Almost £50 Million In Safety Improvements Announced For Many Of England’s Highest-Risk Roads, As All New Smart Motorways Are Scrapped
Government investment amounting to £47.5 million has been announced for improvements to help make 27 of the most dangerous roads in England safer, in areas ranging from Newcastle upon Tyne to the Isle of Wight. The Department for Transport (DfT) said that the funding injection through the third round of the Government’s Safer Roads Fund would drive forward safety improvements such as redesigned junctions and enhanced signage and road markings. The DfT said that the programme would lower the risk of collisions on the improved roads, preventing more than 750 fatal and serious injuries over the next two decades, and bringing about a £420 million benefit to society. In a separate development, the Government also announced that all new smart motorways would be removed from its road-building plans – a move that it attributed to inflation-related financial pressures and a lack of confidence in smart motorways among drivers. Building on work ...