Sarah Wollaston – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sarah Wollaston on 2016-01-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans his Department has to use the (a) £175 million cycling, safety and integration fund and (b) £75 million air quality investment fund referred to in the Government’s Road Investment Strategy for the period 2015-16 to 2019-20.

Mr Robert Goodwill

a) £175 million cycling, safety and integration fund

Highways England is developing a programme of initiatives to improve the safety of the network and to also improve facilities for cyclists, pedestrians and equestrians, identifying further opportunities for improved integration with wider transport networks such as Park & Ride.

This fund supports their ambition to reduce the number of casualties on the strategic road network and encourage walking and cycling as an everyday mode of travel, as set out in the DfT Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy.

(b) £75 million air quality investment fund referred to in the Government’s Road Investment Strategy for the period 2015-16 to 2019-20.

Highways England’s Delivery Plan commits them to start 10 air quality pilot studies in the first 2 years of this road investment period.

These studies are designed to identify new and innovative solutions that will be funded using the air quality designated fund, to improve air quality alongside the strategic road network and support delivery of the major improvement schemes identified in the Road Investment Strategy.

Highways England’s work in relation to air quality, and the use of the £75million air quality designated fund (2015 – 20), is in support of the Government’s National Air Quality Plan.