Roads
One of the first things the Western Gateway Sub-national Transport Body was tasked with was identifying regional priorities for funding through the Department for Transport’s (DfT) Major Road Network (MRN) and Large Local Major (LLM) schemes. To do this, we invited our local authorities to put forward proposals.
After going through a prioritisation process, we submitted a shortlist to the DfT – and all of the proposed schemes were accepted. Since then, one of the projects has been withdrawn as it can be delivered through other means, and another is being thoroughly re-evaluated.
There may be another opportunity to bid for MRN and LLM funding in the future. If that happens, we’ll once again lead on prioritising schemes and submitting them to the DfT.
Future work
One of our key stakeholders is National Highways, who operate, maintain and improve the motorways and major A roads across the region. We welcome the valuable insights NH officers bring to our Board meetings, and all of our projects.
We were grateful to have a National Highway officers on the project board for our Strategic Investment Plan, as they provided great insights into potential key road schemes, and ensuring the objectives were fairly weighted.
We will continue to support National Highways and monitor the outcome of the Road Investment Strategy as it transitions from Roads Period 2 to Roads Period 3 this financial year. And we will review potential opportunities as and when new road strategies emerge, such as the M4 to Dorset Coast Strategic Study.