HS2: Camden secures £2.4m share of Road Safety Fund
Camden Council will receive £2,425,000 from a Road Safety Fund that the Government agreed to set up following Parliamentary petitioning on High Speed 2 (HS2).
The Government had announced that it would provide up to £30 million to support road safety schemes in local authority areas along the Phase One line of the HS2 route in February 2016, in response to a recommendation from the House of Commons HS2 Select Committee – but that this would only apply to rural areas.
However, the Council has been successful in securing a share of that money after it urged the Secretary of State for Transport to include urban areas in the scheme, through a strong response to the Government consultation.
The Council will work in partnership with our communities and key organisations to deliver schemes to improve road safety. The funding can be used for any measures to improve road safety, including supporting traffic calming, safer junctions or better pedestrian crossings.
We’ve always been concerned about the impact of HS2 construction on Camden’s roads. We’ve pushed for the maximum amount of construction materials and waste to be transported by rail rather than road to reduce the number of lorries that this project will bring into Camden and persuaded HS2 Ltd to sign up to lorry safety schemes.
“Today’s announcement boosts our efforts to protect residents using our roads during HS2 construction. Many residents are concerned about the safety of pedestrians and cyclists during the works and this money could be used to create a safer environment and facilities for all road users in areas nearest the construction works.
“We will work with affected residents and partners like Transport for London, as we have done throughout our response to HS2, to get a range of opinions on how we could best spend this money to keep our residents safe.
There are also a number of primary and secondary schools in Camden in the vicinity of Euston station, with large numbers of pupils that walk to school across roads designated as HS2 construction vehicle routes.
This funding is in addition to the £40 million of funding that the Government have committed to local areas along the Phase One line of the HS2 route in the Community and Environment Fund and the Business and Local Economy Fund.