England’s roads receive £200m funding boost

Transport minister Jesse Norman has announced a £200m fund to improve the condition of local roads throughout England.

This includes £46m to help repair potholes, £151m for the local highways maintenance incentive fund, £4m for the Cycle Rail scheme and an extension to three Cycle and Walk to Work pilot projects.

Close to one million more potholes will be repaired by highway authorities outside the capital, thanks to the £46m of additional funding, which is on top of the £75m Pothole Action Fund already given to councils this year. The £250m fund was announced in the 2016 Budget and will fix more than four million potholes by 2020/21.

The £151m for the local highways maintenance incentive fund will reward councils for efficiently planning road maintenance. This is part of just over £6bn to authorities to help keep their roads in a good condition. A new £500,000 competition will also challenge councils to develop pilot projects of new connected technologies for the collection of road condition and pothole data.

The £4m spend on the government’s Cycle Rail scheme wwill help pay for cycle parking to be built at train stations. Since 2012, the Department for Transport has invested almost £35m to build cycle facilities at stations, including cycle hubs which are secure and have retail and repair facilities. 

The Cycling and Walking to Work fund will also be extended by 6 months, with Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire and Liverpool benefiting from a share of the £1.6m.