£5million extra for Harrow borough transport

It has been announced that Harrow Council will be given a little more than £5million by the Mayor of London to spend on transport projects in the next financial year.

The cash, from Transport for London (TfL), will go on improving road safety, encouraging walking and cycling, boosting bus reliability, relieving traffic congestion, the maintenance of the public transport infrastructure and increasing accessibility to public transport.

More than £2m is allocated to implementing Bus Priority initiatives, which are schemes designed to improve the quality of bus operations, often by giving buses priority over other traffic.

TfL is providing £800,000 to bring two-way bus routes to a revamped Station Road, Harrow. Meanwhile, £900,000 will fund the replacement for Petts Hill Bridge in Northolt Road, South Harrow this Christmas.

Harrow has been given £175,000 to instal new crossings, paths and lights on walking routes to Rayners Lane, South Harrow, Hatch End and West Harrow stations, £45,000 for cycle training and £15,000 for cycle parking improvements.

Transport for London (TfL) has confirmed that the borough's allocation for 2009/10 will be 15 per cent higher than the £4.2m sum it got to invest this year, although some of the increase is an advance on future years' settlements that Harrow needed to fill a funding shortfall in the Petts Hill Bridge project.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson (Conservative) said: "I am awarding Harrow a budget of £5.1m next year for local schemes that will make travelling safer, more accessible and more environmentally-friendly, helping to improve the quality of life for people across the borough."

He added: "When I was elected I promised I would be different and give greater freedom to the boroughs. This is why this year I have introduced a £100,000 award for boroughs to spend as they choose.

"Boroughs are being given greater freedom to develop and deliver the schemes they want, which means more choice over a range of key local schemes to improve town centres and cycling facilities, tackle the school run and improve local roads."

Councillor Susan Hall, portfolio holder for environment services, said: "We are pleased with the funding settlement from Transport for London, especially because our borough has received one of the largest increases.

"In addition, we are particularly pleased that TfL has allocated Harrow an additional £100,000 to be spent on transport priorities of our choice.

"Before any decisions are made on how the money is spent we will look carefully at what residents and business owners have identified as key issues."