Councils are to get £348 million over the next four years to improve local roads – notably to fix potholes, the Department of Transport has revealed.
The first pot of investment, the Challenge Fund, will be available for this year and the next, with just under £200 million on offer. Councils will be able to bid for projects that will improve the quality of roads and surrounding infrastructure, including structures such as bridges and viaducts. In particular, the funding could be put toward sorting major pothole repairs.
However, the Freight Transport Association warned that it does not go far enough. Malcolm Bingham, head of road network policy, said: “Estimates show it would cost £9.79 billion and take ten years for highways departments to resolve all the road repairs currently needed. FTA’s members and their vehicles are taking the hit for a chronic lack of underinvestment in the UK’s roads network.”
