Government’s £3.5m for Fen road repairs

Around 42 miles (65.9km) of drought damaged fen roads are to be repaired thanks to £3.5million of government funding.

A successful joint bid by Cambridgeshire County Council and Peterborough City Council to the Department for Transport’s Challenge Fund means the work can be carried using innovative methods to maintain roads and to make them more resilient against weather damage.

The DfT announced last Tuesday that councils across England have been awarded funding totalling £75million to refurbish bridges, improve junctions and boost flood defences.

The Cambridgeshire and Peterborough project was one of 19 to be awarded government cash with most of the work expected to get underway within the next 12 months.

Cambridgeshire County Council’s chairman of Cambridgeshire’s highways and community infrastructure committee, Councillor Mathew Shuter said: “We’re really pleased our joint bid with Peterborough City Council for funding from the Department for Transport’s (DfT) Challenge Fund has been successful.

“We will receive £3.5million towards a programme of work to repair roads that have been affected by extreme weather conditions across fenland areas in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.

“This funding will mean a long-term approach to maintenance of these roads, preventing the need for costly, reactive repairs and repeated disruption to drivers.”