The latest tranche of projects to get funding are in addition to the 20 schemes, worth £574m, announced in the Autumn Statement at the end of last month.
Among the heavyweight order-boosting projects are the £90m Wear Bridge, £120m Norwich Northern Distributor Road, £93m Bristol bus transit project and the £116m Croxley rail link near Watford.
Greening said: “Transport infrastructure is central to growth, and I am announcing funding for a further 21 local major transport schemes.
“Along with the schemes announced last month we’ve supported investment of over £1.4bn that will strengthen local economies and improve local transport links for communities across the country.
“We are investing in schemes that will provide better access to jobs and services, reduce congestion and enable more goods to move more easily around our country.”
In total the schemes announced today are worth over £854m with an overall DfT contribution of £586m.
Winning projects
- Bath Transportation Package. Park and ride site expansions and bus priority measures plus improvements to local bus stops. (Cost £28.6m).
- Beverley Integrated Transport Plan. Construction of 1.8m single carriageway road, a bridge over Hull-Beverley rail line and improvements to roundabouts. (£27.3m).
- Camborne-Pool-Redruth Transport Package. New east – west link road from Camborne to Pool. (£26.8m).
- Chester Road (Birmingham). Widening of Chester Road to a three lane dual carriageway from M6 Jct 5 with bus priority and pedestrian improvements. (£10.5m).
- Coventry-Nuneaton Rail Upgrade (formerly known as NUCKLE). Enhanced rail service and two new stations on the Coventry to Nuneaton railway line. (£18.8m).
- Croxley Rail Link (Watford). Extension of the Metropolitan line from Croxley to Watford Junction mainline station plus two new stations (£115.9m).
- Darlaston (Walsall). Various road improvements including new bridges over the canal and railway, junction improvements, modifications to existing roads to open up development area. (£25.9m).
- Elmbridge Transport (Gloucester). Package of improvements including new Park and Ride site between Cheltenham and Gloucester. (£16.5m).
- Leeds Inner Relief Road Maintenance. Maintenance to Woodhouse Tunnel and other structures on the Inner Ring Road. (Funding tba)
- Loughborough Town Centre Transport Scheme. Completion of the remaining section of the Inner Relief Road & upgrading junctions on the existing relief road. Extension of pedestrianised area in the town centre. (£16.6m).
- Luton Town Centre Transport Scheme. Package of measures to improve traffic flow around town centre including new link road. (£23.9m).
- Morpeth Northern Bypass. Northern bypass of Morpeth linking with A1 to south east Northumberland. (£30.1m).
- North Fringe to Hengrove BRT (Bristol). Bus rapid transit scheme from the north of the city (inc Bristol Parkway) via the city centre to Hengrove in the South. (£92.9m).
- Nottingham Ring Road. Enhancements to key junctions on the Nottingham Ring Road. (£16.2m).
- Pennine Reach (East Lancs Rapid Transit). Bus enhancements in Blackburn and East Lancashire including bus priority measures. (£39.8m).
- South Yorkshire Bus Rapid Transit Phase 1 (Sheffield/Rotherham). New bus rapid transit from Sheffield along the Don Valley toward Rotherham including a new road link under the M1 (the Tinsley link). (£34.3m).
- Sunderland Strategic Corridor. A new bridge over the River Wear (£117.6m).
- Weston Package. Package of transport improvements in and around Weston Super Mare including improvements to M5 junction, enhancements to Worle station and access improvements to development areas. (£15.0m).
- Worcester Transport Strategy. Package of transport improvements in and around Worcester, including enhancements to Foregate Street and Malvern Link stations. (£19.6m).
- A684 Bedale Bypass. The Department has offered a lower level of funding (£35.9m DfT contribution towards a total cost of £42.1m) to North Yorkshire County Council for this scheme, with a final decision as to whether to accept this offer required of the local council by the end of January 2012.
- Norwich Northern Distributor Road (NNDR). Funding approved subject to Norfolk County Council agreeing to fund a package of sustainable transport measures in the city centre. The new road runs to the East and North of Norwich with a new junction onto the A47 at Postwick (£111.1m).
Funding for several other projects will be considered by the Government in the Spring. They are:
· Leeds New Generation Transport. Government needs more evidence to assess the value for money of this scheme and has given the promoters until 31 March to update their business case. A decision will be made two months later.
· SERT (South Essex Rapid Transit). Government needs more evidence and has given the promoters until 31 March 2012 to update their business case, before making a decsiion within two months.
· Waverley Link Road. The Waverley Link Road proposed by Rotherham Borough Council is opposed in its current form by Sheffield City Council, whose land is required for the proposed route. Rotherham Council are invited to work with Sheffield to propose a resolution to the issue by 31 March 2012.
· Bexhill – Hastings Link Road. Before Ministers take a final decision on the scheme they want to be sure that it offers the best approach for regenerating the area and also to consider other transport options to achieve this, including local trunk roads such as the A21, A259 and local rail. Over the next three months the Transport Department will work alongside the scheme’s promoters and other local and regional partners to gather further evidence on the optimal solution for the area. The Department would intend to make a decision swiftly thereafter.
The Department also today confirmed the individual allocations to local transport authorities of the £50m top-up to the Integrated Transport Block grant announced by the Chancellor in the Autumn Statement. The top-up will be allocated in accordance with the formula for the Integrated Transport Block grant.
