Skip to main content

Government triples road funding

The UK government is tripling funding on the road network over the next eight years with more than US$40 billion to be spent on upgrading and improving the network until 2021. By the end of the next parliament, the government will be spending US$5 billion each year on improvements and maintenance for the strategic network alone. This locked-in funding commitment will support nearly 30,000 new jobs across the construction sector and at the same time deliver a safer, more sustainable road network that is fit
February 12, 2014 Read time: 2 mins
The UK government is tripling funding on the road network over the next eight years with more than US$40 billion to be spent on upgrading and improving the network until 2021. By the end of the next parliament, the government will be spending US$5 billion each year on improvements and maintenance for the strategic network alone. This locked-in funding commitment will support nearly 30,000 new jobs across the construction sector and at the same time deliver a safer, more sustainable road network that is fit for the 21st century and beyond.

Roads Minister Robert Goodwill called on Britain’s road building companies to get ready for a massive increase in work. He said: “Funding certainty is critical to the construction industry in planning for the future and that is exactly what the government has delivered – with US$40 billion secure investment over six years and US$83 billion for the strategic road network over the next 15 years. However, we need to make sure everyone is ready to deliver the massive programme of investment that we need to keep Britain’s roads moving.

“To do that, we need to make sure we have the right people and equipment in place to deliver the 53 road schemes in preparation right now, plus the next generation of improvements over the next 7 years. This means taking on more apprentices and making sure suppliers have the capacity to deal with the increase in demand. If we get this right, this will provide road users with a high performing network that can cope with the expected 43 per cent increase in traffic over the coming decades that will help boost economy growth and deliver more efficient roads for motorists.”

Related Content

  • Chile launches ambitious transport plan
    November 7, 2014
    In an effort to boost a weakening economy, Chilean President Michelle Bachelet has announced a nearly US$4.2 billion transport infrastructure plan, including one new metro line in Santiago, cable car systems in three other cities and rail projects. The plan includes US$1.9 billion in new concessions, with the expansion of public-private partnerships (PPPs) to the metro system and US$2.2 billion in works directly funded by the government. In Santiago, the program involves developing feasibility studie
  • Road pricing is inevitable – because the ‘user pays’ principle is fair
    June 14, 2018
    We pay for roads through our taxes: the poor pay proportionately more, and effectively subsidise the rich. It would be fairer to accept the ‘user pays’ principle, says Dr John Walker. Road pricing is already used worldwide to combat congestion and pollution, to compensate for falling revenues from fuel duty (‘gas tax’), to provide an alternative (and fairer) means of charging motorists than the 80-year old fuel tax and to improve the efficiency of and expand transport infrastructure. However, it could and s
  • Don’t understand network infrastructure? Don’t worry
    November 1, 2021
    Rapid changes in technology mean ITS managers now need to understand network infrastructure as well as electrical engineering, says EtherWan’s Jim Toepper. But don’t worry, help is at hand…
  • Bringing the Internet of Mobility to life
    July 16, 2021
    As we chart our route to the ITS World Congress in Hamburg, a recent Ertico-ITS Europe webinar explored the future of connectivity including policy, infrastructure and security