The Government has announced a road investment programme up to £50bn over the next 10-15 years to deliver a world class road network: Action for Roads: A network for the 21st Century.
The Government believes that the proposals laid out in this paper represent the most radical change to the management of UK highways in nearly half a century, and the biggest investment in improvements since the seventies.
The paper sets out what the next steps the Government has planned:
- Invest in 52 schemes, including 16 new projects announced for the first time in June 2013.
- Start construction on five major road schemes by April 2014.
- Begin feasibility studies on five problem hotspots on the strategic road network, prioritising solutions.
- Continue with route based strategies for the whole network, to build a next generation of improvements and interventions.
- Consult later this year on turning the Highways Agency into a publicly-owned strategic highways company.
- Publish a draft national policy statement for national networks in 2013, with the aim of formally designating the document in 2014.
- Introduce legislation in 2014, providing a stable funding basis for investment and legal powers for the new Highways Agency.
- Produce the first Road Investment Strategy later this parliament, guaranteeing roads investment to 2021.
