Action for roads

CIHT welcome today’s announcement in Action for Roads that should create longer term funding certainty for the maintenance and enhancement of the strategic road network in England.

A key point from the reforms announced is that any future Government would have to go through a statutory process to change the funding commitment and this provides greater certainty for the highways sector.  CIHT welcome this ‘workmanlike’ solution to the stop-start funding problems for the road network. 

The announcement today outlines six years of funding certainty for capital projects and maintenance.  Furthermore, CIHT welcome the support to the decarbonisation agenda with the announcement of £500m for electric vehicles.   CIHT also welcome the steps to ‘cycle-proof’ the network to seduce severance.  

Over a year ago when the Prime Minister launched the review said: “We need to look urgently at the options for getting large-scale private investment into the national roads network”.  This has not happened, but until a more radical approach is adopted - either through tolling/shadow tolling or some form of charge on motorway usage – then there will not be a revenue stream created to attract funding.  Politically this is clearly very challenging, but this would move the sector more robustly to the operation of a utility type model and address the issue of falling fuel and VED as car efficiency improves.

CIHT will respond in more detail once it has reviewed the announcement in more detail.