Transport Secretary visited Kempshott Lane and St
Michael's Road in Basingstoke today (16 May 2024), 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 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, , 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,
, 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.
