Britain’s roads to get £1.1bn investment to tackle congestion

It is positive news that the Chancellor is planning to invest £1.1 billion in improving the country’s local infrastructure with 220million set to be invested specifically on tackling the most congested roads. I particularly welcome the emphasis on delivering vital upgrades to local roads.

The major highways network, including motorways and the larger ‘A’ roads, should always be a priority of course because that is where most of the traffic is, and also where the greatest commercial value lies. However, the local road network should never be neglected. People are naturally more concerned about the stretch of highway outside their front door and the road network that they use to travel to work every day, than they are about a distant motorway – and they need to be listened to and proactively engaged with.

What’s more concerning though, when you look at the wider picture, is that the revenue budgets that local and regional highways departments have at their disposal remain tight today and are likely to get even tighter in the future. So despite the planned focus on road upgrades and new capital investment there is a danger that in reality councils could be faced with another challenging year of protecting already limited budgets against other services, and making these budgets stretch further to provide a level of service which is no lower than it was previously.

The initial cost of building and upgrading infrastructure is significant, of course, but the expense of maintaining an asset over a 100-year life will amount to much more. So while the commitment to build new infrastructure is positive, if the Government is continuing to cut revenue budgets, how are they going to maintain this expanded infrastructure over the long-term?