M42 to benefit from Government’s £15bn road investment strategy
THE region is set to benefit from the Government’s new £15bn road investment strategy which is intended to increase the capacity and improve the condition of England’s roads.
The plan, to be formally announced to Parliament today by transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin and chief secretary to the treasury Danny Alexander, aims to triple levels of spending on road infrastructure by the end of the decade.
The Government is investing in more than 100 new road schemes over this parliament and next, 84 of which are brand new today.
Details are still sketchy but this includes £1.5bn of investment to add an extra lane onto key motorways to turn them into smart motorways, boosting connectivity between London, Birmingham, Manchester and Yorkshire.
McLoughlin will say: “Today I am setting out the biggest, boldest and most far-reaching roads programme for decades. It will dramatically improve our road network and unlock Britain’s economic potential.
“Roads are key to our nation’s prosperity. For too long they have suffered from under-investment.
“This Government has a long term plan to secure the country’s future and this £15bn roads programme is demonstration of that. Better roads allow us to travel freely, creating jobs and opportunities, benefiting hardworking families across the country.”
New local projects to be announced today include improving the M42 to the east of Birmingham, “improving the connectivity to Birmingham Airport, the National Exhibition Centre, the local Enterprise Zone and paving the way for the new High Speed 2 interchange station”.
The Midlands’ share of the road investment strategy pot is 17 schemes worth £1.4bn, estimated to create 900 jobs.
Richard Halstead, Midlands region director at manufacturers’ organisation EEF, said: “As far as manufacturers are concerned, the Strategic Road Network is the most business-critical infrastructure network.
“Today’s announcement is a significant step towards filling in the gaps to create a network that better supports growth. This is however just a medium-term catch up and we can’t afford to allow this level of drift in maintaining and upgrading our road network in the future.
“In our recent survey of members, 65% chose the strategic road network as one of their top three priorities for infrastructure investment. Today’s Road Investment Strategy takes this into account including newly announced upgrades to junctions along the M1, a key road for manufacturers seeking to invest, expand and export in our region.”
