West Sussex County Council has agreed a £32m package of highways and transport spending for the forthcoming financial year, with an extra £21m from the council’s capital budget over the next five years.
The announcement adds to an earlier pledge of an extra £12m over five years.
Around £20m for the council’s Highways, Transport and Planning Delivery Programme 2022-2023 comes from Department for Transport (DfT) block funding, in addition to corporate funding, S106 and other external contributions including cash from the DfT's Active Travel Fund.
The council said priority areas for the additional £21m over five years include:
- Carriageway improvements and repairs
- Footway/pavement improvements
- Road safety improvements
- Schemes to tackle flood issues, including those caused by extreme weather events
Joy Dennis, cabinet member for highways and transport, said: ‘Residents care deeply about the condition of the county’s highway: this level of funding - an extra £21m over the next five years - shows the county council agrees with them and sees this as a priority area for improvement and investment.
‘The programme of works that starts in a few weeks’ time is extensive. The Highways, Transport and Planning Delivery Programme comprises more than 650 individual schemes and includes road and pavement maintenance and improvement, plus work to improve road safety, bridges, drainage and public rights of way.’
The council said that carbon reduction initiatives feature in the 2022/23 programme of footway and carriageway resurfacing schemes.
Ms Dennis added: ‘Our officers continue to collaborate with contractors to explore the use of the latest technology to try to cut carbon emissions in our highways work.
‘This includes allowing resurfacing materials to be mixed at much lower temperatures than conventional asphalt and using recycled material from our roads, which can significantly cut the carbon emissions attributed to a scheme, without impacting on quality.’
