3. Highways England is delivering a huge amount of government investment in strategic
roads across the north, placing us at the forefront of the Northern Powerhouse.
In December 2014 the government announced £2.9 billion of investment across the
north between 2015 and 2020 to support our strategic outcomes. As well as supporting
economic growth, this includes improving safety, accessibility, environmental impacts
and journey reliability.
We recognise that excellent connectivity across the north is essential if the potential
of northern growth is to be realised. We’re playing a critical role by transforming
connections between cities and towns in the north; enabling them to increase their
productivity. We’re providing better, more free-flowing links from the north to the
midlands, Scotland and London.
Importantly, we’re committed to working in close partnership with Transport for the North and
other key organisations to meet joint objectives of reducing congestion, improving access,
capacity and safety. Together, we aim to establish the north as a global powerhouse.
“We’re delivering England’s largest road investment programme for
a generation. The northern road network will see huge modernisation
through the construction of new link roads, improved junctions and smarter
technology to keep traffic moving. Through this investment people and
businesses will be better connected both within the north and with the rest of
the country. We’ve already started planning for the next phase of investment
beyond 2020 and we’re committed to ensuring that the very best investment
decisions are made.”
Jim O’Sullivan
CEO, Highways England
5. £2.9 billion roads investment across the north
between 2015 and 2020
42 schemes identified
8 schemes in construction
3 schemes due to start construction in the next
12 months
110 miles of smart motorways to be delivered
6. Our commitment to the Northern Powerhouse
„„ A core free-flowing network of trunk roads in the north of England - ensuring traffic
remains free-flowing and safe, with faster and more reliable journeys
„„ Improved east-west major road links. Creating better and more reliable journey
times between major cities
„„ Expanded capacity on north-south major road links through the north -
improving journey times and reliability and ensuring the north is well
connected
„„ Ensuring effective road connections to the country’s major ports in the
north of England
„„ Future-proofing the road network so that it can support the next
generation of low-emission vehicles
„„ Working with other organisations to make sure that future roads
investment in enhancements, maintenance and renewals is
better planned
7.
8.
9. Future planning
Developing Route Strategies
We’re looking to the future, working with the Department for Transport and stakeholders
from across the north and the rest of the country. Route strategies will be a key building
block in the government’s next Road Investment Strategy.
We’ll be engaging closely with stakeholders to gather and analyse evidence which will
help us to understand the needs of the network and enable indicative solutions to be
identified for potential future investment.
We’re also working with the Department for Transport on a number of strategic studies.
Together with route strategies these will be the foundation for our first ‘Strategic Road
Network Initial Report’ which is due to be submitted to government in 2017.
Ring-fenced investment funds
The north will benefit from ring-fenced funds aimed at addressing a range of specific
issues over and above the traditional focus of road investment: environment, cycling,
safety and integration, innovation, air quality, growth and housing.
Expressways
Three northern A-roads are due to be upgraded to become expressways - the A19 (from
Yorkshire to north of Newcastle), the A556 between the M56 and M6 and the A1 north of
Newcastle.
Strategic studies in the north
„„ Manchester north-west quadrant – the M60 from junctions 8 to 18
„„ Trans-Pennine Tunnel – linking Manchester to Sheffield
„„ Northern Trans-Pennine routes – the A66 and A69 corridors
10. Strategic Economic Growth Plan
Supporting and facilitating economic growth is one of the five aims set out in our
Strategic Business Plan. In recognition of the vital role played by the strategic road
network in supporting national, regional and local economies, we have committed
to work collaboratively with stakeholders and partners to develop a joint Strategic
Economic Growth Plan. This will convert the aspirations contained within the Strategic
Business Plan into a detailed plan and a set of partnership activities, setting out how we
will collaborate with external players to support existing economic drivers and facilitate
future economic growth.
We will be consulting with partners throughout
the year. The full plan will be
published by the end of
2016.
