A new company will take over the running of motorways and major A-roads from 1 April 2015, government has confirmed.
Highways England will benefit from new longer-term funding, enabling it to plan and invest in skills and equipment to speed up essential work and reduce taxpayer costs.
The road reform package is expected to save the taxpayer at least £2.6 billion during the next decade.
The government set out how Highways England will spend £15.2 billion on 84 national road projects in its autumn statement in December, with work including the building of a 1.8-mile tunnel at Stonehenge and the construction of an extra lane to key motorways. Its commitment to new spending on roads amounts to a tripling of annual investment in road improvements to more than £3 billion per year by 2021.
It’s hoped the establishment of Highways England will bring about a new level of transparency and accountability to how England’s A-roads and motorways are operated. The company will be fully accountable to Parliament through ministers, who will have the power to direct the new body.
