Government commits £38m to improve safety of 17 high risk local roads
The Department for Transport has announced a further £38.3 million investment into improving the safety of 17 of the most high risk roads in England.
The additional funding comes on top of the £147.5 million already invested to deliver improvements on 82 high risk roads. DfT says the improvements will result in up to 30% reductions in fatal and serious injuries on some roads.
The extra support, allocated through local councils will include:
designing new junctions and roundabouts
improving signage and road markings
new road surfacing and landscape management
improved pedestrian crossings and cycle lanes
DfT says this round of funding is expected to save 385 lives over the next 20 years, as well as reduce congestion, improve journey times and lower emissions.
Transport Secretary Mark Harper said, “Britain’s roads are some of the safest in the world, but we are always looking at ways to help keep drivers and all road users safe.
According to the Road Safety Foundation (RSF), it is estimated that all tranches of the Safer Road Fund will save nearly 2,600 fatal and serious injuries over the next 20 years.”
Dr Suzy Charman Executive Director of RSF said, “The Safer Roads Fund is a transformational initiative for road safety and for the local authorities receiving funds. It makes it possible for road safety teams across the country to proactively address risk of death and serious injury for all road users on these routes.
“Systematic changes have already had a big impact on road death and serious injury, for example, seat belts and airbags protect lives when crashes happen. In the same way, we can design roads so that when crashes happen people can walk away – by clearing or protecting roadsides, putting in cross hatching to add space between vehicles, providing safer junctions like roundabouts or adding signalisation and/or turning pockets, and including facilities for walking and cycling. We congratulate the Department for Transport on this lifesaving initiative and for their commitment to safer roads.”
Steve Gooding Director of the RAC Foundation said, “The Safer Roads Fund is the hugely welcome gift that keeps on giving because today’s announcement means another 120 miles of safer road improvements will be delivered to the benefit of users. Such incremental improvements are key to achieving our collective aim for a safer road network as a whole.”