Page 11 Agenda Item 6 London Borough of Sutton Beddington and Wallington Area Committee – 7 March 2007 Sutton Area Committee – 21 March 2007 Carshalton and Clockhouse Area Committee – 4 April 2007 Cheam and Worcester Park Area Committee – 18 April 2007 Report of the Traffic and Highway Works Manager LOCAL IMPLEMENTATION PLAN FUNDING 2007/2008 TRANSPORT SETTLEMENT Ward Location: Not Applicable Author(s) and Contact Phone Numbers: Area Served: Borough-Wide Paul Blunt 020 8770 6445 Lead Councillor: Councillor Colin Hall Executive Decision Report Summary The Council has been advised by Transport for London (TfL) of the Local Implementation Plan (LIP) Funding for 2007/08. Sutton has been allocated a grant of £4,566,500 for 2007/8, plus £48,500 from SWELTRAC towards transport schemes. £403,000 is also allocated for ongoing schemes into 2008/09 and £83,000 in 2009/10. Recommendations I recommend the Committee to: a. Note the 2007/08 LIP funding settlement and the programme for which TfL has agreed the grant. b. Agree the list of schemes relevant to this Area committee. c. Delegate to the Executive Head Planning & Transportation, in consultation with the Chair and Ward Councillors to agree details of individual schemes. 1. Background 1.1 Following the report to this Committee in July 2006, the Council submitted its Local Implementation Plan Reporting and Funding Submission (LIP RFS) for 2007/8 to TfL last July in accordance with guidance issued earlier in the year. The LIP RFS system is used as a basis for allocating capital funding to London local authorities for roads, transport, traffic and other highway related matters. The Council was required to prioritise its proposals in various topics and categories as part of the bid. 1.2 Package bids were submitted on a London-wide basis for the London Bus Priority Network (LBPN) and the London Cycle Network (LCN+). A Package bid for strategic transport improvements was also submitted by the South and West London Transport Conference (SWELTRAC) sub regional partnership on behalf of Sutton. 1.3 TfL programme managers have assessed the bids in accordance with the guidance issued. 1 Agenda Item 6 Page 12 2. Issues 2.1 TfL announced the settlement on 19th December. They have made a funding allocation to Sutton under several discrete topic headings totaling £4,566,500 for 2007/8 with a commitment of £403,000 for 2008/9 and £83,000 for 2009/10. There is little flexibility for the Council to vary the programme. 2.2 This years settlement of £4,566,500 compared to last year’s settlement of £2,933,950 represents a large increase of £1,632,550. The additional funding has principally been given for the Hackbridge reconstruction (additional £650,000) and cycling schemes (additional £548,000). 2.3 The funding mechanism is by Mayor’s grant payable in arrears by TfL. TfL have reserved the right to withdraw or suspend some of the allocations should the LIP be rejected by TfL or not approved by the Mayor; or if the borough is not able to demonstrate to TfL that it is completing the necessary work to provide an approvable LIP with all due diligence and speed. 2.4 Details of the 2007/08 allocations (as summarised and related to Area Committees in Appendix 1) are as follows: Principal Road Maintenance and Bridge Structures 2.5 TfL have allocated £115,000 for maintenance of on the Principal Road Network. This covers a section of the A237 London Road. However, TfL often make supplementary allocations later in the financial year, which Sutton has benefited from in the past. 2.6 £1,530,000 has been allocated for strengthening of Hackbridge Railway Bridge reflecting slippage in the programme. £10,000 has been allocated to reconstruct the London Road/Mill Green Road Culvert. Road Safety & 20mph zones 2.7 An allocation of £729,000 for local safety schemes has been made. TfL have specified the individual Local Schemes in the settlement from the list prioritised in our bid. Schemes identified are London Road (Hackbridge Rd to Mill Lane and Croydon Rd to Hackbridge Rd), Crown Rd and St Nicholas Way, Manor Rd and Woodcote Road, Stafford Road, Sutton Common Road, Nightingale Road, Stanley Park Road, Banstead Road South and Banstead Road, Cheam Common Road, Stafford Road/Woodcote Road junction, Lower Road and Westmead Road, B277 Foresters Drive and Sandy Lane South. Allocations were also given to investigate future schemes in STEPS Zones 7, 19, 37 and 38, and to implement schemes in STEPS Zones 3, 29, 32 & 36 and £13,000 for road safety education initiatives. This allocation is 25% higher than in previous years. 