Lincolnshire is set to receive £262 million in transport funding through reallocated money from the cancelled HS2 project. The funding, which will be distributed over seven years, will “cushion the blow” for Lincolnshire County Council (LCC) amid a £400 million roads maintenance backlog, according to its highways boss.
The council will be given around £37 million a year from 2025 and local leaders will be able to decide what the money goes towards. Secretary of State for Transport, Mark Harper MP, visited Lincoln on Monday, February 26 to announce the funding.
He said: “What we’ve announced today means that Lincolnshire County Council have got a very significant amount of money that they can then make decisions themselves about transport priorities for the county. This is a game-changing amount of money that opens up a number of options for them about what they can deliver.”
He said: “It’s about looking at where we can deliver real impact across the county. We already have advanced plans. We have a five-year programme of projects. I suspect there will be a combination of building some new things big and small, and a lot of maintenance.
“Potholes are going to be a significant spend but we are going to look at other things like public transport to see if there’s ways we can use some of this money to make a long term impact for the people of Lincolnshire.”
Councillor Davies added: “£37 million a year takes us above where we could have hoped to have been frankly. It’s a lot more money than we expected but it’s money that is much-needed. When you talk to anyone in Lincolnshire, transport, roads and highways are massive issues.
“It will cushion the blow from the feeling in Lincolnshire that we are somewhat on the periphery of things and kind of forgotten about. It’s going to make a huge difference and it takes us from that kind of tippling along a little bit to a much better place.
“It’s not going to fix everything, we’ve got a £400 million backlog, but it is going to make a big impact.
“The one thing this does do is it gives us that forward plan. It’s great that they give us one off monies, but it’s quite difficult to spend in a year. With this, we can now go to out to the supply chain, manufacturers, quarries, tarmac providers, and that kind of stuff, and say ‘here is a seven year plan and this is what we want to do’ which is much better value for money.
“If every highways authority in the country starts running around trying to buy tarmac, the price goes through the roof. This makes a lot more sense because we can invest.”
More than £1 billion of reallocated HS2 funding will be invested directly into the East Midlands in total. Other areas benefitting from the funding include Rutland, Leicester, Leicestershire, North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire.
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