Highways Funding
Types of funding
Highway maintenance funding can be allocated from capital or revenue sources. Capital is primarily for improvements, such as new roads, or redesign such as additional lanes, new traffic information and control systems or structural renewal. Maintenance expenditure, mainly funded by revenue, covers repair of worn or damaged roads and facilities and can include both short-term patching or a permanent replacement. In addition to maintenance of the road surface itself, the maintenance budget also includes the cost of lighting, footway repair and cyclical maintenance such as cleaning and grass cutting.
Planned, preventative maintenance, which involves resurfacing at regular intervals, is the most cost effective method of keeping the road surface in good repair. Ensuring that the highway network is durable, safe and fit for purpose is vital to avoid unnecessary traffic congestion and delays, and to make best use of existing assets.
Sources of funding
The main sources of funding are central government and local government.
Local roads make up 97.3 per cent of roads in England and Wales and their maintenance is the responsibility of local authorities. In England, council’s funding for maintenance comes from a range of sources, including the Department for Transport (DfT), the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and local authorities’ own sources.
Click here for more information about funding allocations for local highways maintenance in England.
The Strategic Road Network (SRN) in England, which includes motorways and major trunk routes is the responsibility of the National Highways, with funding from central government. More information is available here.
In London, local road maintenance is now funded by borough’s own sources as well as a small allocation through DfT in recent years via the Network North allocation.
Both the Welsh and Scottish Governments receive a block grant from the UK Government which forms the basis of its budget along with monies raised from devolved taxes and local authorities’ own sources.
Additional information about funding can also be found at RoadFile.