Speed limits to be cut in 'many' more London streets as TfL funds new cycle and bus lanes and e-bike bays

MORE LONDON ROADS ARE LIKELY TO BE LIMITED TO 20MPH TO IMPROVE SAFETY

£87m for borough projects - but 14 councils don’t get a penny for ‘safer streets’

Road speeds will be cut in “many locations” across London as part of an £87m investment in new cycle lanes, bus lanes, pedestrian crossings and school streets.

Transport for London announced on Friday that was allocating £87.6m to the capital’s 33 boroughs to fund “safer streets” schemes and bus improvements in the coming financial year

The funding - an increase of nine per cent, or £7.2m on last year - could see more borough-wide 20mph speed limits.

But 14 boroughs did not receive a penny for safer streets. These were Bexley, Brent, Bromley, City of London, Hammersmith and Fulham, Havering, Hounslow, Islington, Kensington and Chelsea, Kingston, Merton, Southwark, Tower Hamlets and Wandsworth.

Over the next three years, TfL expects the boroughs to help deliver 222 more school streets, 265 pedestrian crossings, 95km (60 miles) of additional cycleways and at least 20km (12.5 miles) of new bus lanes.

However, turning these plans in to reality is subject to ongoing funding in subsequent years.

The £87m for 2025/26 includes £16.3m to be spent on cycleways, £13m on bus priority measures, £8m on safer streets and £4.1m on parking bays for e-scooters and e-bikes, such as those provided by Lime and Forest.

Amounts offered to boroughs ranged from £5m in Barking and Dagenham to £3m in Lambeth, £1.4m in Tower Hamlets and £841,000 in Kensington and Chelsea.

TfL commissioner Andy Lord said there would be “strong progress against Vision Zero”, with “lower speeds in many locations and 10 scheme to tackle danger at junctions”.

Vision Zero aims to eliminate all deaths and serious injuries from the city's transport network by 2041.

The bus schemes include measures to improve bus reliability, such as changes to bus lane hours and measures to tackle congestion “pinch points” where buses are routinely delayed.

The funding is the first tranche for the new “local implementation plans” put forward by the boroughs for schemes over the next three years.

The boroughs apply for cash and their schemes are approved if they are judged by TfL to be in line with London mayor Sir Sadiq Khan’s citywide transport strategy, which seeks to reduce car use, improve road safetyand boost cycling, walking and the use of public transport.

Two funds are available to the boroughs – a safer streets fund and a “better bus partnerships fund”.

Boroughs shortlisted for the bus schemes include Barnet, Haringey, Kingston, Lewisham, Richmond, Southwark, Sutton and Wandsworth.

Road safety schemes include improved pedestrian crossings at Redcliffe Gardens in Kensington and Chelsea and a new “straight across” crossing on King’s Cross Road at the junction with Pentonville Road, which is due to be completed by the end of July.

Lambeth bridge will be closed on occasion throughout the year as work progresses to make the junction with Millbank and Horseferry Road safer.

TfL said that the last three years the boroughs had created 190 school streets, 289 new pedestrian crossings and more than 100 low traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs).