£2 Million Boost for Road & Pavement Work in Bedford Borough This Year

An extra £2 million will be spent on road and pavement improvement work across Bedford Borough in the current year, after a further funding boost was agreed by Mayor Dave Hodgson's Cabinet this week.

The further £1 million investment in roads and pavements was made possible by savings achieved elsewhere across the council during the financial year just gone. It follows on from another £1 million boost for 2018/19 confirmed earlier in the spring.

While Bedford Borough is once again ranked in the top quarter of all council areas for highway condition, the extra cash boost is needed due to the combination of chronic Government underinvestment and the effect of winter weather conditions on local roads. The funds will deliver extra road resurfacing and footway upgrades and improvements.

The Government plans to spend £1.1 million per mile to maintain its strategic road network between 2015 and 2020. In comparison, it will provide councils with just £21,000 per mile for the local roads they maintain over the same period.

Commenting, Mayor Dave Hodgson said "Sound financial management is once again allowing us to repair more roads and more footpaths. Improving the state of our local environment has always been a priority. That's why we're investing once again more in road and pavement resurfacing work. There is a severe national shortage of funding for road resurfacing, but keeping our roads and pavements safe for all is critical.'

"Freezing weather each winter causes havoc with any weaknesses so the more we extend the proper resurfacing work the council does, the safer the roads and the less patching of potholes and disruption is needed."