Several transport schemes set to receive government funding

Several transport schemes across Yorkshire have been granted government funding approval as part of the National Productivity Investment Fund.

The money is part of a £345.3m funding package announced by the Department for Transport to improve local roads and public transport across the country. This includes almost £10m set to be pumped into three different transport schemes in the Sheffield City Region.

In Doncaster, £3.32m of funding has been secured for widening of the A18 Thorne Road railway bridge. In Rotherham, £3.24m will go towards improvements at the College Road roundabout, while in Sheffield, £3.36m will be spent on improving the A61 Chesterfield Road at the junction with Broadfield Road.

Schemes across Yorkshire include:

• £3.2m for highway and safety improvements along the Otley Road corridor in west Harrogate.
• Clifton Business Park transport network in Calderdale, with £4.49m for the scheme.
• £2.1m for the installation of traffic management at 35 junctions and 20 pedestrian crossings in Leeds.
• £3.2m for a ‘cycle superhighway’ along the A6120 Leeds outer ring road.
• £2.3m for traffic management at 72 junction locations and CCTV across Bradford.

Sir Nigel Knowles, chairman of the Sheffield City Region Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), said: “It is vital that transport infrastructure continues to unlock economic growth in the city region and across the UK, and that local, regional and national funds continue to support us in achieving improvements in our road capacity.”

Leeds-based professional services and engineering consultancy, WSP, supported four of the successful funding bids for Yorkshire in collaboration with local authorities across the region.

Adrian Kemp, director at  WSP, said:“It’s a positive contribution from the Government and will provide economic benefits at a local level – however for the Northern Powerhouse to fully prosper as a whole, we need a commitment to planned programmes; further devolved decision-making capabilities and more ambitious investment from both the public and private sector. This will enable the region to develop a strategic transport investment programme that is forward-thinking and maximises the economic opportunity of the north.”

Across the UK, funding will be spent on 76 projects to bring key benefits to local road users – such as improving access to public transport sites, opening up more roads for cyclists, addressing key local traffic ‘pinch points’ and supporting the development of new housing – as well as building two new major roads in Middlewich, Cheshire, and Worcester in the Midlands.