Mayor announces over £5.4m for local transport improvements in Lewisham
Every London borough is receiving money that will directly benefit communities, making London an even better place to live and work.
The funding has been allocated by Transport for London (TfL) through the Local Implementation Plan (LIP) process and is awarded to the borough to spend on projects that support the Mayor's Transport Strategy, including safer roads, smoothing traffic flow, rejuvenating town centres and better facilities for cycling and walking.
The £5.4m funding package in 2012/13 will finance a range of transport projects in Lewisham, including:
- £127,000 towards a major revamp of the local shopping area on Sydenham High Street. Works will include widened footways, improved foot and cycle paths and new crossings
- £462,000 for continued works on the three underpasses to provide improved pedestrian access for the Surrey Canal Road East London Line extension
- £450,000 to improve pedestrian facilities in the Ladywell Neighbourhood. Works will include widening footways and installing better pedestrian crossings to promote economic activity in the local shopping area
Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: 'London is undergoing a neo-Victorian level of investment in its transport network.
'Every London borough is receiving money that will directly benefit communities, making London an even better place to live and work.
'We've also cut bureaucracy to make it easier for the boroughs to decide how they want to spend their funding.'
The LIP funds hundreds of large and small scale transport projects every year.
Last year in Lewisham it financed 64 cycle parking spaces, cycle training for 730 children and 230 adults, 107 road safety education and training events, six new accessible bus stops, and enabled 44 schools to participate in walking events and 27 new street trees.
Working in partnership
Notable larger projects undertaken in Lewisham this year include the transformation of the area known as Kender Triangle, which includes Kender Street, Besson Street, Briant Street, Faulkner Street and Lubbock Street.
This £1.6m project will be complete by the end of this calendar year, with the removal of the unpopular one-way system and a return to two way working to reduce traffic congestion and create a safer and more attractive environment for pedestrians, cyclists, other road users and the local community.
London's Transport Commissioner, Peter Hendy, said: 'Year on year the boroughs continue to deliver innovative projects that support the Mayor's vision for transport in the Capital.
'This investment will build on the excellent work that has already been achieved and complement the huge programme of work we at TfL are undertaking to make his vision a reality through working in partnership with the boroughs.'
The funding was previously forecast to reduce year on year to reflect the reduced general grant TfL receives from the Department for Transport.
However, because of the importance of the boroughs in delivering the priorities of Mayor's Transport Strategy, the funding has been kept at a consistent level to 2013/14.
Notes to editors:
- Each borough produces a LIP to demonstrate how they plan to implement the Mayor's Transport Strategy locally. While TfL allocates funding for individual schemes, the LIP and delivery of individual projects is the responsibility of each borough
- A detailed breakdown of funding for bridge strengthening projects (£5.3m), which will be allocated to the bridges in most need of work will be announced in the New Year
- Total allocation by programme area:
| Programme | Allocation across London (£m) |
| Principal road maintenance | 320 |
| Local transport funding | 100 |
| Corridors, neighbourhoods and supporting measures | 2,699 |
| Major schemes | 2,300 |
| Total | 5,419 |