Highways chiefs call for clarity on funding for roads across Staffordshire

HIGHWAYS chiefs in Staffordshire have called for clarity on funding for the coming year ahead of the government’s autumn budget.

Cllr Mark Deaville, cabinet member for strategic highways, has called on the Chancellor Rachel Reeves to ensure enough money is made available to improve local road networks.

He also called for clarity on the £36billion Network North funding to county councils.

Cllr Deaville said:

“Last winter was the wettest for over a hundred years, and really took a toll on our roads. In May, we invested more than £8million extra into fixing defects which has really made a difference, but that type of investment is not sustainable in the long-term.“The way the weather has been at the moment indicates that the coming winter will be just as bad as the last, so additional funding from government to keep our roads in a decent state of repair is absolutely essential.“Having clarity on highways funding means we can plan ahead for next year. We also want clarity on the nearly half a billion pounds promised to us after the cancellation of the northern part of HS2.“This funding is absolutely essential for us to conduct more repairs and structural schemes, and will allow us to plan our road maintenance and upgrades for the next few years.“With this budget, there is a tremendous opportunity to invest in our highways infrastructure and ensure we can fix more defects, address more gulley and flooding issues across the county, and undertake major structural schemes like resurfacing and bridge repair.”