El billion road boost
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• Government plans to increase capital expenditure on roads by 2330 million have received a cautious welcome from the road transport industry.
Following a relaxation in the public spending purse strings by Chancellor Nigel Lawson, Transport Secretary John Moore says that capital spending on national roads will rise by 5% to 2940 million in 1987/88, by 10% to 2990 million in 1988/89 and by 13% to over 21 billion in the following year.
This cash, however, does not include the building of the Dartford Bridge which is being financed privately.
With this extra money the Government is planning to go ahead with four key motorway projects before the end of the decade.
During the next three years it hopes to start the extension of the M40 from Oxford to Birmingham, the Maidstone-Ashford stretch of the M20, the Al/M1 link and the fourth lane of the south-western section of the M25.
Capital spending on local road schemes is being increased by 18% and will enable 340 schemes to be supported by government grant, including 112 that will be completed next year.
Moore predicts that the amount set aside for road maintenance will allow councils to tackle the deterioration in the condition of roads and bridges.
Although it generally welcomes the news, the FTA says the largest slice of the increased cake will go on local roads with little extra for improving the national road network.
It estimates, however, that 2290 million of the extra 2330 million (88%) will be spent on local roads, while expenditure on national roads is set to rise by 240 million, which represents an increase below the rate of inflation.