The Sussex roads being resurfaced thanks to reallocated HS2 funding

A programme of pothole repairs and road resurfacing projects for the South East, made possible by the first tranche of £735 million in reallocated HS2 funding for the region, has been revealed - with the first set of roads already resurfaced to make journeys safer, faster and smoother.

Last November, the Government announced an unprecedented £8.3 billion investment to tackle badly surfaced roads and pothole ridden streets across England, with the South East receiving £735 million over an 11 year period.

Councils in the South East have already been paid over £23 million on with the work and deliver improvements, with another £23 million following in this financial year.

As a condition of this funding, and to make sure money is being spent on pothole repairs, local authorities are required to publish a two year plan detailing exactly which local roads will benefit.

The Department for Transport has revealed the local authorities in the South East which have responded to the Department’s survey request to set out their plans, meaning local people can now check their local council’s websites and scrutinise their plans for themselves.

An initiative intending to bring increased transparency to how local councils deliver taxpayer-funded improvements, residents in the South East can now immediately see the benefits to their area made possible by reallocated HS2 funding, holding their local authority to account for delivering local road improvements.

The reporting requirements have highlighted how emerging techniques and equipment are being used to tackle potholes in the South East, such as in Surrey, where innovative works to address underlying soil problems such as poor drainage are being used to improve the effectiveness of road resurfacing.

Elsewhere, residents of Romsey, Hampshire can expect to see major resurfacing works carried out on the key A3090 route to Winchester.

The Department has already been clear with those local authorities that have failed to publish reports that they could see the withdrawal of future funding to resurface roads.

From Margate to Marlow, people in the South East are encouraged to check their authority websites and see which roads are planned to be improved, and routes where work has already taken place, such as the A33 Millbrook Road West flyover in Southampton, and the A259 The Bourne at Hastings.

The £8.3bn roads resurfacing fund demonstrates the Department’s commitment to improve local transport across the country and is the largest ever funding boost for local road improvements, made possible by reallocated HS2 funding.

Projects and improvements in the South and East of England are made possible by savings from Euston.

All of the £19.8 billion saved from the Northern leg of HS2 will be reinvested in transport across the North, all of the £9.6 billion saved from the Midlands leg will be reinvested in transport across the Midlands, with the £6.5 billion saved through the new approach at Euston being spread across every other region in the country.

Transport Secretary Mark Harper said: “We’re on the side of drivers, which is why this Government is getting on with delivering our plan to invest £735 million in the South East as part of the biggest ever funding increase for local road improvements, made possible by reallocated HS2 funding.

“Alongside this unprecedented funding, which is already being used to improve local roads, we’re making sure residents can hold their local authority to account and see for themselves how the investment will be spent to improve local roads for years to come.”

Having submitted their first reports last month, councils in the South East will now also be required to submit quarterly reports from June, announcing work which has taken place over three months, meaning residents will now regularly be able to scrutinise the progress their local authority is doing to tackle potholes.

For many councils, this may well be the first time they have reported their roads resurfacing plans in detail, so we would expect the overall quality of reporting from councils to improve over time and the Department will keep the quality of their reporting under review in the interests of taxpayers.

The Government’s long-term plan to improve local road networks across the country could save motorists up to £440 on vehicles repairs and is the biggest ever uplift in funding for local road improvements.

This Government is backing drivers, and alongside the unprecedented increase in road maintenance funding, it is delivering for motorists through the Plan for Drivers, ensuring traffic schemes like Low Traffic Neighbourhoods and 20mph speed limits have buy-in from local people, cutting congestion and accelerating the rollout of electric vehicle chargepoints.

RAC head of policy Simon Williams said: “It’s very encouraging to see so many local authorities quickly setting out how they’ll use the first tranche of the Government’s reallocated HS2 funding to improve their roads.

“Drivers will be pleased to see potholes fixed and roads resurfaced, especially as our research shows the poor state of local carriageways is their number-one concern.

“We hope councils will also use this extra money to carry out vital surface dressing work which helps prevent cracking in the cold winter months by sealing roads against water ingress.

