The package includes a £590m investment into the Lower Thames Crossing, bringing it one step closer to starting
The Structures Fund follows an announcement prior to the spending review of £15.6bn for city region transport.
This further funding will bring upgrades and repairs to bridges, flyovers, and tunnels across the country.
Roughly 3,000 bridges need reinforcing
These bridges are unable to support the heaviest vehicles, such as agricultural and freight transport, slowing down journey times for the delivery of vital materials. Furthermore, the number of bridge collapses has risen.
The Structures Fund will tackle projects like this, repairing bridges, flyovers and tunnels for motor traffic, increasing their weather resilience for more extreme weather events, and enabling them to take the demands of modern vehicles.
£590m will be put towards the Lower Thames Crossing, set to be the UK’s longest road tunnel and connecting Kent and Essex under the Thames. This will allow traffic to avoid Dartford and allow easier transport to the North from the South East. Currently the Government is seeking private finance and expertise for the project, after planning approval was granted in March.
“Our structures fund will make long-overdue investments”
Chancellor of the exchequer, Rachel Reeves, said: “When it comes to investing in Britain’s renewal, we’re going all in by going up against the painful disruption of closed bridges, crossings and flyovers, and ensure they’re fit to serve working people for decades to come.
“Today’s investment also goes even further and faster to spread growth by providing critical funding to take forward the Lower Thames Crossing – not just boosting connectivity in the South East, but ensuring a smoother, less congested passage of vital goods from Europe to our regions.
“This is a turning point for our national infrastructure, and we’re backing it with funding to support thousands of jobs and connect communities, delivering on our Plan for Change.”
Transport secretary, Heidi Alexander, said: “We’re finally getting on with the Lower Thames Crossing — a crucial project to drive economic growth, that has been stuck in planning limbo for far too long.
“This project is essential for improving the resilience of a key freight route and is critical to our long term trade with Europe. It will speed up the movement of goods from South East England to the Midlands and the North, crucial to thousands of jobs and businesses.
“Our structures fund will make long-overdue investments to repair ageing structures across the country, speeding up journeys, restoring pride and delivering our Plan for Change to boost the economy and support regional growth.”
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