Lancashire gets pothole-filling boost from axed HS2 cash

The funding will come from the money set aside by the government previously earmarked for the doomed HS2 rail project.

Initially, the Lancashire County Council area will get an extra £3.6m in each of the next two funding cycles to be spent on road repairs – and, by 2034, the authority’s patch will have been allocated £244,511,000 for dealing with potholes and other urgent carriageway works.

Transport Secretary Mark Harper was today due to set out the allocations of £1.2bn investment to resurface roads in the North West, the biggest allocation of any English region.

This is part of a wider, national long-term plan of £8.3bn, enough to resurface more than 5,000 miles of road across the country over the next 11 years.

Mr Harper said: “Most people travel by road and potholes can cause misery for motorists, from expensive vehicle repairs to bumpy, slow and dangerous journeys.

"Our £1.2bn boost to repair roads across the North West shows that we’re on the side of drivers.

“Today’s biggest ever funding uplift for local road improvements is a victory for all road users, who will enjoy smoother, faster and safer trips - as we use redirected HS2 funding to make the right long-term decisions for a brighter future.”

The measure is described as a key part of the government’s Network North plan, with money redirected from HS2, instead going to improve daily transport connections.

Network North will see £36bn invested in hundreds of transport projects and initiatives across the country, and includes the extension of the £2 bus fare cap in England to the end of December 2024, as well as more than £1bn to improve bus journeys in the North and the Midlands.