£66m road maintenance boost
15:40 05 Feb 2009
|
An extra £66m to repair and improve local roads in England was announced by transport minister Paul Clark today.
The funding - which is in addition to the £2.1bn already provided for highways maintenance - will allow councils to make improvements to important local roads.
Clark said: "High quality local road networks are vital to communities; connecting people with work, shops, services, families and friends.
"This additional funding will allow local authorities to carry out improvements to important local highways bringing benefits to all who use the roads."
This funding will be used to carry out improvements such as road resurfacing, bridge maintenance, street lighting and flood protection.
The first £32m will be made available from April so councils can start planning improvements immediately. The remainder will be provided from April 2010.
CECA director Rosemary Beales commented: "All additional spending on infrastructure is welcome at a time when workload across the industry is sharply down, but £66m, across two years, with only £32m available from April 2009, is not going overwhelm the industry’s resources.
"CECA has been calling for work to be brought forward to get the industry moving in 2009. Local roads’ maintenance offers a good way of getting ‘pounds in the ground’ quickly. However, if the money is there it must be spent quickly to have the most positive impact at a time when workload is seriously suffering."
She also called for the additional funding for local authorities to be used for SMEs wherever possible:
"If this additional funding is going to help those contractors who are struggling most during the downturn, local authorities should procure the work in way that does not preclude smaller contractors. If this money is to be spent through frameworks, it would helpful if there were at some that bundled contracts of lower value together to enable SME contractors to compete."