Rob Edwards is a Lead Sponsor at Transport for London and works with the North London Boroughs on their programme of schemes funded through the LIP funding from TfL. He has delivered an extensive programme of enhancement schemes on the Mayors Road Network such as the Angel Town Centre scheme, Elephant and Castle Southern roundabout, early phase schemes at Old Street Roundabout and Highbury Corner, Finsbury Park gyratory removal and an extensive package of pedestrian improvements along Edgware Road in Westminster.
Rob joined us at PUBLIC REALM & URBAN SPACES Smart Class 2025 to outline how TfL have adopted the Healthy Streets Approach to improve air quality, reduce congestion and help make London’s diverse communities greener, healthier and more attractive places to live, work, play and do business. This approach to public realm puts people and their health at the centre of decisions about how we design, manage and use public spaces.
With additional input from Alina Sechrest (a Principal Sponsor on Rob’s team), this keynote featured case studies of Edgware Road in Westminster and Upper Street in Islington, and highlighted lessons learnt. Rob also reflected on progress (or lack of) over the last 35 years and asked, “Why does it matter?”. Finally, by way of conclusions, he explored “reasons to be cheerful” and “some reasons to be worried”.
Summary of presentation highlights:
- Transport for London Road Network – Red Routes; A strong, green heartbeat for London;
- Healthy Streets – 10 Healthy Streets Indicators…
- 1) Pedestrians from all walks of life 2) Easy to cross 3) Shade and shelter 4) Places to stop and rest 5) Not too noisy 6) People choose to walk, cycle and use public transport 7) People feel safe 8) Things to see and do 9) People feel relaxed 10) Clean air;
- Local Implementation Plans – Borough highlights from 2024/25: Safe & Healthy Streets Outcomes + Summary of Borough Delivery…
- Outcome 1: London’s streets will be healthy, and more Londoners will travel actively;
- Delivery Outputs: Crossing facilities – 61 new signal controlled crossing points added, 108 new zebra crossings, 232 uncontrolled crossings; Footways – 12km of footway widened; New Cycle Parking – 1,673 publicly accessible, 10,000 residential, 900 school spaces;
- Outcome 2: London’s streets will be safe and secure;
- Delivery Outputs: Education – 16,631 adults and 51,190 children given cycle training (levels 1-3); School Streets – 150 new school streets introduced in 20 boroughs; Lowering speed limits – 10 boroughs introduced new speed reduction measures and 20 now have 20mph borough-wide road networks; Road safety – 269 safety schemes completed;
- Outcome 3: London’s streets will be used more efficiently and have less traffic on them;
- Delivery Outputs: Cycle infrastructure – 51km of new permanent cycle routes, 20km of upgraded routes introduced (funded by Borough Cycling Programme); Low Traffic Neighbourhoods – 7 new LTNs introduced, 15 experimental schemes made permanent and 26 new road closures installed;
- Outcome 4: London’s streets will be clean and green;
- Delivery Outputs: Electric vehicle charge points – 4,340 new on street points; Sustainable urban drainage – 65,379 sqm of impermeable surface draining into a SuDs feature;
- Outcome 5: The public transport network will be safe, affordable and accessible to all;
- Delivery Outputs: Accessible Bus Stops – 64 new/upgraded;
- Outcome 6: Journeys by public transport will be pleasant, fast and reliable;
- Delivery Outputs: Bus Lanes – 2.8km of new permanent bus lane delivered (funded by Borough Bus Priority programme);
- Case Study Examples…
- Francis Road, Leyton;
- Rain Garden, Brent;
- Lambeth Bridge Palm;
- Modal Filter, Oval;
- Strand Aldwych;
- Crossrail: Paddington;
- Marble Arch Mound;
- Bishopsgate;
- Waltham Forest Coffin;
- Upper Street Islington;
- Highbury Corner;
- St Mary’s Church;
- Screen on the Green;
- Camden Passage;
- Chapel Street Market;
- Edgware Road, Rain Gardens, SuDs;
- Edgware Road j/w Marylebone Flyover;
- North East Corner, Stormwater Catchment;
- Drainage Equipment;
- South West Corner, Stormwater Catchment;
- North West Corner, Stormwater Catchment;
- Planting – 11 trees, 100 shrubs, 1,000 perennial plants, 2,200 bulbs, 300 square metres; Benefits;
- Sussex Gardens Road Safety Scheme;
- Sussex Gardens Rain Gardens;
- Works;
- Reasons to Be Cheerful… and Cautious…
- Reasons to be optimistic: 1) Remember 1990s London? 2) Demands and expectations 3) Healthy Competition;
- Reasons for Pessimism: 1) Money 2) Culture Wars 3) What about outer London?
- “HAVE NOTHING IN YOUR HOUSES THAT YOU DO NOT KNOW TO BE USEFUL OR BELIEVE TO BE BEAUTIFUL”, William Morris!
If you meet our regular delegate qualification criteria but were unable to join us The Wellington Hotel, Westminster, for the live in-person event on December 4th, CLICK HERE and complete the short “Download form” (located at the bottom of the post) to receive a unique link enabling free access to the presentation video recordings and slides (including the film footage and slides from Rob and Alina’s keynote).
Those qualifying to receive the rich presentation content from this event include commissioning, procurement, trialling, partnering and policy leads, senior influencers, strategic decision makers, planners, place makers, architects, green space managers, urban designers, communities & neighbourhoods, highways & street scene, transport & mobility and high streets & regeneration professionals from councils and local authorities (city, borough, metropolitan, district, county and combined); people and place partnerships; developers, landowners and creators of privately owned public spaces; prime contractors and city centre management companies; DfT, DEFRA, MHCLG, EA and supporting governmental bodies; transport authorities, highways agencies and public transport operators; civic organisations and community groups; and other key players from the public realm ecosystem with responsibility for managing, maintaining and operating our streets, squares, forecourts, parks, pathways, retail centres, car parks, airports, ports, travel hubs, hospitals, housing estates, campuses, communal gardens and the assets contained within these public or semi-public spaces.