“The prime time for this life-extending work is between April and September, so time is of the essence.”

These are the roads that will be resurfaced by West Sussex County Council using this additional funding – predicted start and finish date and kilometres of road to resurfaced included:

A272 Newpound to Rowner Road – Copthorne – 15/04/2024 - 18/04/2024 – 0.55

A259 Brighton Road – Worthing – 20/05/2024 - 25/05/2024 – 4.00

A24 Horsham Road South Bound – Dorking – 29/05/2024 - 02/06/2024 – 1.35

Penhill Road – Lancing – 02/06/2024 - 04/06/2024 – 0.54

South Street – Lancing – 05/06/2024 - 07/06/2024 – 0.24

A259 Lyminster Road Roundabout; Lyminster Road and Worthing Road – Littlehampton – 10/06/2024 - 19/06/2024 – 1.11

Petworth Road and Durbans Road – Wisborough Green – 21/06/2024 - 21/06/2024 – 0.35

B2166 Runcton Lane Roundabout – North Mundham – 24/06/2024 - 25/06/2024 – 0.17

A24 Horsham Bypass South Bound and A24 Exit Slip Road – Horsham – 24/06/2024 - 27/06/2024 – 0.96

B2132 North End Road – Yapton – 25/06/2024 - 25/06/2024 – 0.24

B2140 Station Road; Rustington – Rustington – 26/06/2024 - 04/07/2024 – 0.90

Pound Hill Place; Pound Hill; Crawley – Crawley – 01/07/2024 - 01/07/2024 – 0.09

South Farm Road – Worthing – 03/07/2024 - 05/07/2024 – 1.13

B2195 Comptons Lane Roundabout – North Horsham – 04/07/2024 - 05/07/2024 – 0.30

Crescent Way / Church Road – Burgess Hill – 08/07/2024 - 10/07/2024 – 0.54

Clayton Hill – Pyecombe – 11/07/2024 - 12/07/2024 – 0.09

A2220 Horsham Road – Crawley – 15/07/2024 - 16/07/2024 – 0.62

A264 Dukes Head Roundabout – Copthorne – 17/07/2024 - 19/07/2024 – 0.28

A2037 Henfield Road – Small Dole – 24/07/2024 - 26/07/2024 – 0.33

Haslett Avenue East – Crawley – 29/07/2024 - 02/08/2024 – 0.13

B2116 High Street; (Phase 1) – Hurstpierpoint – 04/08/2024 - 04/08/2024 – 2.40

Junction Road (Phase 2) – Burgess Hill – 05/08/2024 - 09/08/2024 – 5.14

B2116 High Street; Hurstpierpoint. Phase 2 – Hurstpierpoint – 11/08/2024 - 11/08/2024 – 2.40

Wiston Avenue – Worthing – 13/08/2024 - 14/08/2024 – 0.96

B2116 High Street (Phase 3) – Hurstpierpoint – 18/08/2024 - 18/08/2024 – 2.40

Clovelly Road – Southbourne – 22/08/2024 - 23/08/2024 – 0.47

Covington Road – Westbourne – 28/08/2024 - 28/08/2024 – 0.21

Pookbourne Lane – Sayers Common – 02/09/2024 - 04/09/2024 – 1.15

Spy Lane and Oak Grove – Loxwood – 09/09/2024 -09/09/2024 – 0.20

Yapton Road and Main Road – Yapton – 13/09/2024 - 13/09/2024 – 0.27

These are the roads that will be resurfaced by East Sussex County Council using this additional funding – area to be resurfaced in m2 included:

Downsview CresentUckfield5,000

Bartley Mill Road – Frant – 3,578

Well Green Lane – Kingston – 5,478

Pacific Drive – Eastbourne – 13,427

Cherry Gardens Hill – Groombridge – 2,852

Bunny Lane – Frant – 9,204

Holliers Hill – Bexhill – 5,981

Frant Green Road – Frant – 7,228

Fysie Lane – Etchingham – 8,334

Newhaven Road – Rodmell – 3,130

The BourneHastings6,833