Published: Thursday, 3rd December 2020
The Royal Borough of Greenwich has secured over £711,000 of funding from Transport for London (TfL) to invest in a range of projects to make its roads safer and greener.
The funding follows on from £1.266million already awarded to Royal Greenwich, earlier in the year, for emergency measures that were delivered rapidly to support social distancing.
Individual projects in this round are still to be confirmed by TfL but include a range of measures to make walking and cycling more attractive. These include tackling unacceptable levels of traffic in high priority areas, rolling out more street closures around schools, cycle safety initiatives, new 20mph zones and supporting those at higher risk of road collisions.
Cllr Danny Thorpe, Leader of Royal Borough of Greenwich, said:
“This funding from TfL is fantastic news for the Borough, our streets and our health. Data shows that if the journeys made by public transport before the pandemic are made by car instead, traffic in London could increase by 40 to 50 per cent. So, it’s vital we provide safe, car-free alternatives to public transport to avert ‘carmageddon’ and meet our carbon reduction pledges.
“We expect TfL to confirm the details of our funding in the coming weeks and will start engagement on these schemes as soon as soon as possible after that.”
Transport schemes
|
Scheme |
Location |
Amount |
|
Tackling unacceptable levels of through-traffic with modal filters |
Westcombe Park and Maze Hill area; Horn Park; and Woolwich (are likely areas subject to engagement and feasibility) |
£161K |
|
Timed street closures around schools |
Borough-wide |
|
|
New 20mph zone |
St Johns Park area |
£75K |
|
New 20mph zone |
Blanmerie Road area |
£75K |
|
Updating of existing 20mph zones and Controlled Parking Zones (CPZs) |
Borough-wide |
£30K |
|
Supporting groups at higher risk of collisions |
Borough-wide |
£45K |
|
School travel planning – working with schools to help them encourage active and sustainable travel |
Borough-wide |
£55K |
|
Schemes to reduce bus delays |
Borough-wide |
£20K |
|
Improvements to pavements to make walking easier for people with disabilities, such as tactile floor surfaces |
Borough-wide |
£40K |
|
Cycle parking - including parking at schools, stations and town centres, as well as cycle hangers in residential locations |
Borough-wide |
£15K |
|
Improvements to the proposed Blackheath Gate cycling safety scheme. |
Blackheath Gate |
£70K |
|
School and adults cycle training |
Borough-wide |
£70K |
|
Campaigns to make walking and cycling more attractive |
Borough-wide |
£20K |
|
Initial designs to make local streets safer |
Plumstead Common Road/Sandy Hill Road |
£10K |
|
Initial designs to make local streets safer |
Blackwall Lane/Dreadnought Street |
£10K |
|
Encouraging growth of car clubs |
Borough-wide |
£5K |
|
Making the Council’s fleet of vehicles safer and greener |
Borough-wide |
£10K |
Further funding from TfL is also available to allow the Council to start design and consulting on new cycleways.
The Royal Borough of Greenwich declared a climate emergency in 2019 and agreed to set an ambitious target to reach net zero carbon emissions 20 years ahead of the national target. The Council has now published a draft carbon neutral plan based on what residents think its priorities should be, the evidence base report and what steps are necessary to achieve it.