Transport Secretary Mark Harper visited Kempshott Lane and St Michael’s Road in Basingstoke this week to see how the government’s record funding increase for pothole repairs is creating smoother, quicker journeys for residents as well as supporting the local economy.
The Transport Secretary was joined by local councillors and Basingstoke MP Maria Miller to discuss the work being done and innovative techniques being used to improve local roads with the record funding boost for roads resurfacing provided by the government.
While residents of Kempshott Lane will benefit from works on the road due to start in autumn, regular users of St. Michael’s Road are already seeing the benefits of resurfacing work undertaken with Hampshire’s initial £4.225 million allocation last year. This has improved journeys on this notorious stretch of road, to help drivers avoid costly car repairs due to pothole damage.
Last November, the government announced an unprecedented £8.3 billion investment to tackle badly surfaced roads and pothole-plagued streets across England, with the South East receiving £735 million over an 11-year period thanks to reallocated High Speed 2 (HS2) funding, with savings from the new way of delivering the HS2 Euston station funding improvements in the South and East of England.
The government is encouraging local councils to provide innovative solutions to road resurfacing, and Hampshire is trialling the use of technology including the JCB Pothole Pro, new asset management software and vegetable oil fuel for machinery, with an aim to reduce carbon emissions from road resurfacing.
With the 2023 to 2024 and 2024 to 2025 funding allocations, Hampshire County Council has already identified key roads such as the A3090 through Romsey, the A272 in Stroud and Portsview Avenue in Porchester.
Transport Secretary, Mark Harper, said: “People in Hampshire deserve smooth and safe roads, so it was great to see how Basingstoke’s Kempshott Lane and St Michael’s Road will benefit from our record funding increase to improve local roads.
“As part of our plan to back drivers and improve local roads, Hampshire is benefitting from a long-term, £132 million plan to resurface roads, made possible by reallocated HS2 funding as a result of savings from the new way we’re delivering Euston station.”
Councils nationwide have already been paid over £150 million in additional funding to get on with resurfacing work and deliver improvements for the country’s roads and the Roads Minister, Guy Opperman, has urged all local authorities to make the most out of the funding by better considering long-term solutions to road repairs as another £150 million is set to follow this financial year.
Alongside this investment, the Department for Transport has also recently conducted a consultation on a series of measures to extend the current £10,000 per day fine for overrunning street works into the weekend and bank holidays, raise fines for other offences and direct at least 50% of money from lane rental schemes to improve roads and repair potholes.
Responses are now being analysed and we will publish the outcome shortly. These measures could generate up to £100 million extra over 10 years to resurface roads while helping tackle congestion.
PIC-GOV.UK
