Skip to main content

UK road repairs – financing found

The UK’s Department for Transport is providing £348 million of funding to help improve local roads over the next four years. This funding will be available for local authorities to bid for, allowing them to work on major maintenance projects, as well as on projects that will ease congestion on the UK’s busiest roads. This announcement follows a £6.6 billion investment in local road maintenance in the last five years The funding will be available in two stages for local authorities to bid for in an effort t
July 19, 2019 Read time: 2 mins
The UK’s 5432 Department for Transport is providing £348 million of funding to help improve local roads over the next four years. This funding will be available for local authorities to bid for, allowing them to work on major maintenance projects, as well as on projects that will ease congestion on the UK’s busiest roads. This announcement follows a £6.6 billion investment in local road maintenance in the last five years

The funding will be available in two stages for local authorities to bid for in an effort to tackle issues on major local roads, from easing congestion through to sorting out potholes.

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 if necessary - to benefit the local economy and make driving safer. In particular, the funding could be put toward sorting major pothole repairs.

The second set of funding, the Pinch Point Fund, will be available in 2021/22 and 2022/23 and totals £150 million. It will go towards council projects designed to help ease congestion on some of their busiest roads. Previous examples of projects funded through Pinch Point include: improving the links between the A12 and A143 to open up housing and commercial development land; new roads helping buses bypass single lane roads; and new roads to link main roads with new housing developments.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • M25 maintenance contract for Tarmac in UK
    May 25, 2017
    Contractor Tarmac has won a deal that will see the firm carrying out maintenance work on the UK’s M25 motorway. The contract is worth some £10 million/year and is for M25 operator and maintenance company, Connect Plus. The M25 motorway is one of the busiest road links in Europe and runs around UK capital London. The agreement will be for a period of up to 12 years and will see Tarmac carrying out resurfacing work for a total of 440km of motorway as well as the key link roads around London. Tarmac will also
  • Vital structures
    February 10, 2012
    A wide variety of products are available to help bridge owners reduce the need for costly repairs. Bridges are one of the most expensive structures on a highway system, and their maintenance, and where necessary, repair will save millions over time. Prevention being better than cure means that anything that can be done to reduce the need for repair is a good investment. For example, a MOOG bucket-type inspection unit has been commissioned for the Naini Bridge in Allahabad in the state of Uttar Pradesh, Indi
  • The Preston Western Distributor
    September 7, 2023
    Costain, as main contractor for the Preston Western Distributor project, was involved from the earliest stages, thanks to the UK’s Early Contractor Involvement approach. The project was delivered on time and on budget to the benefit of the local environment, local businesses and the region’s workforce. David Arminas reports*
  • The radically changing face of UK highways management
    May 14, 2014
    The British Government policy paper ‘Action for Roads: A network for the 21st century’ sets out radical change to the strategic way roads are funded and managed – including plans to turn the Highways Agency into a Government-owned company and a pledge to invest over €33.4 billion (£28 billion) in roads maintenance between 2015 and 2020. Jenny Moten, Highways Agency divisional director for Network Services, gave a keynote presentation on the new approach to strategic highways management during the Road Safet