£367m funding bid lodged for eight ‘transformational’ highways schemes

Plans for eight “transformational” road improvements in the West Midlands have been submitted to government with a funding request for £367m to deliver them.

The Department for Transport (DfT) instructed Midlands Connect to work with the 22 councils to identify priority schemes to improve local roads in the region, as part of a £3.5bn 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 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%.

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

Six MRN schemes in the West Midlands include improvements to the A4123 Birchley Island in Sandwell, the A454 Black Country Route between Wolverhampton and the M6, the A45 Coventry Road/Damson Parkway junction close to Birmingham Airport, a stretch of the A38 through Bromsgrove, and the Queensway Link in Telford.

The schemes include new bypasses, widening roads at congestion hotspots, improving junctions and roundabouts, new links between existing stretches of road and better pedestrian and cycling facilities.

Alongside the request for £367m, another £77m would be funded locally from a mixture of public and private sector sources.

The total Midlands-wide funding request to the government is £596m, with an additional £143m to be funded locally.  If successful, councils would deliver the physical infrastructure required.

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.”

“By speaking with a collective voice on behalf of the Midlands, we believe each of the schemes submitted has provided all the evidence the government needs to fund them in full, and we expect to be celebrating a £600 million investment in to the region to help our local authorities get on and deliver this transformational programme of upgrades.”

CBI regional director Richard Butler said:

“To spur further economic growth in our region, businesses are crying out for more funding to be spent on infrastructure. If this money is secured it will allow businesses to grow and create jobs.”

“Improving major congestion pinch points on local roads also allows firms to import and export more easily as well as choose from a wider pool of labour.”

The West Midlands priority schemes submitted are as follows: