The South Yorkshire Combined Authority has confirmed £44 million for transport and infrastructure projects in the region.

The programme includes money for the construction of Barnsley’s Market Gate Bridge and road layout changes in Kelham and Neepsend in Sheffield.

Funding for new cycle routes and bus lanes in Rotherham was also approved by South Yorkshire’s mayor and council leaders on Monday.

Mayor Oliver Coppard said the projects would make the region “a better place to live, work and invest”, reports the BBC.

Among the schemes the Mayoral Combined Authority approved was £8.1m to provide better cycle paths on Sheffield Road, Rotherham, to encourage active travel between Tinsley and the town centre.

A scheme to add or extend bus lanes on part of the A631 between Maltby and Rotherham was also given the go-ahead.

Plans to change the road layout at Neepsend and Kelham in Sheffield to create more space for cyclists and pedestrians were also granted funding.

A project to replace 11 diesel minibuses with electric vehicles for community transport groups in Sheffield, Doncaster, Rotherham and Barnsley was awarded £1.4m.

A further £2.5m will support plans to build a pedestrian bridge over the Sheffield to Leeds railway line in Barnsley.

The authority also provided £6.5m of funding towards the redevelopment of Doncaster Waterfront, £2.4m for improvements at Rotherham’s markets complex and £3m for the development of Sheffield’s West Bar project.

Mr Coppard said: “When I was elected last May, I promised to renew South Yorkshire, and make our region healthier, more prosperous and more sustainable.

“We want our communities to be able to thrive and these projects and schemes will make a real, tangible difference to our future.”