High priority roads identified for safety investment

6 July 2020

The Road Safety Foundation and one of the UK’s largest motor insurers Ageas have called on the government to commit to a new Safer Roads Fund as a major investment in the country’s road network.

The  government is expected to announce a spend of £900m for “shovel ready” local projects in England this year and in 2021.

“We have identified a number of road sections that are high priority for immediate investment to save lives,” says Dr Suzy Charman, Executive Director of the Road Safety Foundation. “The details of these will be publicly available in September.

“These proposals are all as good as ‘shovel ready’ as they are fast to plan and implement.  Local authorities badly need funding from central government to invest in such schemes.

“We know that such investments have high societal returns – often as much as £5 for every £1 spent, competing well with other major infrastructure projects.

“These schemes tick all the boxes of the government’s stated aim to level up areas of the country and can be mobilised fast resulting in high employment density delivered quickly, with the added benefit of uplifting the skill base of the workforce,” she adds.

The first round of the Safer Roads Fund saw £100m investment expected to save 1450 lives and serious injuries over the next 20 years on 50 roads identified by the Road Safety Foundation.