Peterborough to see extra £835,000 spent on roads

Date: 19/12/2012

Peterborough is to have an extra £835,000 spent on the maintenance of its roads, as part of a fund which was announced by Chancellor George Osborne in the Autumn Statement.

£333 million was earmarked for the maintenance, renewal and repair of England's roads in order to extend their working life.

Mr Osborne's announcement is in addition to the £3 billion which has already been designated to be spent on highways between 2011 and 2015.

Councillor Peter Hiller, Cabinet Member for Housing, Neighbourhoods and Planning at Peterborough City Council, told the Peterborough Telegraph: "We are delighted to receive this cash boost from the government at a time when our budget is under constant and increasing pressure.

"Our engineers will now be allocating this additional funding in the most cost-effective schedule to improve and maintain our road network."

The local authority has 860 kilometres of roads which it is responsible for maintaining and considerable amounts of bad weather this year have added to the wear and tear on tarmac surfaces.

Councillor Hiller pointed to these climactic conditions with extreme snow and ice, as well as long periods of drought as the catalysts for widespread damage.

He said: "As a growing city it is fundamental that we have a first class road network and additional funding such as this will help us to achieve that goal."

Peterborough will spend £532,000 in the 2013/14 financial year and a further £303,000 in the one which follows.

The allocation for the city has been based on the number and length of roads which it has, as well as the proportion of bridges which need more than £50,000 of work done on them to bring them up to scratch.

The amount of street lighting within an authority's jurisdiction, which is 40 years or more old, also has a bearing on the amount of funding it is allocated.

Posted by Mary Treen

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