Plans to invest £50million to ‘Keep Telford Moving’
Plans are due to be approved to continue with the four year investment of more than £50million on improving and maintaining Telford and Wrekin’s roads and footpaths.
Telford & Wrekin Council’s Cabinet which meets on Thursday 18 February is being recommended to approve the three year Highways and Transport Capital Investment Programme which is part of the record £50.4million four year investment package . The funding would be provided through a combination of Government grants but more significantly through the Council’s own ‘Pride In Our Community’ programme as part of its plan to Protect, Care and Invest to create a better borough.
If approved, the majority of the capital investment programme would be spent on roads and footpaths as well as bridges and other structures, drainage, council owned assets, street furniture, lighting and lines. There would also be significant investment in further developing sustainable transport, off-street parking, road safety schemes and other major and environmental projects.
The Council’s partner contractor Balfour Beatty Living Places will continue to be the contractor working on the planned highway improvements, providing residents with a more consistent and visible presence in the community.
Councillor Lee Carter, Telford & Wrekin Council’s Cabinet Member for Neighbourhood, Commercial Services and Regeneration, said: “Our vision is to ‘Keep Telford Moving’.
“Being a New Town, much of Telford’s infrastructure was built around the same time. We have continually prioritised funding into our network. The challenge is huge as we receive very little from Government relative to the actual funding needed to maintain everything to the standard expected by our Residents.
We have a number of competing priorities to manage from infrastructure built with the new town but which now needs renewing, the rural areas where investment in drainage and bridges is required to other parts of the Borough where there are centuries old structures and retaining walls which need costly interventions. We have therefore prioritised investing £50m into our network which is a significant investment and demonstrates our commitment to improving our roads, footpaths and cycleways so that that people are able to travel for work and education, for accessing services and for leisure activities. We are taking advantage of quieter roads during the coronavirus pandemic to make road improvements, and are committed to ahead of schedule and with minimal disruption.
“This investment will help the borough meet the needs of communities and businesses and provide access to jobs and services. It will help make Telford and Wrekin even more attractive for businesses looking for an area to invest in and, in turn, will help to create more new jobs.”