2.8 An allocation of £108,000 has been made for implementation of three 20 mph zones in the following areas: a). Mollinson Drive, Redford Avenue, Link Lane, The Mead, and all adjacent roads. b). Benhill Avenue, Thicket Road and adjacent streets. c). Langley Park Road, Cedar Road, Christchurch Park, Cavendish Road, Devonshire Avenue. Walking and Cycling 2.9 £105,000 has been allocated for Walking to fund a Pelican crossing in Mollison Drive (£35,000) and new footpaths between Woodmansterne Road and Radcliffe Gardens (£70,000). 2 Page 13 Agenda Item 6 2.10 £440,000 has been allocated for cycling on the London Cycle Network (LCN+). Minor works are proposed on various parts of the network with more substantial works in Poulter Park (£150,000), between Rose Hill and Sutton town centre (£90,000), between Westcroft Road and Park Lane across High Street, Carshalton (£85,000) and between Throwley Way and High Street, Sutton (£50,000). 2.11 An allocation of £384,000 has been made for cycling not on the London Cycle Network, principally to cover funding of Woodmansterne Road Toucan crossing (£40,000), cycle parking (£20,000), cycle roadcraft training £35,000), Wandle Valley Country Park (£40,000), Queen Mary’s Park, Carshalton Beeches (£75,000), Grove Lane Bridleway (£82,000) and Pyl Brook Path (£92,000). 2.12 These allocations for cycling are considerably higher than last year and reflect that the schemes have moved forward to implementation following feasibility and design last year. 2.13 Cycling schemes are often difficult to implement (in terms of approvals/permissions) and will require positive support from Members in order to meet the programmes. Buses 2.14 £417,000 has been allocated for Bus Priority schemes. The allocation is for schemes at various locations including Cheam Common Road (£62,000), Throwley Way (£45,000), Ringstead Road/Westmead Road (£45,000), Kimpton Road (£35,000), Malden Road (£35,000), Central Road/ Green Lane (£35,000), Central Road/Cheam Common Road (£30,000), Station Approach, Wallington (£30,000), High St at Sutton Railway Station (£20,000) and Cheam Common Road/London Road (£15,000). In addition an allocation has been made for part funding of a scheme at the Stafford Road/ Woodcote Road junction (£35,000). 2.15 £136,500 has been allocated for Bus Accessibility Schemes principally to improve access at bus stops on routes S1, S3, S4, 413 and 455. 2.15 The allocation for bus priority is higher than last year. However, some bus priority schemes are difficult to achieve in Sutton as they rely on a reallocation of road space, which on most of Sutton’s roads is not available. Schemes over £50,000 are subject to a cost/benefit analysis. School Travel Plans and Travel Awareness 2.16 An allocation of £334,000 has been made for School Travel Plans. This comprises £255,000 for Safe Routes to Schools schemes at Westbourne Primary, Stanley Park Infants, Avenue Primary, Beddington Park Primary, Brookfield Primary, and Robin Hood Infants; £30,000 for scheme implementation in schools, £19,000 for STP marketing, promotion and materials; £10,000 for teacher supply cover, £18,000 as part funding for a school travel plan coordinator and £2,000 for a pedometer project. 2.17 Travel Awareness has been given an allocation of £100,000 covering travel awareness campaigns, workplace travel plans, and promotion of walking and cycling to school. 2.18 Both these allocations represent increases over the 2006/07 settlement. Regeneration, CPZ’s, Environment and Local Area Accessibility 2.19 £100,000 has been allocated to Regeneration to cover further work on developing the Beddington Lane improvement scheme. Because of the potential cost of this scheme, TfL has required a business case to be submitted to their specification before considering further finance. This improvement will be a large scheme at risk of being under-financed. It will also be a challenge for Sutton in getting suitably qualified engineers to implement the scheme. 3 Agenda Item 6 Page 14 2.20 £30,000 has been given to develop a Controlled Parking Zone for Carshalton and Hackbridge. 2.21 No allocations were given under the Environment heading. However, a number of projects are now being funded through the Sustainable Town Centre pilot project. 2.22 £15,000 has been allocated for Local Area Accessibility to fund a Zebra crossing outside the Oakhill Road Community Centre. SWELTRAC 2.23 The SWELTRAC settlement includes £50,000 for improvements to the Kimpton Strategic Industrial Area. However, this allocation will be reduced by 3% to cover the management and administration provided by SWELTRAC (revised total £48,500). A decision on bids for Station Access schemes at Wallington and Hackbridge Stations will be made later in the year. Comments 2.24 The total settlement for the 33 London Boroughs (excluding traffic signals and surveys/studies/pending) this year is £154m. The average for each borough is therefore £4.67m. Sutton’s settlement of £4.567m (excluding the SWELTRAC allocation) is very close to this figure.