The Department for Transport (DfT) has published the third Road Investment Strategy (RIS3) covering 2026-2031, with a strong focus on road renewals under a total £27bn funding package.

The headline figure includes £24.99bn to operate, maintain, renew and enhance National Highways' strategic road network (SRN), with an additional £402m for nationally important Inward Investment Projects ‘aimed at attracting new industries and foreign direct investment' and £1.6bn ringfenced for the publicly-funded works of the Lower Thames Crossing.

Transport secretary Heidi Alexander said: ‘Our investment will enable the network to play its full part in supporting the Government's ambitions to kickstart economic growth – increasing the UK's trade capability, supporting housing, jobs and opportunities, and helping boost essential sectors like manufacturing, construction and retail.'

National Highways executive director, Elliot Shaw, added: ‘Our focus on renewing vital infrastructure will keep people connected to their loved ones, support the delivery of new homes and jobs, and give industry the confidence to plan and invest in the UK.'

Renewals

A ‘record' £8.4bn has been allocated to maintenance renewals, with capital commitments to resurfacing over 9,000km of motorway and A-road, reconstructing 152 lane-kilometres of concrete road; renewing 12,650 roadside technology assets and 1,191km of road restraint assets.

On top of this, work on 15 large renewal schemes is planned, of which 5-9 schemes will reach the end of construction by the end of 2030-31, the RIS 3 document states.

Of these large renewals, six focus on concrete roads – A180 Brocklesby Interchange A16 to Barnetby Interchange A15, A120 Wix Bypass Eastbound and Westbound, M180 Junctions 2-3 Eastbound and Westbound, M271 Junction 2 Redbridge to M27 Junction 3 Northbound and Southbound, A46 Concrete Reconstruction Scheme and M27 Junctions 5-7 Concrete Overlay – with the remaining nine dealing with ‘significant structures':

  • M6 Lune Gorge Structures Improvements
  • M55 Broughton Circle
  • M62/M1Lofthouse Interchange
  • M62 Goole & Airmyn Refurbishment
  • A47 Great Ouse Refurbishment
  • M42 Eastway Bridge
  • M32 Eastville Viaduct
  • M5 Junctions 19-20 Wynhol Viaduct
  • A27 Arundel Railway Bridge Replacement

Enhancements

Around £3.8bn is being put into enhancement schemes, including the major A66 Northern Trans-Pennine dualling project.

In total, 12 enhancement projects are due to open to traffic in the third road period. This includes 10 enhancements already in construction, however.

Schemes expected to be completed in the third road period include improvements on the A57 in Greater Manchester, A52 Nottingham Junctions, A417 Missing Link, A428 Black Cat to Caxton Gibbet and three schemes on the A47 in Norfolk.

Safety

National Highways has been set a target of achieving a 7.5% reduction in the number of people killed or seriously injured (KSI) on the strategic road network by the end of 2031 against a 2022-24 baseline. This figure is significantly below the wider national Road Safety Strategy target of reducing KSIs on Britain's roads by 65% by 2035.

For this RIS, there will be a return to a specific Safety Designated Fund, which will target ‘small-scale safety interventions' and support regional initiatives. The RIS does not specify how much the fund will be; this is expected in National Highways' strategic business and delivery plans for 2026-31, which are due to be published ‘over the months ahead'.

A 2024 Road Safety Foundation report argued that a £624m safety investment on England's SRN would save an estimated 2,797 KSIs over a 20 year period at an overall cost-benefit ratio of 2:1.

There is also a new ‘Safety National Programme' for RIS 3, which the DfT said would cover all regions in England and allow National Highways to respond to the safety needs of high-risk major A-roads in ‘a prioritised way' based on the International Road Assessment Programme (iRAP) star rating.

National Programmes

A new inclusion for RIS 3 is a set of four National Programmes, of which the safety plan is one. The DfT described the plans as a ‘new way of delivering defined outputs' that support the strategy's objectives. The four programmes are:

  • Environment National Programme
  • Safety National Programme
  • Small Schemes National Programme
  • Growth and Housing Accelerator Fund

It has also included the following designed funds:

  • Safety
  • Innovation and Research
  • Customer and Communities
  • Environment

Following its legacy of controversies, the Government confirmed it will not build any new smart motorways. The RIS 3 document states that the Government expects National Highways ‘to increase public confidence in existing smart motorways' and cites the example of ‘upgrading CCTV cameras to detect incidents' – likely a reference to stopped vehicle detection technology.

Targets acquired

Guiding the direction of RIS 3 are six strategic objectives:

  • Growing the economy
  • Improving safety for all
  • Achieving a level of network performance that meets customers' needs
  • Providing a technology-enabled and enabling network
  • Providing a resilient network that is planned and managed for the long-term
  • Improving environmental outcomes

These objectives form the foundation for National Highways' KPIs for RIS 3. These include:

  • At least 97.5% lane availability (although the DfT notes that this will be reviewed ‘once National Highways performance data is sufficiently robust').
  • Percentage of the network in good condition to be maintained at 96.2% or above: a -0.1% variance is permitted in years 1–4.
  • At least 2,000 biodiversity units must be delivered, as well as 10% biodiversity net gain on ‘all major enhancements' that start construction during RIS 3.
  • National Highways must demonstrate it has done ‘all it reasonably can to improve road user satisfaction year-on-year, including achieving higher satisfaction in 2030- 31 than in 2025-26, as measured through the Strategic Roads User Survey'.
  • Demonstrate and evidence total efficiency of £1.4bn capital and operational expenditure by the end of the third road period.

The RIS 3 document also states that, in order to help grow the UK economy, National Highways will use procurement strategies that ‘prioritise British supply chains and support UK-based businesses'.

Sue Percy CBE, chief executive of the CIHT, said: ‘CIHT has long called for stable, long‑term funding to move away from stop‑start delivery and improve value for money, and RIS3 now provides that framework. The priority must be delivery at pace – with government, National Highways and the supply chain working together to maintain momentum, provide clarity on programmes and ensure the strategy is delivered in full for the benefit of road users and the wider economy.'