We are about to enter winter and the weather has already turned colder. mDecember to March is when we see the most defects on our roads, due to colder ground temperatures combined with rain and wetter conditions. mIt is also the time of year when weather conditions make doing road repairs harder.  Greater traffic volumes are one reason why the overall resilience of the road network to extremes of weather is not as great as it once was, just when we are seeing more extremes of weather such as heavier rainfall events.

This is a national issue, and it requires national government action to address the backlog of highway maintenance, which is estimated at over £10 billion.  It isn’t just about fixing potholes which is reactive maintenance, it’s more proactive maintenance which is about improving the road network so that less potholes break out in the first place.    

I was therefore delighted at the recent announcement by the Conservative Government to invest an addition £8.3 billion into road maintenance over the next eleven years.  This is funding redirected from the scaling back of HS2.

This is the biggest-ever uplift in funding for local road improvements.  Across England, local highway authorities will receive an additional £150 million this financial year, followed by a further £150 million for 2024/2025, with the rest of the funding allocated through to 2034.  For here in West Sussex this will be £67.68 million over the next eleven years, which includes an additional £2.16 million this financial year and next.

While our Labour opponents see motorists as a cash-cow to exploit and as people to activity hinder their journeys, such as expanding the London ULEZ or trying to turn Crawley into an anti-motorist ‘mini Holland’, this biggest-ever funding uplift for local road improvements is a victory for all road users, who in future will enjoy smoother, faster and safer trips.

This huge investment in road maintenance from our government builds upon the additional funding being put in by West Sussex County Council, and over time the overall condition of our local road network will become much better.   

Councillor Duncan Crow, Leader of Crawley Borough Council Conservative Group

29th November 2023