Roads win £348m injection to ease problems
Two sets of funds are being made available to councils to tackle issues such as potholes and congestion
A total of £348 million is being offered by Whitehall to councils in an effort to improve local road quality across the country.
Two sets of funding from the Department for Transport will help local authorities tackle issues such as congestion and potholes.
The first – the £198m Challenge Fund – will be made available for this year and next, with councils able to bid for projects that improve the quality of their roads.
Following that, the second round of investment – called the Pinch Point Fund and totalling £150m – will be made available in 2021/22 and 2022/23. This will go towards helping councils ease congestion on some of the UK’s busiest roads.
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.
“That’s exactly what this funding will do. Over four years, we’re providing more than a third of a billion pounds to make sure local authorities have the cash they need to make this a reality.”
