£348 million Funding Boost to Tackle Local Roads Quality

The Department of Transport will be offering £348 million funding through two new funds to help local authorities tackle issues on major local roads.

The Department for Transport (DfT) has announced nearly £350 million is being made available for councils to improve local roads.

Two new funds, totalling £348 million across 4 years, will be available for local authorities to bid for in an effort to tackle issues on major local roads, from easing congestion through to sorting out potholes.

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said:

“Local roads are the backbone of the transport network for drivers up and down the country, but we know that some aren’t up to the standard they need to be. Whether it’s congestion or quality, we need to empower local authorities to invest in these roads and make journeys safer and stress-free.”

The £200 million Challenge Fund will be available for this year and the next. Councils will be able to bid for projects that will improve the quality of roads and surrounding infrastructure, including structures such as bridges and viaducts, to benefit the local economy and make driving safer. In particular, the funding could be put toward sorting major pothole repairs.

The second investment, the Pinch Point Fund, will be available in 2021/22 and 2022/23 and totals £150 million. It will go towards council projects designed to help ease congestion on some of their busiest roads. Previous examples of projects funded through Pinch Point include improving the links between the A12 and A143 to open up housing and commercial development land, new roads helping buses bypass single lane roads, and new roads to link main roads with new housing developments.

Further information on the funds will be reported when they have been formally launched.