A two-year suspension of repairs and upgrades to main roads is to be continued for another six months as Transport for London chiefs desperately try to save cash.
Details have begun to emerge of which major schemes TfL will shelve as it draws up an emergency budget in the wake of plummeting fares revenue caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Hammersmith bridge, which was shut in April last year, will only reopen if the Government contributes to the £120 million cost of repairs.
However, the expansion of the £12.50-a-day ultra-low emission zone (Ulez) from central London to the suburbs next year is being prioritised.
Finance chief Simon Kilonback said TfL was budgeting on the basis of there being six months of social distancing on public transport followed by passenger levels returning to 50 per cent of previous capacity.
On that basis, the fall in fares income could be about £300 million less than first feared, he said.
TfL’s expectation was a “black hole” of £3.2 billion in the current financial year, though the final figure could be “plus or minus” £500 million. A further shortfall of “£1.5 billion-£2billion” is expected in the next financial year.
Mr Kilonback told the London Assembly that proactive road repairs on TfL’s “red route” network had been on a “two-year pause and remain on pause throughout the summer”, though “safety critical” repairs would continue.
He said projects such as the Ulez expansion — up to the boundary of the North and South Circular roads — “clearly made sense” as they would generate income.
Other projects being prioritised are those that would prioritise “active travel” — walking and cycling — and enable social distancing.
TfL was also accelerating the “carbon reduction agenda and seeking to prevent a car-based recovery”, he said.
A total of £80million is to be spent on “streetspace” schemes that carve extra space for pedestrians and cyclists. Much of this cash is passed to the 33 boroughs.
Heidi Alexander, the deputy mayor for transport, said the proposed opening of Crossrail through central London next summer could be in jeopardy if a second wave of coronavirus forced the construction team to down tools again.
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