Major renewal of ageing English roads delivered with £27 billion investment

• major £27 billion boost for England's motorways and major A-roads over the next 5 years – one of the largest ever road investment plans
• after years of decline, plans will fix the country's ageing roads, fund major schemes like the dualling of the A66 and unlock private investment into the Lower Thames Crossing to improve connectivity and cut congestion
• government also gives green light to 16 key road schemes on local roads, helping create thousands of new jobs and homes across the country

Millions of drivers are set for smoother, safer journeys as the government today (26 March 2026) commits £27 billion to upgrade and future-proof England's roads.

Spread across 5 years, the plan puts more money into maintaining the network to help deliver smoother, more reliable journeys for drivers, businesses and freight operators by resurfacing roads, fixing potholes, and replacing worn-out stretches of motorway.

The huge investment, known as the Road Investment Strategy (RIS3), will fund major schemes that unlock growth and improve connectivity across the country, and allow National Highways (NH) to resurface over 9,000 kilometres worth of motorway and major A-road lanes – almost a quarter of the network.

These include the dualling of the A66 between Cumbria and North Yorkshire, and government support to bring private investment into the Lower Thames Crossing – a new road crossing east of London that will ease congestion and improve connections across the South East. 

The government is also choosing to fix the foundations, investing a record £8.4 billion to repairing and renewing England's motorways and major A-roads before problems arise, so drivers can have faith in a world-class road network once again.

That's on top of the £7.3 billion already pledged by government at the Spending Review for local authorities to fix potholes and invest in long-term measures to maintain local roads.

To help restore people's pride in their communities, the government is today also giving the green light to a further 16 road schemes on the major road network and local roads, supporting thousands of new jobs and homes in communities across England.

The schemes, including bypasses and junction improvements that local authorities could not deliver alone, have been chosen on their value for money and long-term deliverability, ensuring taxpayers' money goes into projects that will deliver growth for left behind communities.

To help show the scale of the investment, the government has created an interactive map showing all the schemes that will be progressed during RIS3.

Interactive map of RIS3 schemes.

Transport Secretary, Heidi Alexander, said:

For too long this country has failed to tackle and fix our crumbling infrastructure, but this huge £27 billion investment in our roads will secure the future of our road network for years to come.

Not only are we investing in renewing our roads, meaning smoother and faster journeys for drivers, we are getting on with investing into brand new projects and fixing potholes, which will deliver benefits across the country from Norwich to Manchester.

Roads and Buses Minister, Simon Lightwood, said:

This government is firmly putting its money where its mouth is, and this new funding will be transformational for the millions of drivers and thousands of businesses that rely on our motorways and A roads every day.

By investing in existing infrastructure and new schemes, such as the Lower Thames Crossing and long-awaited dualling of the A66, we are giving everyone the confidence they can get from A to B faster and smoother than ever before.

National Highways Executive Director Elliot Shaw said: 

This major investment will help boost economic growth by improving and maintaining motorways and major A roads which keep the country moving. 

When roads are well maintained, businesses and communities feel the benefit, so this funding enables us to tackle an ageing network head-on and keep drivers safe. 

Our focus on renewing vital infrastructure will keep people connected to their loved ones, support the delivery of new homes and jobs, and give industry the confidence to plan and invest in the UK.

The £27 billion investment supports the government's central mission of kickstarting economic growth, giving businesses and regions the long-term certainty they need to invest and create jobs. Improved road reliability will also help keep supply chains moving and support the freight networks that keep goods and prices stable for consumers. 

RIS3 sets stretching targets for National Highways on safety, journey reliability, network condition and environmental performance, allowing the government to hold them to account on delivery over the 5-year period.

While today the government has committed to tackling potholes on motorway and major A-road surfaces, it also recently committed to investing over £7 billion over the next 4 years to help councils tackle their potholes. We have also introduced a new rating system so people can see for themselves whether their local council is using their funding to deliver for their communities.

Schemes to be developed during RIS3

Schemes to be explored for RIS4 or future pipeline

List of approved local authority-led schemes following Major Road Network (MRN) and large local majors (LLM) review