The region's roads are set to benefit from a £196 million investment to make journeys quicker, smoother and safer, the Government has announced.
Scores of upgrades have already been made during the lockdown period with more planned over the coming weeks and months.
The funding for Yorkshire and Humber is part of a £1.7 billion Transport Infrastructure Investment Fund, to help every area improve its roads, repair bridges and fill in millions of potholes – enough to build a road stretching a third of the way around the Earth.
The package will fill 1.3 million potholes across the region alone. It will also see smaller improvements completed to upgrade local networks, such as enhancing road safety at key locations, the installation of priority bus lanes and the creation of projects to help lock in improvements in air quality experienced during lockdown.
Roads Minister Baroness Vere said: “It is vital that we continue to stay at home and only travel when it is essential to do so, but as people slowly begin to return to our roads over the coming weeks and months, we want to ensure they are in the best shape possible.
“The funding we are allocating will help make journeys smoother, quicker and safer for drivers, cyclists and pedestrians.”
The £1.7 billion is being automatically allocated based on the length of local authorities’ roads, helping to reduce pressures on staff at this crucial time by removing the need to apply manually for funding.
Under devolution, West Yorkshire and Sheffield City region are now combined authorities, with transport a duty, with the four Humber authorities split individually. As reported, North and North East Lincolnshire are now looking south to Lincoln for a deal, breaking up the political and economic entity based on the Energy Estuary.
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The Government is also accelerating more than £175 million worth of work during the quieter period across the road and rail network while people follow guidance to avoid unnecessary travel.
Major improvement works have already taken place over the past month, with England’s motorways and major A-roads benefiting from £200 million of work carried out in April while some £550 million of improvements and maintenance have been completed on the rail network.
In addition, councils across Yorkshire and the Humber have taken advantage of the quiet periods on the roads to safely carry out key works – including Doncaster Council who brought forward key congestion projects and utility works to take advantage of the reduced traffic volumes. While East Riding has worked to ensure the vast majority of highway and civil engineering works could safely continue throughout the lockdown – including the £4 million Shiptonthorpe Roundabout scheme to improve traffic flows along the major commercial route between Hull and York.
This comes after the Transport Secretary last week announced £2 billion in funding to boost more sustainable greener travel and encourage more people to begin cycling and walking.
Planning consent on the biggest scheme of them all, the £355 million A63 Castle Street upgrade is still awaited, with a decision expected by the end of the month. It has already been signed off by the Treasury.
Barry White, chief executive at Transport for the North, said: “Transport for the North welcomes this announcement by the Secretary of State, given the clear need for a decisive response to the current crisis and the need to support people in moving about their essential business safely.
“The immediate task must be to equip our public transport infrastructure with everything it needs to facilitate the safe movement of people and have clear communications with passengers. This includes the key message to avoid using public transport wherever possible so that the limited space is available for those essential users.
“The package of measures announced today and others made recently should be seen as just the start of what needs to be a fully-funded move towards levelling-up our national transport network to provide the best possible chance of economic recovery while meeting ambitions around decarbonisation.”