Mayor announces £4m for transport improvements in Hackney

The £4m funding will mean £867,000 for more cycle lanes and better facilities for cyclists in Hackney as part of the London Cycle Network+, £806,000 for school travel plans, £198,000 to resurface part of the A107 Lower Clapton Road and £70,000 improve the environment for pedestrians around Lubavitch Girls School, Stamford Hill including pedestrian islands or widened pavements.

The funding is part of the record-breaking five-year £792m programme for local transport schemes included in the TfL £10bn Investment Programme.

Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone said:
"This new £4m investment in local transport schemes will make the daily journeys of people in Hackney, safer, greener and more accessible, whether they are travelling by public transport, by car, on foot or by bike.

"Thanks to extra investment in local transport schemes, cycling has increased by 83 per cent since 2000 and more than 1600 school travel plans have been approved which encourage and enable more children and their parents to walk to school." 

Improving local transport

London's Transport Commissioner, Peter Hendy said: 
"This £4m investment will go towards directly improving transport for people in Hackney. Local people feel strongly about transport in their area and this funding will make a real difference to their experience each day.  

"The investment will fund both large and small projects that will improve bus journeys and access to public transport, reduce congestion, improve the environment and promote a healthier lifestyle.  This funding is an important part of our wider programme of spending in the boroughs to make improvements to local transport."

Projects funded in Hackney for 2008/09 include:

• £867,000 for the London Cycle Network +
• £198,000 to resurface part of the A107 Lower Clapton Road as part of a scheme to provide road users with more comfortable roads as well as to minimise future disruptive road works
• £70,000 to improve the street environment surrounding Lubavitch Girls School, including measures such as pedestrian islands or widened pavements as part of their School Travel Plan
• £32,000 to promote campaigns that encourage greener travel, including: 'Bike Week', 'In town without my car day', 'National Liftshare Day' and 'Walking Works' - to promote walking to work
• £5,000 for the 'Conspicuity' project - a child road safety initiative giving tips to schoolchildren on how to remain visible in the winter months.

Notes for editors:

• Local Implementation Plan
  Each year the borough prepares a Local Implementation Plan to demonstrate how they propose to implement the Mayor's Transport Strategy locally.  While Transport for London awards funding for individual schemes, project delivery is the responsibility of the borough.

• Priorities for the Local Implementation Plans include:
  • Improving road safety
  • Improving bus journey times and reliability
  • Relieving traffic congestion and improving journey time reliability
  • Improving the working of parking and loading arrangements
  • Improving accessibility for all on the transport network
  • Encouraging walking and cycling
  • Bringing transport infrastructure into a good state of repair

• Below is a breakdown of Local Implementation Plan funding for Hackney:

Principal road renewals - £198,000
Local safety schemes - £425,000
20mph zones - £300,000
Education, training and publicity - £44,000
Walking - £160,000
Cycling - £250,000
London Cycle Network+ - £867,000
Bus stop accessibility - £147,000
Bus priority - £510,000
School Travel Plans - £806,000
Work travel plans - £17,000
Travel awareness - £32,000
Regeneration area schemes - £80,000
Environment - £50,000
Controlled parking zones - £50,000
Local area accessibility - £60,000
Total £3,996,000

• School Travel Plan - A School Travel Plan is a package of measures, tailored to the needs of individual schools to deliver alternative transport methods for the school run.  The aim of a school travel plan is to reduce single occupancy car journeys to school, reduce congestion and increase safety around schools.

• The London Cycle Network+ is funded by TfL. The London Cycle Network+ will provide 900km of safer, faster cycle routes through the Capital. It's due to be finished by 2010 and is one of our major investments.