The government will prioritise roads maintenance over new highways

04 December 2023

The Department for Transport (DfT) has stated that it will prioritise investing in the maintenance of England’s major roads, rather than the development of new highways in order to keep the roads network in a 'safe and serviceable condition'.

The announcement comes in response to a report by the Commons' Transport Select Committee about National Highways' project portfolios which called for the government to prioritise road renewal and maintenance over costly enhancements which are often prone to delays and overspending.

The department stated, “The Government recognises that failure to invest in a well-maintained road network will result in lost time, lower productivity, and higher costs for road users and those that rely on the network.

“It will also reduce the quality of life and increase intrusion for those neighbouring the network.”

Almost half of the £27.4 billion road investment funding for the years 2020 to 2025 is budgeted for maintenance work.

AA president Edmund King said, “The vast majority of AA members (96 per cent) have told us that road maintenance and getting rid of potholes should be the number one transport priority.

'We pushed for this in our evidence to the Select Committee and also called for congestion and crash hotspots to be sorted out.”

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