From today drivers using Tower Bridge will be encouraged to stop idling and switch their engines off when the bridge is opening to help lower emissions and boost air quality.
Tower Bridge is raised around 900 times a year, affecting some of the 31,000 vehicles crossing the river on the bridge each day. Now new road signs will provide a simple but innovative approach to helping drivers save fuel and reduce emissions by knowing when there will be a long wait.
The scheme, delivered by Southwark and Tower Hamlets and jointly funded by the Mayor of London, is part of the Mayor’s £20 million Air Quality Fund (MAQF), which has supported bold pollution-busting projects across the capital over the past three years.
Today the Mayor announced the projects across 28 boroughs which will benefit from a share of £5 million from his fund. They include:
- Installing electric vehicle charging points on lamp posts in Hounslow - hundreds of new easily accessible charge points can be installed across the borough which will make owning an electric vehicle much easier;
- Green courier service in Waltham Forest – boosting local high streets and cutting the need for cars by providing a same day delivery service using cargo bikes and electric vehicles for local shoppers;
- A community “No to NO2” project in Haringey supporting school walking zones and cycle maintenance workshops to boost cycling and walking in the borough;
- An expanded ‘London Boroughs Consolidation Centre’, which has halved deliveries to council offices since it began. The project has enabled boroughs to cut down on the amount of deliveries and share a main distribution venture for major courier firms. Extra funding will now allow local businesses to start using the consolidation centre and cut their own deliveries and emissions;
- Dust enforcement officers on building sites - improving air quality in the construction industry by supporting the Mayor’s strict emission standards for construction machinery and helping to deliver trials of new technology to reduce the need for old polluting equipment.
In addition, the Mayor has announced his intention to award £1 million to at least two flagship ‘Low Emission Neighbourhoods’ in the capital. Nine boroughs have been chosen to work up proposals for transforming a local neighbourhood with a host of measures to improve walking, cycling and air quality.
The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson MP said: “Protecting the well-being of Londoners is vital and these great projects, coupled with my plans for the world’s first Ultra-Low Emission Zone in 2020, are part of the bold measures we need, along with the strong support of the Government and the EU, to win London’s pollution battle. “
Southwark Council have installed an air pollution monitoring station to measure the impact of the Tower Bridge no idling project and they hope local residents will benefit from less polluted roads around the bridge.
Cllr Barrie Hargrove, Southwark Council cabinet member for parks, public health and leisure, said: “The anti idling scheme is a good example of joint working and it would be great to see more support coming through for local projects. I hope this scheme raises awareness about the damaging affects of idling with your engine on and encourages drivers across the capital to think carefully about ways they could help reduce air pollution.”
The fund is part of the many comprehensive measures the Mayor has implemented to boost air quality and make London a more pleasant to live in including: tightening Low Emission Zone standards, transforming London’s bus fleets to one of the greenest in the world, driving the biggest buildings ‘energy efficiency programme in the capital’s history and planting over half a million new trees. These will be further boosted by the world’s first Ultra-Low Emission Zone in 2020.
ENDS
Notes to editors
- The Mayor originally launched the £20 million Air Quality Fund in 2013 to support boroughs in tackling air quality for 10 years. Previous funded projects include installing green walls in busy traffic congested areas; trialling pollution-reducing equipment on construction sites; funding for low emission vehicles; working with hospitals such as Great Ormond Street and Barts to help reduce the number of patients exposed to pollution; and education and business engagement schemes.
- The nine London boroughs vying to deliver a Low Emission neighbourhood are City, Barking and Dagenham, Hackney (with Islington and Tower Hamlets), Westminster, Havering, Redbridge (with Newham), Greenwich, Hammersmith and Fulham, and Camden.
- A recent report commissioned by the Mayor and produced by Kings College found that almost half the health impacts of pollution in the capital results from toxic air elsewhere and the Mayor continues to lobby for the strong support of the Government and the EU to tackle this matter.
- All new MAQF projects across the boroughs: