced a multi-million-pound plan to improve transport in London's boroughs, including no-strings-attached grants to councils.

The Mayor will give local authorities £168.3 million to be spent on improving town centres, railway stations and cycling facilities.

Although most of the money has been earmarked for specific schemes, each authority will for the first time be given £100,000 to spend as they please without having to get consent from City Hall.

Croydon will receive the most money, £5,797,000 for 2009/10, and is planning to invest £2.2million making the town centre more accessible. It will also spend £500,000 improving road safety by simplifying junctions and £400,000 renewing the carriageway on the A215.

Other big winners are Richmond and Sutton councils which are both staging major town centre redevelopments.

Sutton Council is also spending £108,000 on cycle training and £1.5 million strengthening London Road Bridge, next to Hackbridge railway station.

Also included in the Mayor's funding package is £390,000 which will be spent installing electrical recharging points for greener vehicles across 12 boroughs. Mr Johnson said: "When I was elected I promised I would be different and give greater freedom to the boroughs. This is why this year I have introduced a £100,000 award for boroughs to spend as they choose.

"Boroughs are being given greater freedom to develop and deliver the schemes they want, which means more choice over a range of key local schemes to improve town centres and cycling facilities, tackle the school run and improve local roads.

"Next year's will be the largest ever borough transport plan funding with £168.3 million for local schemes to make travelling safer, more accessible and more environment-friendly, helping to improve the quality of life for people across London."

Funding for local schemes is allocated each year by Transport for London in response to applications from boroughs based on their Local Implementation Plans for transport.

Money is available for a wide range of programmes including road safety, maintaining borough roads, tackling congestion on the school run, improving walking, cycling and the local environment and making transport more accessible.

Other schemes which will now go ahead include:

● Strengthening of Albert Bridge, a listed structure which is closed to vehicles weighing more than two tons.

● Improved pedestrian access to Clapham Junction station and better interchange to buses.

● Widened footways, new crossing points, and better lighting in Camden town centre to make the area safer, more accessible and easier to use for pedestrians. Cycle and motorcycle parking facilities will also be installed.

●Hornchurch town centre in Havering will see a range of improvements including better pedestrian crossings, parking and street design.

Earlier this month, Mr Johnson came under fire for dropping 10 major transport schemes proposed by former mayor Ken Livingstone.

But these programmes, including the Thames Gateway Bridge and the Crossriver Tram, would not have been funded by the money today given to the boroughs.