Hammersmith & Fulham is no longer London’s most congested borough, according to new figures released by Transport for London.

The City of London now holds that dubious title, with motorists spending 4.4million minutes stuck in traffic jams every year on just 23 miles of road, the 2009-2010 research claims.

In fact, Hammersmith and Fulham was London's most improved borough for journey times between 10am and 4pm, which have been slashed by almost 18%.

TfL says it was also the best inner London borough during the evening rush hour, with a reduction of almost 9%.

Morning rush hour times have been slashed as well by 13.4%, with the average delay over half a mile having been reduced to 50 seconds.

The news has been welcomed by H&F Council’s deputy leader Cllr Nick Botterill, who has been fronting transport campaign Get H&F Moving, championing the cause of drivers and trying to free up the borough’s road network.

He says: " This is real progress for motorists who live and work in Hammersmith & Fulham, and means that things are getting better on our roads.

" We have been working solidly over the past few years, making enhancements to our road network that have helped to clear congestion in the borough.

" This includes the scrapping of the congestion charge’s western extension zone last December which followed a hard-fought and successful campaign by the council and local residents.

" We have also made changes to road layout, removed unnecessary street clutter and speed bumps, and come down heavily on utility companies whose road works overrun."

The figures show the average speed travelled over half a mile has also improved since 2007-08. There has been an improvement of 5.9% in the morning rush hour, between 7am and 10am – the best out of all inner London boroughs – pushing the average speed to 14.1mph. There are only five other London authorities that better that statistic.

H&F does however come in as the second worst borough for delays with motorists still losing 4million minutes – or 66,849 hours – every year, sitting in tailbacks.

Cllr Botterill adds: "We still have more to do, in particular on major north-south routes, but projects such as the new Fulham Palace Road slip-road will continue to reduce traffic congestion further in the not-too-distant future, freeing up our roads and getting the borough moving."

Residents can share their views on transport at Get H& F Moving.

August 3, 2011