Highways England has revealed plans for £27.4bn investment in the strategic road network which will support 64,000 construction jobs
Highways England will deliver £14bn of projects to improve the quality, capacity and safety of the motorways and major A roads that have helped keep the country going during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Almost £11bn will go into improving everyday journeys by repairing and replacing parts of the road network.
Highways England said its plans would support 64,000 construction jobs.
Make journeys faster and more reliable
Chief executive of Highways England, Jim O’Sullivan, said: “Our network is a vital part of everyone’s life. It has served the country well during the pandemic, keeping supermarket shelves stocked and enabling key workers to get where they need to be.
“Over the next five years we will increase capacity where it is most needed and continue to upgrade more of the network which has suffered from decades of under-investment.
“We now have a strong track record of delivering new schemes and operating the network for the benefit of our customers and the communities we serve.
“The plan we’re launching today will protect and create jobs to aid the nation’s recovery, and make journeys faster and more reliable for freight and road users.”
Road investment strategy
The announced plans set out how Highways England will deliver the government’s second Road Investment Strategy announced at the Budget in March.
The company will:
- Open more than 50 upgrades and save millions of hours by improving journey times
- Invest almost £1bn on broader projects to improve roads for the communities they serve, such as conserving cultural heritage or strengthening flood resilience, and improving access for walkers, cyclists and horse riders
- Make 7,500 households quieter by tackling noise from roads
- Help stop the loss of biodiversity
- Develop a pipeline of around 30 schemes for potential construction post-2025.
As much of the road network was built over 60 years ago and needs renewing, the company will:
- Resurface nearly 5,000 lane miles of road
- Install or renew more than 1,000 miles of safety barriers on motorways and dual carriageways
- Renew more than 170 bridges and other structures
- Invest £300-400m replacing ageing concrete sections on the A14, M5, M18, M20, M42, M54 and M56.
