Government urges firms to get ready for roads boon

The government has urged contractors to gear up for a massive increase in road work, with more than £24bn set to be spent on upgrading and improving the roads network over the next eight years.

Roads minister Robert Goodwill yesterday called on the UK’s road building companies to get ready for a massive increase in work ahead of what he said was the biggest investment in the road network since the 1970s.

The government is tripling funding on the road network over the next 8 years with more than £24bn billion to be spent on upgrading and improving the network until 2021.

By the end of the next parliament, the government will be spending £3bn each year on improvements and maintenance for the strategic network alone.

Goodwill said: “We need to make sure everyone is ready to deliver the massive programme of investment that we need to keep Britain’s roads moving.

“To do that, we need to make sure we have the right people and equipment in place to deliver the 53 road schemes in preparation right now, plus the next generation of improvements over the next 7 years.

“This means taking on more apprentices and making sure suppliers have the capacity to deal with the increase in demand.”