Transport secretary Mark Harper has announced £8.3bn in extra funding to improve local journeys across the North of England and the rest of the UK.
The funding is part of the government’s Network North Plan, a scheme using redirected money from the cancelled phase 2 of the HS2 project to repair and improve Northern transport infrastructure, primarily directed towards road maintenance.
Reported to be the largest ever resurfacing programme in the UK, the £8.3bn will be divided across transport bodies throughout England.
Some £3.3bn will be allocated to the North of England, £2.2bn for the Midlands and £2.8bn for East, South-East and the South-West of England collectively.
Spread out across the next 11 years, the government funding will represent a more than two-thirds increase in Department for Transport support for local roads maintenance, the government has said.
Part of the funding (15%) will be allocated after an initial grace period to afford authoritative bodies more flexibility over how best to support highway maintenance initiatives across England.
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Another £150m of the new funding will be made available in the financial years 2023/24 and 2024/25, with much of the funding coming across the reminder of the 11-year period.
Mark Harper, transport secretary, said: “I am pleased to inform the House that my Department last week published details of the very significant £8.3bn extra funding for local road resurfacing, which will lead to a long-term, unprecedented transformation in the condition of our highways.
“Local highway authorities across England are set to benefit from the biggest-ever road resurfacing programme to improve local roads.”
The extended grace period was designed to provide time for local authorities and their supply chains to ramp up to delivery of significant transport projects.
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