Council nets more than £4.5 million from government to improve roads

Dudley Council has received almost £4.5 million in government funding to improve borough roads.

It means council bosses will spend £10 million in total this year on highways, with the latest works this week seeing improvements to Stourbridge Ring Road.

The £4.49m for highways maintenance has come via West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) through the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements (CRSTS) scheme.

Council bosses are proposing to spend more than half of the cash - £2.6 million – on improvements to major A and B roads in the borough.

A further £1.1 million is to be spent on unclassified roads, with more than £400,000 on lighting and £330,000 on bridges.

Councillor Steve Clark, cabinet member for finance and legal services, said:

This investment from the government, through West Midlands Combined Authority, is hugely welcomed.

We know from residents how important it is that we maintain our roads in good condition.

That is why we are pledging to make it a priority by spending £10 million this year to resurface roads and tackle potholes.

Councillor Shaz Saleem, cabinet member for highways and public realm, said:

This extra cash will allow us to fund even more improvements to make it easier for our residents to get around the borough.

I was pleased to see the latest progress this week with work we have managed to get done on Stourbridge Ring Road.

Residents of Dudley have asked for improvements and this is one of our priorities.

I would like say thank you to all out staff on the front line - our operatives on the ground are doing an excellent job.