Government asked for £230m to build East Mids roads

The government has been asked for almost £230m to build three “transformational” road schemes.

Transport body Midlands Connect was empowered by the Department for Transport (DfT) to work with the 22 councils in its partnership to identify priority schemes to improve local roads in the region, as part of a £3.5 billion national fund available from 2020-2025.

The fund covers upgrades to the Major Road Network (MRN), a new category of the busiest and most economically important local authority ‘A’ roads. The MRN was established by the government to focus on funding schemes that will reduce congestion, support housing and employment growth, encourage people to walk, cycle and use public transport, and provide better links to motorways and major trunk roads.

The £3.5bn government fund also includes ‘Large Local MajorS’ (LLM) schemes, which focus on bigger upgrades to local roads.

MRN schemes must include a government funding request of £20-50m each, and LLM schemes more than £50m, with a local contribution of at least 15%.

Midlands Connect has now submitted seven priority MRN schemes and four LLM schemes to the DfT for consideration.

The East Midlands schemes submitted by Midlands Connect come with a request to the government for £229m to deliver them, with another £66m funded locally. If successful, local authorities would deliver the physical infrastructure required.

The MRN and LLM schemes in the East Midlands submitted to the government are:

· A511 Coalville Growth Corridor, Leicestershire (MRN): nine junction improvements, local widening and a new link road connecting the A511 to Bardon Link Road. The scheme will improve access to new homes and job sites, ease congestion at pinch points and improve air quality.

· North Hykeham Relief Road, Lincolnshire (LLM): a new link to the south of Lincoln, connecting the A46 to the currently under construction A15 Lincoln Eastern Bypass. The new route would improve access to the Humber ports, tourist traffic travelling to the coast, and support planned new job and employment sites.

· Chesterfield-Staveley Regeneration Route, Derbyshire (LLM): a new 5.7 kilometre single carriageway, connecting the A619 north of Chesterfield town centre to the A6192 and A619 at Staveley. The route is critical to the North Derbyshire Growth Zone, with 5,700 new jobs planned, and provides access to the HS2 Infrastructure Maintenance Depot at Staveley.

Another East Midlands MRN scheme, improvements on the A614 from Ollerton to Lowdham in Nottinghamshire, has already received a funding commitment of £18m from the government, announced in October 2018. Midlands Connect submitted the scheme to the Department for Transport following a request to put forward those that could be delivered early in the 2020-2025 period, and therefore needed an earlier funding decision.

Simon Statham, Midlands Connect’s head of technical programmes, said: “A reliable transport network is essential to the success of the Midlands. The Major Road Network targets funding specifically at schemes that help improve job opportunities, open up new housing developments, and importantly address our environmental obligations as well. Objectives for the funding include understanding how a scheme will create improvements for all road users, not just cars, and improve air quality by reducing congestion.”