The cash is in addition to day-to-day maintenance costs incurred on the highways such as repairing potholes, winter maintenance and street lighting repairs.
A report to the Council’s transport and highways committee outlined plans for the next financial year with a programme that includes:
- continued investment in highway maintenance, including additional funding for footway maintenance
- further investment in safety improvements including the A612 Mile End junction
- further investment in the interactive speed sign programme with an additional 25 signs set to be installed
- 13 new or improved pedestrian crossings
- capacity improvements to help make journey times more reliable, including improvements to the A614/A617 Lockwell Hill roundabout
Subject to budget approval, the County Council will be spending £7.10m on funding local transport improvements, such as addressing congestion or road safety.
A further £2m will be spent on major projects such as a new bus station for Worksop and an improvement scheme for Hucknall town centre. It will also spend £18.562m on planned capital maintenance across the county.
This will include general highway maintenance such as resurfacing and surface dressing of roads, replacement of street lighting columns, energy saving measures and flood alleviation projects.
The £18.562m includes £2.022m allocated to the County Council following the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s Autumn Statement.
This funding is in addition to the annual government grant provided for councils for road maintenance. The County Council plans to put the £2.022m towards supporting economic growth through a strategic route improvement plan which will include as a priority improving the A614 between Nottingham and the A1.
Subject to more detailed costing, further improvements could also include the A57 Worksop to A1 route and the A617 Mansfield to Newark road.
In addition, the money will be used in a targeted programme of footway repairs as part of a wider County Council programme to improve people’s health by encouraging them to walk more.
“The County Council is continuing to invest in providing and maintaining a quality highway network for the benefit of residents, road users and the local economy,” said Coun Richard Jackson, chairman of the County Council’s transport and highways committee.