Sadiq Khan’s £1million bus lane is eliminated after simply three months: Mayor accused of ‘losing’ public cash following resident backlash
A £1million London bus lane funded by Sir Sadiq Khan has been removed after just three months following complaints that it made the area dangerous.
The lane was installed on Regent’s Park Road in Finchley in August in attempt to speed up journeys on buses by giving them more dedicated space on the road.
It formed part of the Mayor’s ’25×25 bus priority programme’, in which Sir Sadiq’s office is working with boroughs to create 25km of new bus lanes by December.
But locals and politicians claimed the lane created ‘unnecessary risks’ and the road was ‘not physically wide enough for two lanes of traffic, bus lanes and parking’.
Critics also claimed the lane’s width varied which meant bus drivers travelling through North London were having to drive on the wrong side of the road in some places.
A petition against the lane was signed by more than 1,700 people, some of whom claimed only a few hundred people were consulted about the scheme in advance.
Labour-controlled Barnet Council has now confirmed the lane will be withdrawn, in a decision hailed by the Conservatives as a ‘significant win for common sense’.
The council claimed it had only spent about a third of the £1million allocated to the scheme so far, and the rest will go on ‘improving the experience of bus travellers and other road users’.
Regent’s Park Road in Finchley, North London, is pictured before the bus lane was installed
Jonathan Barr from local estate agent Godfrey & Barr told The Telegraph that it was a ‘wonderful victory’ for campaigners, but added: ‘It does beg the question how over £1million of public money has been wasted by Barnet council.
‘It goes all the way to the top of TfL and Mayor Sadiq Khan, and his insatiable appetite to extend bus lanes to 25km in London and it appears at any cost – no matter the wastage.’
The original road line markings are now set to be reinstalled between November 21 and 24, with any remaining works completed by November 28.
Conservative councillors Jennifer Grocock and Josh Mastin-Lee said in a joint statement: ‘This is a significant win for common sense and a direct result of residents making their voices heard.
‘The bus lane created unnecessary risks and disrupted daily life in our community. Its reversal is something we can all celebrate this weekend.
‘We remain committed to holding decision-makers accountable. We will continue to demand full transparency on why this flawed scheme was introduced and abandoned so it is never repeated.’
Barnet Council has confirmed that the scheme will ‘not be going ahead following engagement with residents and further consideration’.
Councillor Alan Schneiderman, the council’s cabinet member for environment and climate change, said: ‘Although the independent engineers have given us assurances that this scheme is safe, we made a commitment to engaging closely with residents and to listen to their concerns – and that is what we have done. These proposals won’t now go ahead.
London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan on a Transport for London bus in Edgware in August 2023
‘One of the long-term plans in our transport strategy is to create new bus lanes to encourage more people to use public transport and to speed up journey times.
‘We will be taking stock from this scheme and using the learning to inform any new bus lane schemes that are put forward elsewhere in the borough.’
A Barnet council spokesman added: ‘Although £1m was allocated to this scheme by TfL, only the first phase had been implemented and so only around a third of that has been spent.
‘We will be working with TfL and the community to ensure that funds allocated to Barnet are invested in improving the experience of bus travellers and other road users.’
And a Transport for London (TfL) spokesman said: ‘Bus lanes play a vital role in enabling Londoners to travel using one of the capital’s most affordable and accessible forms of transport.
‘They help improve bus journey times and reliability and provide benefits for others, including people using taxis and people cycling. We are in discussions with Barnet Council about the lane on Regent’s Park Road and will provide an update in due course.’
TfL states on its ’25×25 bus priority programme’ webpage that it is ‘on track to add 25km of new bus lanes on TfL and borough roads compared to April 2021’.
The Mail has contacted the Mayor’s office for comment.
