Many of London’s major surface transport assets such as roads, tunnels and flyovers will continue to deteriorate as Transport for London (TfL) is struggling to find the funds to cover the backlog of renewals.
The agenda from the next meeting of TfL’s programmes and investment committee on 17 May show that the number of assets with interim measures, such as speed or weight restrictions, will increase for the eighth consecutive year in 2023-24, reaching 65.
Major London assets that have had restrictions imposed for several years include the embattled Rotherhithe Tunnel which is in need of major refurbishment and is only open to cars, the A40 Westway which has had its speed limit reduced because it needs key bridge joint renewals and Gallows Corner flyover which has both a speed and weight restriction because of widespread steel fatigue.
TfL’s funding for asset renewals was substantially reduced in 2018-19 and 2019-20 after the government removed the London transport operator’s revenue grant. TfL had planned to bring the funding back to sustainable levels the following year but this was scuppered by the pandemic and investment dropped to 79% of planned levels; £122M down to £97M. This continued in 2021-22 with planned investment reduced from £184M to £122M to reflect the available funding.
TfL says it is looking to secure alternative funding through programmes such as the Department for Transport’s (DfT’s) Major Road Network Programme to help manage the cost pressures. However, even with additional funding streams it will have to make decisions about deferring project renewals, which could result in an increased risk of network disruption and asset restrictions.
The agenda states: “The increasing backlog of renewals will place additional pressure on future years’ budgets as the assets deteriorate further and require more extensive – and therefore more expensive – repairs. [TfL] continue[s] to work with the DfT to seek the additional funding required for major renewals.”
For now, the work will start with the most vital upgrades, which have been sorted by a prioritisation framework that uses six asset management objectives: safety, service, customer and staff, environment, capacity and growth and finance. A work bank has been created that will see projects brought forward when required.
TfL has budgeted for £98M to be spent on surface level asset renewals in 2023-24. Key activities planned for the financial year include:
| Project | Expected output | Allocated funding |
| A40 Westway joint renewal | Work package 2 detailed design complete | £6.8M |
| Rotherhithe Tunnel | Targeted works to support ongoing operation | £1.4M |
| Brent Cross flyover | Contract awarded for concept design | £2.5M |
| Croydon Flyover renewal | Phase 1 feasibility and investigations complete | £0.7M |
| Gallows Corner renewal | Concept design completed | £2.9M |
| Kingston Cromwell Road bus station renewal | Construction to commence | £4.3M |
| Carriageway renewal | 128,000m2 of network treated | £10.3M |
| Smaller structure renewals | Five builds completed, seven detailed designs | £7M |
| Smaller tunnel renewals | Six designs completed, one build completed | £1.5M |
Due to budget constraints in 2023-24, there will be no progress on the Hostile Vehicle Mitigation Programme on the Thames bridges. The budget for investing in borough roads and bridges will be significantly lower than previous years, with only the highest priority progressed.
Potential critical renewals for 2023-24 could be as much as £135M, £37M above the £98M budget it is planning for. The committee’s agenda states: “This represents a workbank of additional priority schemes that can be accelerated should further funding become available, or if delivery on other schemes is slower than anticipated. Periodic reviews will be used, together with quarterly investment decision points to assess the level of delivery achieved, the planned outputs and determine whether additional commitments can be made. This will include ongoing review of asset priorities to ensure the best value for money investment. This approach gives maximum flexibility to ensure a safe and operable network is maintained.”
Despite the negative forecast, looking at the spending on major surface asset renewals in the previous financial year gives reason to be positive. The planned investment in surface level assets for 2022-23 was £101M, but ultimately TfL was able to spend £117M on it due to progressing design work to enable accelerated delivery and utilising budget availability from its wider investment programme.
Key outputs for 2022-23 included:
| Project | Output | Cost |
| A40 Westway joint renewal | Major expansion joint replacement completed, concept design for next stage completed | £6.5M |
| Blackwall Tunnel southbound refurbishment | Contract awarded for detailed design | £0.7M |
| Gallows Corner renewal | Single option selected and concept design commenced | £2.1M |
| Brent Cross flyover renewal | Feasibility completed and single option identified | £2.4M |
| Rotherhithe Tunnel | Targeted works to support ongoing operation | £2.1M |
| Croydon flyover renewal | Phase 1 feasibility and investigations completed | £1.2M |
| Kingston Cromwell Road bus station renewal | Ready to commence construction | £1.7M |
| Carriageway resurfacing | 218,525m2 of network treated | £16M |
| Smaller structures and bridge renewals | Five schemes delivered, 10 feasibility studies, seven concept designs, five detailed designs, two inspections | £10M |
| Smaller tunnel renewals | Three feasibility studies, once concept design, one build | £0.4M |
The 2022-23 surface asset renewal programme had an efficiency target of £4.4M, which was more than met with a total of £6.1M efficiency savings made.
Source: newcivilengineer.com