Transport Secretary, Patrick McLoughlin, has announced today that councils across England will receive a share of £275 million for local roads maintenance.
The 31 schemes being awarded funding across the 28 local authorities include safety repairs, bridge renewal, carriageway and drainage improvements, as well as upgrading street lighting in a number of areas to bring them in line with modern standards.
“Good quality local roads are essential for people to get on with their daily business and today’s announcement will provide extra capacity where it is needed most. This government has put record funding in place for local roads as part of our long-term economic plan to improve journeys, create jobs and drive economic growth,” McLoughlin said.
To be in with a chance of getting a share of the money, local authorities needed to enter a bidding process. Those councils awarded include Oxfordshire, Norfolk, Bedford, Brighton and Hove, Newcastle, Wirral and Plymouth. For the full map click here.
The funding forms part of the £6 billion investment for local road maintenance announced in December 2014 which will be spent on tackling potholes and improving local roads between 2015 and 2021, the first time councils have been given locked-in funding over this length of time.
This will be welcomed news for many drivers as research last year from Kwik Fit found that one in five had to replace a tyre due to damage to the sidewall, with hitting a pothole being the most common cause.
Of this funding, £4.7 billion will be allocated according to a needs-based formula, with £580 million to incentivise good asset management and efficiencies, and £575 million reserved for a challenge fund for large one-off maintenance and renewal projects.
