National Highways to spend over £200m on improving roads across Beds, Bucks and Herts

Motorists are set to benefit from safer and smoother journeys thanks to a multi-million pound package of improvements to roads, pavements, and bridges across the region over the next 12 months.

Motorways and major A roads including the M11, A14, A1, A47 and A12 are all included in the planned package announced by National Highways.

Motorists, pedestrians and cyclists will all benefit from the planned works, which include road resurfacing, bridge joint replacements, the creation of cycle lanes, improved signage and enhancements to the surrounding environment.

In total, National Highways will spend more than £205 million on more than 103 schemes across Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Cambridgeshire.

Martin Fellows, National Highways Regional Director, said: “It’s vital that National Highways’ motorways and major A-roads are kept in good condition to make sure they remain safe, reliable, and keep traffic in the east moving.

“This investment means that we can continue our work to deliver smoother road surfaces, safer bridges, improved signs, dedicated safe spaces for cyclists and enhancements to the surrounding environment throughout the region.”

Roads Minister, Richard Holden, said: “Over the next 12 months road users across the East of England will benefit from over £200million of investment to keep our roads repaired and maintained – vital for keeping the road users connected and the economy moving across the East.”

The significant package of maintenance work planned for the region includes road resurfacing, laying of road studs, and improvements being made to drainage and safety barriers. Larger schemes include:

A5 southbound between Portway and Kelly’s Kitchen (Milton Keynes) - resurfacing

A14 eastbound and westbound between junction 42 and junction 43 (Suffolk) – resurfacing, road markings and studs

A14 sign renewals (Cambridgeshire)

A120 between Marks Farm Marks Tey (Essex) – road markings and stud renewal

A12 southbound junction 29, junction 28, and junction 27 (Essex – resurfacing.

This latest investment in the region’s roads follows last year’s essential maintenance programme which saw National Highways pump £203m million into the completion of over 75 road renewal and maintenance projects.

From April 2022 to March 2023, National Highways:

Resurfaced 148 lane miles of motorways and major A roads in the east

100 miles of safety barrier replaced

84,000 road studs were replaced to help light the way for drivers

1275 traffic signs were erected

77 bridge joints installed

567 lighting heads converted to energy saving LED

98,000 linear meters of drainage were renewed

35,700 trees planted as part of seven landscape improvement schemes

Carried out safety improvements at 23 junctions.

Work on this year’s comprehensive maintenance and improvement programme started last month, with National Highways also continuing an extensive programme of concrete road upgrades.

Many concrete roads were laid more than 40 years ago. Decades of use and hundreds of millions of journeys have left the road in need of vital upgrades which will create a smoother road surface, reduce noise for motorists and nearby residents and improve safety.

Further details of National Highways maintenance and renewals programme in the east can be found here