Consultation for Major Road Network investment

The government has launched a consultation on which roads to include in new Major Road Network.

The identified ‘Key ‘A’ roads across the country will benefit from up to £100M each of funding under the strategy. The MRN consultation proposes that 5,000 miles of ‘A’ road – over 20 times the length of the UK’s longest motorway – are brought into scope for new funding from the National Roads Fund for upgrades and improvements.

Various schemes will be eligible for funding with upgrades to bypasses, missing links between existing routes, road widening, major junction improvements, and technological and safety enhancements along stretches of the network to be considered.

With successful bids receiving up to £100M, the strategy will will help cut congestion, unlock housing and boost economic growth.

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said: “For decades, these major local roads have been underfunded and not properly maintained.

“We are spending record amounts on improving our roads and we want more of our busiest roads to benefit from guaranteed investment.

“This will unlock no end of benefits for communities by improving motorists’ journeys, taking traffic away from built up areas, as well as enabling new housing to be built and creating jobs.”

The consultation on the ‘A’ roads which will make up the MRN and the level of funding per scheme started just before Christmas and will last 12 weeks.

The development of the MRN is to complement the planned investment in the strategic road network, with improvements on both delivering benefits to users.

Under the proposals, road upgrades will be developed by councils and, where possible, sub-national transport bodies, such as Transport for the North, allowing greater autonomy over the best solutions for their roads.

From 2020 the National Roads Fund will be paid for by Vehicle Excise Duty, which raised about £6Bn last year.

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