Deputy London Mayor Nicky Gavron has outlined an ambitious £750million new tram line project which she wants to see developed along a proposed third lane of the North Circular Road.

Mayor of London Ken Livingstone last week agreed to drop his opposition to a third lane in either direction on the North Circular between Bounds Green and Green Lanes, after Barnet and Enfield councils had threatened legal action. It raises the question of whether similar widening schemes, as well as junction improvements, will be allowed in Barnet at Henlys Corner, Finchley, and Brent Street, Hendon.

Ms Gavron, who will stand against Mr Livingstone as Labour's candidate for Mayor of London, said she supported the road widening in Barnet, but wanted the extra lane to be used exclusively by trams or buses. "Traffic in north London is growing at an alarming rate and the North Circular is the main artery from east to west," she said.

"I'm very interested in tram-like buses called guided buses, which run on tram lines in their own track and cars then can't get in the lane.

"In a way it's not something that's been tried before something that's a step up from a bus. But the only way you are really going to get outer London moving is by a step-change in public transport. You have got to think big."

She added that the North Circular was a brutal environment' for those who live and work nearby, and was badly in need of a serious upgrade, which she hopes will be funded by central Government.

Mr Livingstone has previously blocked widening plans, but agreed the argument has been transformed by big regeneration schemes such those at Wembley Stadium and Cricklewood railway sidings near Brent Cross. He stopped short, however, of formally endorsing widening schemes outside Haringey for the time being.

Nevertheless, Conservative councillor Brian Coleman, Barnet's cabinet member for the environment, hailed Mr Livingstone's decision as a tremendous victory'.

He said: "We have campaigned tirelessly on this issue and the Mayor has finally seen the sense of our argument and agreed that the original scheme is necessary."

But a spokesman for Mr Livingstone was adamant the decision did not open the door for similar widening schemes in Barnet at present. Mr Livingstone will request hundreds

of millions of pounds from the Treasury to pay for widening the Bounds Green to Enfield stretch.

He said: "I will be asking the Government to provide the money needed to widen the road, and in the meantime I have asked Transport for London to work with the local boroughs on immediate measures to improve the conditions on neighbouring residential streets."

The bid for cash for the widening will be made at the beginning of next year and a decision is expected to be reached in the summer of 2004.

May 29, 2003 13:30