Three South West schemes will receive a share of a £30m government fund to improve local roads.
Several projects have been approved nationwide that are aimed at cutting carbon emissions on the country's roads. The projects will be part of a three-year programme developed by the Association of Directors of Environment, Economy, Planning and Transport (ADEPT) and funded by the Department for Transport.
The programme will run until March 2026, with a five-year subsequent, extended monitoring and evaluation period. Seven projects, grouped by four interconnected themes, are being led by local authorities working alongside commercial and academic partners.
In the South West, Wessex partnership (Somerset County Council, Cornwall Council and Hampshire County Council), Devon County Council, and Liverpool City Council, will lead a corridor and place-based decarbonisation model. This will see a suite of corridor and place-based decarbonisation interventions covering urban through to rural applications, trialling, testing and showcasing applications within the circular economy and localism agendas.
Read more: Cornwall Council to receive £22m of government funding to develop green energy site
South Gloucestershire Council and West Sussex County Council have been awarded funding for a green carbon laboratory to examine the role that non-operational highways "green" asset can play in providing a source of materials and fuels to decarbonise highway operations. And Devon County Council will lead a Carbon Negative Project on the A382, including Jetty Marsh Link Road.
Roads minister Richard Holden said: “Taxpayers want to get the biggest bang for their buck, promote high skilled jobs in the UK and to ensure that we can maintain and improve our road network in the least environmentally damaging way possible.
“This targeted £30m investment in world-leading pioneering and innovative technologies will help harness the first rate skills of British science and industry to help us reduce both the costs and environmental impact of construction, operation and delivery of our roads while boosting regional connections and providing high-skilled jobs across the country.”
Mark Kemp, president of ADEPT said: “The decarbonisation of highways infrastructure is both hugely challenging and vital as local authorities work to meet zero targets. Decision-making and behavioural change is as fundamental to success as supply chain and materials, which is why we focused on a fully-funded mobilisation phase. Having procurement and legal strategies already in place will ensure that project procurements run smoothly with potential partners understanding what programme expectations mean for deployment."
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