New £27bn investment to fix roads will go on motorways, not the potholes down your street
Government cash will help fix potholes on major roads, as well as bring several large-scale improvements to boost safety and traffic flow
The Government has announced a huge £27 billion investment into the Strategic Road Network, which it’s said will “upgrade and future-proof” England's motorways and major A-roads.
Spread across five years, the cash comes as part of the previously announced Road Investment Strategy 3. It will be mainly used to focus on roughly five-and-a-half thousand miles of road managed by National Highways, rather than by local authorities – although a small portion of the cash will support some locally managed schemes. Alongside general resurfacing and pothole repairs, the Department for Transport says the investment will also bring major improvements for several areas to bolster safety and traffic flow.
For instance, the A66 that connects Cumbria and North Yorkshire will be transformed from a single carriageway to a dual-carriageway between Junction 40 for the M6 and Junction 53 for the A1(M). Ageing bridges on the M6 built in the 1960s will also be renewed, while the funding also includes cash to add to the private investment for the new Lower Thames Crossing, which will eventually connect Kent and Essex.
The Transport Secretary, Heidi Alexander, said that the injection of funds “will secure the future of our road network for years to come”. This sentiment was echoed by the policy and public affairs manager at safety charity IAM RoadSmart, William Porter. He described the announcement as “a welcome recognition that maintaining and renewing our road network is just as important as building new infrastructure when it comes to road safety”.
However, Porter added: “This focus on long-term, preventative maintenance is a positive step, but investment must go hand in hand with measures that improve driver behaviour and road design. A truly effective road network is one that is not only reliable and resilient, but also consistently supports safer driving and reduces the risk of collisions for everyone using it.”
This announcement by the Government comes hot on the heels of the Asphalt Industry Alliance’s annual ALARM report. This states that the cost to fix local roads across England and Wales now sits at over £18 billion, with the £28 billion just announced by the DfT only covering major roads under the jurisdiction of National Highways. In effect, this means that while the announcement of investment is certainly welcome, it won’t fix the issue of crumbling local road infrastructure.
Admittedly, the Government did announce a four-year injection of cash into local roads valued at over £7 billion all the way back in the 2024 Autumn Budget, but the AIA believes getting the cash up-front would help local authorities fix problems before they develop and clearly display the value of the investment.
AIA director Malcolm Simms told Auto Express: “By frontloading we could do the job now and demonstrate in those early years that this is having a positive effect. That’s more likely to encourage [the] Government and authorities to provide that investment in the long term and better quantify their needs.”
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