£1m Road Improvements Funding Boost for Bedford Borough

Mayor Dave Hodgson's Cabinet has approved £1million of additional local road and footway improvement works across Bedford Borough. The funds are set to deliver extra road resurfacing, footway maintenance and upgrade schemes in 2018/19.

Bedford's road condition scores are in the top quarter of councils across the UK (DfT figures Jan 2018). The proposed additional funding is intended to help keep local roads and footways safe and in good condition. It is funded from savings in delivering this year's budget, and will enable the Council to extend the existing road resurfacing programme.

The funding proposal is in addition to plans to improve roads in Bedford as part of the Transporting Bedford 2020 programme, which will see the biggest ever investment in Bedford Borough's Road Network including traffic improvements to junctions across Bedford. In total over £18million will be invested as part of this programme.

Mayor Dave Hodgson commented: "This additional investment will enable us to resurface even more roads, and carry out maintenance works on more footways, making them safer and in better condition for all users.'

"There is a severe shortage of funding nationwide for roads resurfacing, yet keeping roads safe for all is absolutely critical. That's why we're pleased to be able to direct these savings into important works which will enable more resurfacing and keep us amongst the top councils in the country for road condition scores."