Reallocated HS2 funding to improve our borough’s roads

£612,000 has been received from the Department for Transport to maintain the borough’s road network, which was reallocated from the HS2 project.

Following the announcement of the cancellation of the Birmingham to Manchester leg of the HS2 rail link, funding was re-allocated to the north, part of which formed the Network North Plan. Network North is an £8.3 billion commitment to highways maintenance across England over the next 11 years and is to be used for the resurfacing of carriageways, cycleways, and footways to prevent potholes and other road defects occurring.

The additional funding from the Network North Plan represents a 30% increase and will allow the highways department to re-surface approximately 6.2km of road in a year which is 1.2% of the network, as opposed to 4.5km, or 1% of the network with previous funding levels.

Councillor Quesir Mahmood, Executive Member for Growth and Development said:

We are grateful for this extra boost of funding from the Department of Transport; however, the borough’s road network is deteriorating rapidly and requires significantly more capital to maintain it. We would welcome further grants from the government to be able to do this.

The highways department used their asset management strategy to prioritise work based on the current conditions of roadways, with the aim of extending the life of the road network and the overall impact on communities.

Over the next year, the following roads will receive surface dressing schemes to prolong their life:  

• Egerton Road Corridor, West Pennine
• Long Lane, Billinge and Beardwood
• A666 Darwen Falcon Avenue to Birch Hall Avenue
• Rivington Road, Belmont

The following roads will be resurfaced, to address deterioration:  

• Troy Street, Blackburn
• Accrington Road, Blackburn
• Billinge End Road, Blackburn
• Livingstone Road, Blackburn
• Sough Road, Darwen
• Vale Street, Darwen
• Amber Avenue, Blackburn
• Beryl Avenue, Blackburn
• Bolton Road, Blackburn
• Harwood Street, Darwen
• Lammack Road, Blackburn
• Walker Road, Blackburn
• Alderman Arthur Townsend, Blackburn
• Kelsall Avenue, Blackburn
• Greenhead Avenue, Blackburn

The following roads will see patching schemes, to remediate any defects and improve the condition:

• Owlet Hall Road, Darwen
• Prospect Avenue, Darwen

For more information and detailed maps of where the work is due to take place, head to Road maintenance works 2024 to 2025 | Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council