Wigan roads to benefit from resurfacing projects using reallocated HS2 funding

A programme of pothole repairs and road resurfacing projects for the North West has been announced, using the first tranche of £1.2 billion in redistributed HS2 funding for the region.

Last November, the Government announced an £8.3 billion investment to tackle badly surfaced roads and pothole ridden streets across England, recommitted from the Northern leg of HS2, over an 11-year period.

Councils in the region have already received more than £19m for the work, with another £19m following in this financial year.

As a condition of this funding, and to make sure money is being spent on pothole repairs, local authorities are required to publish a two-year plan detailing exactly which roads will benefit.

Transport secretary Mark Harper said: “We’re on the side of drivers, which is why this Government is getting on with delivering our plan to invest £1.2 billion in the North West as part of the biggest ever funding increase for local road improvements, made possible by reallocated HS2 funding.

“Alongside this unprecedented funding, which is already being used to improve local roads, we’re making sure residents can hold their local authority to account and see for themselves how the investment will be spent to improve local roads for years to come.”

Having submitted their first reports last month, councils in the North West will be required to submit quarterly reports from June, announcing work which has taken place over three months. This means residents will regularly be able to scrutinise the progress their local authority is doing to tackle potholes.

RAC head of policy Simon Williams said: “It’s very encouraging to see so many local authorities quickly setting out how they’ll use the first tranche of the Government’s reallocated HS2 funding to improve their roads.

“Drivers will be pleased to see potholes fixed and roads resurfaced, especially as our research shows the poor state of local carriageways is their number-one concern.

"We hope councils will also use this extra money to carry out vital surface dressing work which helps prevent cracking in the cold winter months by sealing roads against water ingress.

"The prime time for this life-extending work is between April and September, so time is of the essence.”