New Department for Transport Network North Highway Maintenance funding made possible by reallocated HS2 funding.
This extra funding is only available because of the cancellation of HSE Phase 2. It is the Government's long-term decision to invest in the transport spending. This funding will deliver the greatest improvements across our country. The Department for Transport (Dft) have introduced some new reporting requirements. This should allow local people to see for themselves how the money is being spent.
Our mapping system allows interrogation where we will be investing in road condition. We will publish quarterly reports summarising what work we have undertaken. We will include which roads have been treated with this money.
Later in 2024/25 we will publish a long-term plan for the full 11-year funding. More information is available on the Government's web page: Highways maintenance funding allocations
2023/24 sites that have been treated with this funding
In 2023/24 this additional investment treated more than 34km of road.
Our mapping system will show the Council’s own £14.5m investment alongside the Dft funding. It will be shown as an extra field for clarity. The list of schemes being delivered using this funding is shown below.
2024/25 sites that will be treated with this fundingIt is envisaged that this additional funding will treat over 36km in 2024/25.
Innovation is required in our delivery of our highways maintenance across Cornwall. The funds we receive need to go as far as they can to address the issues in the most cost-effective manner. We regularly attend innovation events. We have been met with suppliers and new contractors to help us address the condition of our roads. We continue to use of innovative Velocity Machines across Cornwall. In 2024/25 we are providing more gangs. This means that areas of that are of most concern to local communities can be targeted. We have trailed "rejuvenation" treatments over the last couple of years. We have also trialled new "epoxy" styled pothole treatments. We hope to evaluate their effectiveness in the hope that they form part of our suite of solutions. We are planning to invite further suppliers to Cornwall. They have the latest technology in pothole repair and we hope to try those out on our roads later this year.
In partnership with Cormac we have also developed own low temperature asphalts. This means we are using less heat and therefore using less carbon. We now use this material as part of our routine treatment.
We use meetings with utility companies to prevent to them from digging up our fresh surfaces. We coordinate road works using dedicated meetings. We also share our programmes with utilities companies to avoid this situation. We use a Permit Scheme and Coordination tools to allow the combination of their schemes and ours. For those most sensitive routes we can request a restriction called a “Section 58”. This avoids any excavations apart from leaks and new service connections.
This funding, along with that from the Council, should help slow the deterioration of our roads. You can report any defects to us using our online reporting tool.
