Warning after East London borough needs ‘?100m of road and …

The leader of an East London council has warned the borough needs at least GBP100million in funding to fix its dodgy roads and pavements after it was awarded GBP4m from a Transport for London [1] funding scheme. While Darren Rodwell, leader of Barking and Dagenham Council, said the TfL funding was a “much-needed boost” for residents, he argued millions of more pounds are needed to repair the borough’s bad roads and pavements. He said: “This is a much-needed boost for the people of Barking and Dagenham, following years of government underfunding for transport in our borough.

“Whilst it may a big figure, this will only go a very small way to addressing the number of transport issues we face in Barking and Dagenham, where we have GBP100 million of repairs needed to our roads and pavements, and we will continue to lobby central government for more funds to ensure transport in our borough improves.” Barking and Dagenham Council plan to spend almost GBP3m on the widening of bus lanes and carriageways and a further GBP230,000 will be spent on developing the borough’s cycle network. According to TfL, the funding will also go towards a busy priority scheme on Wood Lane, a new bus lane that is 250m long and the upgrading of existing traffic lights.

The funding was secured by Be First, the council’s regeneration arm as part of TfL’s Local Implementation Plan (LIP) which was set up to improve all types of transport across the capital and aims to improve air quality and the health of Londoners. The council has won the highest amount out of any London borough in this round of funding, with neighbouring borough Newham winning GBP2.3m. Tim Thomas, head of transport policy at Be First said: “The LIP funding is a welcome boost to deliver improved transport links in the borough.

We’ve worked hard to make the case for this extra funding, drawing up studies and a vision which is at last taking shape. “It’s just the start of the 10-year vision to improve rail, buses and the A13. These are exciting times ahead, we encourage residents, businesses and the development community to get involved in helping us plan for the future.”

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References

^ Transport for London (www.mylondon.news)
^ First pictures show plans for over 150 new homes in the shadows of a DLR track (www.mylondon.news)
^ simply follow this link and select the newsletter that’s right for you. (www.mylondon.news)
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