Borough's Roads Set for Record Investment as Mayor Dave Hodgson Announces £1 Million Injection

Liberal Democrat Mayor Dave Hodgson has announced a £1 million boost for local road and pavement repairs and resurfacing. The cash injection continues the fight back against years of chronic underinvestment by the former Conservative County Council which left streets in Bedford Borough crumbling and unsafe. Thanks to Dave Hodgson and the Liberal Democrats, if the extra funding is approved by the Full Council an additional £4 million will have been invested within two years in the Borough's roads and pavements over and above the level of funding under the old Tory County Council.

Commenting, Mayor Dave Hodgson said: "I have always made clear that tackling the vast backlog of road and pavement repairs left by the Conservative County Council must be a priority. That is why we put more funding into roads last year to kickstart the fight back, with this new investment set to take this year's extra funding for road repairs to a further £2 million.'

"The scale of the backlog of vital works, coupled with the damaging effect of the worst winter in 30 years, means that this is an ongoing process, and I know that it is a priority for residents. Therefore, despite the extremely difficult economic climate, we are continuing to make record investment to ensure that more repairs and resurfacing take place across all parts of Bedford Borough."

The additional allocation of £1 million capital funding for highway works in the current year will be considered by the Mayor's Executive at its meeting at Borough Hall tomorrow night. If agreed, the allocation will be recommended to a meeting of the full Council for final approval. In addition to the proposed record investment in road repairs and maintenance the Council is also preparing early for winter on the roads, and has overcome the national shortage of gritting salt by sourcing an additional 3,000 tonnes directly from Sweden.