Craig Mackinlay MP has welcomed Kent County Council’s response to the Government’s request to set out their plans for over £8.5m to be used to repair and resurface roads in the South Thanet constituency over the next two years as part of £135m allocated to Kent as part of a long-term, 11-year plan to improve local roads.
A nationwide programme of pothole repairs and road resurfacing projects, made possible by the first tranche of £8.3 billion in reallocated HS2 funding, has been revealed – with the first set of roads already having been resurfaced to make journeys by road safer, faster, and smoother.
Councils have already been paid £150 million to get on with the work and deliver improvements, with another £150 million following in this financial year.
As a condition of this funding, and to make sure money is being spent on pothole repairs, local authorities are required have published two-year plans detailing exactly which local roads will benefit. The plans for Kent County Council can be found here.
Craig Mackinlay MP commented:
“I know from speaking to people across Thanet how frustrating potholes and poor-quality roads can be.
“Whilst Labour are waging a war on motorists with blanket 20mph limits and a ban on road building in Wales and the ULEZ expansion in London to tax the poorest drivers off the road, as Chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Fair Fuel I am on the side of hard-pressed drivers and want to do all I can to encourage government to help them.
“That is why I welcome this government funding to improve journeys for drivers across the country, funding road and pothole repairs, and committing £135m over the next ten years to improve roads across Kent, including those in Thanet.”
Transport Secretary Mark Harper added:
“We’re on the side of drivers, which is why this Government is getting on with delivering our plan to invest an additional £8.3 billion in the biggest ever funding increase for local road improvements, made possible by reallocated HS2 funding.
“Alongside this unprecedented funding, which is already being used to improve local roads, we’re making sure local people can hold their local authority to account and see for themselves how the investment will be spent to improve local roads for years to come.”