Ministers publish details of £15bn road upgrade plan

1 Dec 14
The government has published details of a £15bn road investment plan to fund more than 100 improvement schemes as part of a tripling of spending on highway upgrades to 2020.

By Richard Johnstone | 1 December 2014

The government has published details of a £15bn road investment plan to fund more than 100 improvement schemes as part of a tripling of spending on highway upgrades to 2020.

Publishing details ahead of Wednesday’s Autumn Statement, Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin and Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander said the programme would improve connectivity across England and boost growth.

Under the plans, £2bn will be spent to dual the entire A303 and A358 to the south west, including a tunnel at Stonehenge, while dualling of the A1 will be completed all the way from London to Ellingham, just 25 miles from the Scottish border.

Smart motorway improvements – which allow hard shoulder running at times of high demand – will be completed along the M62 from Manchester to Leeds, while links will also be improved to the Port of Liverpool.

In total, more than 1,300 new lane miles will be added by schemes being delivered over the next parliament, ministers announced. The plan forms part of the government's reforms to the Highways Agency, under which the Department for Transport body will become a standalone strategic highways company with five-year funding deals from government.

McLoughlin said the plans were ‘the biggest, boldest and most far-reaching roads programme for decades’.

He added: ‘It will dramatically improve our road network and unlock Britain’s economic potential.

‘This government has a long-term plan to secure the country’s future and this £15bn roads programme is demonstration of that. Better roads allow us to travel freely, creating jobs and opportunities, benefiting hardworking families across the country.’
Alexander, who is also chair of the Cabinet Infrastructure Committee, said improved infrastructure invigorates communities.

‘This is why I have ensured that this government has prioritised funding roads, and railways, at a high level for future generations,’ he said.

‘Investment on this scale is only possible because we have taken the difficult decisions needed to control our public finances and stuck to our recovery plan which is now delivering strong growth and record numbers of jobs.’

Responding to the announcement, Peter Box, the Local Government Associations’ transport spokesman, said the investment in trunk roads was long overdue in many areas and would help unlock growth.

‘The government must now match this ambition and funding certainty for the other 98% which make up our local roads,’ he added.

‘Given that every journey starts and ends on local roads, it is vital that the new strategic highways company also engages fully with councils and businesses to put them at the heart of its planning decisions over the entire road network.’

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