More than £150m has been allocated over the next 11 years to improve the quality of roads in Cumbria.
The £8.3bn national scheme will see Westmorland and Furness Council granted an additional £4.69m before the end of the 2024-25 financial year on top of its current allocation to resurface roads.
The funding is part of the £36bn Network North scheme to improve transport throughout the country, which was announced by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak after the northern leg of HS2 between Birmingham and Manchester was scrapped.
The Government has pledged an additional allocation of £2.347m to Westmorland and Furness Council for 2023-24 and 2024-25.
Councillor Peter Thornton, the Liberal Democrat cabinet member for highways, commented on the allocation for the next two years.
Mr Thornton, (Kendal Strickland and Fell) said: “I welcome the recognition that we need more money to keep our roads to a reasonable standard and clearly the small increase in our grant is very welcome and we will use it well.
“As far as the commitment for future governments to deliver, we’ll have to see what happens, and I’ve learnt in my many years as a councillor that things change rapidly from year to year.”
The Government says the £8.3bn in national funding is enough money to resurface over 5,000 miles of roads across the country.
Transport secretary Mark Harper, said: “Today’s biggest-ever funding uplift for local road improvements is a victory for all road users, who will enjoy smoother, faster and safer trips — as we use redirected HS2 funding to make the right long-term decisions for a brighter future.”
