£40 million boost for Warrington’s roads

WARRINGTON’S roads and highways are to benefit from a £40 million cash injection.
The borough council has started the process of planning where it will be spending the money to improve the roads and footways in Warrington during the next three to five years.
Roads and footways have a backlog of maintenance work and need £198 million spent on them so this funding will only enable a start to be made on tackling the problem.
Surveys have been undertaken to determine which roads and footpaths are in most need of attention and the funding will be distributed across all wards to tackle them.
It will also mean that there will be a reduction in the number of potholes.
Cllr Terry O’Neill  (pictured), leader of the borough council, said: “This major initiative of investing £40 million will certainly contribute to the much needed improvement to the roads and footpaths across the borough.
“Not every road and footpath can be improved as there is considerable investment needed to fix all of the problems we have, but every ward will
see some of its local roads and footpaths invested in as part of this £40 million rollout.
“This scheme also shows that the council is managing and investing in its highways and this puts it in a much better position to secure government funding in the future.”
An average £8 million-£10 million will be spent annually each year for the next five years. This compares to an average £3.5 million spend per year over the last 10 years.
The programme of works will be published in the autumn following ward member engagement and residents will start to see improvements for themselves when work starts in the New Year.