London boroughs will receive £235m in government funding redirected from HS2 to resurface roads across the UK capital city over the next 11 years, it has been announced.
Allocations for each London borough and Transport for London (TfL) have been confirmed, allowing authorities to start spending immediately on vital road repairs, with £7.5m set aside for next year.
The allocations are based on the size of the road network that local authorities and TfL maintain respectively.
These include funding boosts over the next year of £354,000 for Hillingdon, £455,000 for Bromley and £368,000 for Barnet, with London boroughs immediately receiving around 96% of the £7.5m first-year funding and TfL around 4%.
Last month, the UK’s transport secretary announced the total amount of additional funding that will be provided to maintain London’s roads over the next 11 years, which aims to improve journey times and could reportedly save motorists up to £440 in vehicle repairs to fix the damage caused by potholes.
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The funding is part of an £8.3bn plan and represents what is thought to be the largest ever investment into road repairs and improvements.
Councils will be held accountable for how they spend the money by being required to publish regular updates on the proposed works and they could see future money withheld if they fail to do so.
UK transport secretary Mark Harper said: “This government is on the side of drivers and is investing £235m to improve and repair London’s roads, part of the biggest-ever funding uplift for local road improvements.
“This funding is part of a long-term, 11-year plan to ensure road users across London have smoother, faster and safer journeys by using redirected HS2 funding to make the right long-term decisions for a brighter future.”
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Londoners will reportedly see rapid improvements to the road network with £7.5m made immediately available between now and the end of March, followed by a further £7.5m in 2024 to 2025. The remainder of the £235m boost extends until 2034.
A recent survey from the AA shows that fixing potholes and investing in roads maintenance is a priority for 96% of drivers.
Achievements and innovations in transport planning will be celebrated at the third annual CiTTi Awards, which will be held on 26 November 2024 at the De Vere Grand Connaught Rooms in London. Nominations officially open in March 2024. Please visit www.cittiawards.co.uk to learn more about this unmissable event for the UK’s transportation sector.
