Government money to be spent on flood-hit roads

The government has pledged £61 million to help repair damaged roads and build greater resilience into the railway network in the south west.

At Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday (12 February) David Cameron gave the go ahead for a £31 million scheme to deliver 10 rail resilience projects including works at Cowley Bridge in Exeter, to improve resilience to flooding.

He also announced a further £30 million for local authorities in England affected by the severe weather for road maintenance, including pothole repairs.

This is in addition to the £3.5 million transport element of the £7 million flood recovery package announced last month.

Secretary of State for Transport Patrick McLoughlin said: “We are facing exceptional weather conditions right now. We’re working with transport operators to make sure everything that can be done to reduce the impact of the storms and floods on our transport system and speed up recovery is being done. We’re also determined to boost the resilience of the transport network against future severe weather. The funding the Prime Minister has announced, along with the other measures we are putting in place, will help make this happen.”

The Highways Agency will continue to ensure that routes affected by rail disruption are kept clear by lifting roadworks, providing additional support from traffic officers and deploying plant and recovery operators at key locations.