An extra £2m investment is being made in Barnsley’s roads in 2023/24, which is in addition to the £18.4m Highways Capital Programme.
On Wednesday, 5 April, Cabinet will be asked to approve the Highways Capital Programme for the coming year. It totals £14.9m, with a further £3.5m from other council services for active travel and other projects.
On top of that, a further £2m is being invested to improve the borough’s principal roads and side streets following approval in the 2023/24 council budget. Senior highways officers have proposed improvements to carriageways and footways at more than 50 locations across the borough. This will include work to be carried out in all 21 wards and a full list of these can be found at Barnsley.gov.uk/Highways.
This takes the total investment proposed for 2023/24 to £20.4m.
The highway network is the most valuable asset the council owns. The total cost to replace it in full is estimated at £2.1bn including carriageways, bridges and all other highway structures.
The proposed programme for the coming financial year continues our ‘prevention is better than the cure’ approach in balancing structural, preventative, and reactive maintenance to improve the resilience of the highway.
It also includes the continued development of improvements to the network, such as measures to:
- improve road safety
- reduce delay issues for the public
- improve air quality
- encourage active and sustainable travel
We’ll continue to deliver the programme in the most sustainable way we can, including through recycling materials from highway maintenance work where possible.
Existing road surface is recycled after being removed, and kerbstones and old street lighting columns can be crushed to produce material which can be used in other construction works.
This supports our work towards a more sustainable carbon net-zero borough by 2045. The Principal Roads and Side Streets Investment Programme also supports the council’s Principal Towns and Local Village Centres Investment Programme to help local high streets thrive.
Cllr James Higginbottom, Cabinet Spokesperson for Environment and Highways, said: “We're proud to announce a substantial investment into our highway network through this year's budget.
"The extra £2m will be used to repair over 50 locations across the borough - with over £20m invested into the network this year.
“Over the next three years, we’re delivering significant investment right across the borough; fixing our roads, investing in our communities, unlocking economic opportunities.”
Leader of Barnsley Council, Cllr Sir Steve Houghton CBE, said: “The extremes of weather we have experienced over the last 12 months have impacted our roads over the winter. We have teams working hard to keep on top of emergency pothole repairs, including at weekends.
“Like every local authority in the country maintaining our road network is a huge challenge, we have a maintenance backlog, but thanks to sustained investment into the network we are chipping away at that backlog and improving Barnsley’s roads.
“This extra £2m investment in addition to our annual Highways Capital Programme will help make our roads safer and more sustainable and helps us keep Barnsley moving for residents and visitors.”
