County council receives £3.4m funding boost to help roads damaged by severe weather

Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin announced yesterday (Thursday March 20) that an extra £140m was being made available to help authorities in the UK.

The county council has been told it will receive £3,475,968 as part of its share.

The Government released the emergency payment following the wettest winter on record.

In order to qualify for this extra funding, the county council will be required to publish information on its website by the end of August 2014 to show where this money has been spent.

The announcement comes weeks before the county council launches its £30m Better Roads Programme, a two-year scheme targeting rural and residential roads in West Sussex in need of repair.

The Better Roads initiative is above and beyond the annual road maintenance programme the county council carries out every year.

County Council Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport, Pieter Montyn, said: “This is a timely boost from the Government, which will strengthen our hand at a time when we are already investing heavily in improving our rural and residential road network.

“It means we can repair more roads quicker than we’d originally planned, keep them safe, and make it easier for the residents and businesses of West Sussex to get around.”