Stake Holder Response: London Borough of Redbridge

This is the Boroughs technical response on the Mayor's Transport Strategy - Public Draft.

Encouraging more cycling and walking

The Borough welcomes the Mayors proposals to bring about a cycling revolution in Redbridge and the Eastern Sub-Region in general by raising awareness and improving cycle amenity in the Boroughs.

We believe a rapid roll out of the Cycle Hire Scheme in Outer London would encourage more cycling, particularly on the Crossrail corridor which includes our metropolitan town centre, Ilford and several secondary town centres

We are encouraged by the Aldgate to Ilford Cycle SuperHighway scheme and would welcome a feeder network to maximise its effectiveness by integrating Ilford fully with this high profile commuter link.

We support the introduction of high quality, waterproof shelters at stations, and would support a landmark subterranean facility accessed by a street level kiosk as part of the rebuilding of Ilford Station planned through Crossrail.

We have some concerns with air quality and accident prevention parts of the Strategic Road Network (notably the A118 Romford Road to Chapel Road gyratory) and would like to work with TfL to come up with solutions in this and other congested locations.

We are keen to introduce the Legible London wayfinding system in our larger town centres and to use emerging technologies (such as iBus etc) to assist in dissemination of information relating to local amenities and travel choice.

We wish to improve pedestrian access to stations and to smooth the interchange between transport modes particularly on the Crossrail corridor and the stations we have designated as Olympic access stations.

We want to make our town centres and local amenities fully accessible to the residential hinterland they serve to enable all residents to have full and active lives. Many of the most affected groups are assisted by aides such as wheelchairs and scooters and we will continue to work with the Mayor to remove or minimize barriers to a proliferation in their use.

We want to address crime and fear of crime issues on our streets by improved design of public spaces that encourage active frontages, passive surveillance and good neighbourliness. We also wish to improve lighting and introduce CCTV in target areas as part of a coordinated approach in community partnership.

We also intend to simplify the public realm by reducing clutter and restricting street furniture to identified parts of the Highway. Street trees need to be replaced / introduced in appropriate clusters / species to form avenues or gateways to soften the streetscape.

Improving safety and security

This is a high priority for the Borough across all our service areas and we work with our public sector partners through Local Area Agreements to ensure we have coordinated strategies and are responsive to changing trends and rising expectations.

We welcome the Mayors proposals to improve safety and security on the public transport system and will work with TfL to maximise these benefits through information sharing and alignment of initiatives / priorities.

We support the Mayors initiatives to address HGV / freight safety through legislative, physical and technological improvements. Similarly, educational and promotional initiatives and campaigns that target vulnerable groups must be supported to support the downward trend in road casualties.

We continue to pursue schemes and initiatives to improve road safety, reduce crime, fear of crime and antisocial behaviour in our LIP and council funded Capital Programme.

We are particularly interested in trialling the new time distance camera technology to enforce reduced speed limits within Ilford town centre. If this is successful we would consider using this in other situations as a traffic management tool.

We are committed to working with partner agencies to respond to the threat of terrorism, particularly in relation to the period of the Olympic Games in London.

We want to address crime and fear of crime in our public spaces by improving sightlines, increasing lighting and introducing CCTV in target areas such as subways and alleyways, particularly near schools and busy town centre locations where the night time economy is vibrant.

Improving London's environment

The Borough welcomes the Mayors proposals to improve London's environment through the `better streets' campaign, targeting noise impacts, public transport's contribution to the natural environment and generally targeting improvements to air quality.

We are committed to introducing a local network of electric vehicle charging points, extending the coverage of car clubs, introducing more car sharing schemes through the travel plan process and encouraging cleaner choice of vehicles in council fleets.

We support the London LEZ and subject to technical feasibility would support its Phase 3 roll out covering LGVs and minibuses and further controls on NOx emissions. We generally endorse the policies proposed by the Mayor's draft Air Quality Strategy that are aimed at reducing vehicle emissions, in particular PM10 and NO2 which resulted in whole of LB Redbridge being declared as an Air Quality Management Area.

We are keen to work with TfL Major Projects to introduce improved streetscapes including shared surface schemes and, removal of guardrails as part of a balanced environment that people want to live and work in.

Reducing transport's contribution to climate change and improving its resilience

The Borough supports the Mayors proposals to reduce CO2 emissions. The Boroughs LDF sets out its intention to integrate transport and land use planning and use planning conditions to specify Delivery Service Plans.

We are developing the Redbridge Car Club, promoting the use of low CO2 emission vehicles and trialling electric vehicles in our own fleet. We would be interested in trialling new initiatives with our public sector partners to reduce our carbon footprint in an Outer London setting.

Managing the demand for travel

The Borough supports the Mayors proposals to manage the demand for travel, notably better journey planning and information incorporating smarter transport for both people and freight.

Changing peoples travel behaviour requires competitive fares and ticketing and complimentary parking and loading restrictions which the Borough is keen to develop around key areas such as stations, industrial parks and other large employment sites and attractors.

The Borough will work with stakeholders by developing travel plans, freight quality partnerships and construction logistics plans to enable more effective control of development and lasting benefits to the highway network.

The Borough will enforce parking and loading as a tool to manage the demand for travel by utilising officer patrols and CCTV enforcement.

The Borough will consider park and ride schemes as an alternative to town centre parking to reduce congestion. We would be particularly interested in using this system in relation to a temporary scheme for the Olympic Games in London and developing legacy benefits/ opportunities arising from it.

Road user charging for economic and environmental aims

The Borough would require a full business case developed before consenting to any system of road charging. We are particularly concerned with through traffic being displaced from the TLRN onto local roads causing disproportionate levels of congestion.

If however, a fair system of managing demand for road use could be developed and the revenue generated was democratically distributed to address congestion along the busy arterials into London this system may have merit.

Western Extension zone

The Borough opposes the removal of the Western Extension to the Congestion Charging scheme which will reduce the overall effectiveness of the scheme.

Further measures (including improved traffic control systems and a road works permit scheme) should also be considered to mitigate the growth of traffic in Central London.

Priorities

The Borough is concerned that the `big ticket' items (Crossrail, Transforming the Tube and the Cycle Revolution) have overly dominated the MTS. There is a real need to invest in the development of a polycentric London with significant radial routes, notably a river crossing in East London.

The focus of development growth in East London puts considerable pressure on the existing highway network and a new multi-modal link on the alignment of the Thames Gateway Bridge would add significant capacity to the network and provide travel choice for employment opportunities in Docklands and the City.

Aside from the above `omissions' the Borough generally agrees with the priority set out in the order of measures listed above.

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