From London Mayor Boris Johnson

Wandsworth Council has secured a £4.7million transport improvement package from the Mayor of London Boris Johnson.

The funding will be spent on projects that support the Mayor's Transport Strategy, including safer roads, smoothing traffic flow, improving town centres and better facilities for cyclists and pedestrians.

The cash will be spent in 2012/13. Key projects include:

• £1.4m towards an on-going scheme to improve Clapham Junction town centre and tackle traffic congestion. Works include improving the road layout, renewing pavements and road surfaces, decluttering footways, planting new trees and upgrading lighting, wayfinding and street furniture;
• £280,000 for public realm improvements and to create new pedestrian areas;
• £210,000 to promote cycling through improved cycle parking, cycle training courses, completing cycle route links  and a programme of promotional events;
• £350,000 to improve the look and feel of streets around local shops and provide better pedestrian access to shopping parades.

Wandsworth Council's transport spokesman Cllr Russell King said: "These projects will help us tackle traffic congestion, improve the look and feel of our town centres and make it easier for people to travel through Wandsworth by bike and on foot.

"Improving local transport connections is a key priority for the council and is vital to the health and vitality of our local economy. There is a great deal of new investment going on across the borough and we will continue to look for new funding sources to progress our plans."

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 funding package has been allocated through Transport for London's (TfL) Local Implementation Plan (LIP). The initiative funds hundreds of large and small scale transport improvements across London. 

Recent schemes in Wandsworth include:

• £1million towards the first phase of improvements to Clapham Junction town centre which are reducing the dominance of through traffic, enhancing the pedestrian environment and improve the appearance of the area;
• £150,000 to develop and implement the borough's first 'Legible London' scheme in Tooting town centre. This will involve overhauling signs and maps to make it easier for pedestrian to find their way around the area;
• A contribution towards a new entrance to Clapham Junction station which had been disused for more than 50 years.

Each London borough produces a Local Implementation Plan (LIP) to demonstrate how they plan to implement the Mayor's Transport Strategy locally.  While Transport for London allocates funding for individual schemes, the LIP and delivery of individual projects is the responsibility of local councils.

December 17, 2011