Transport secretary Heidi Alexander has decided to axe key road schemes worth over £1bn, with more cuts likely to follow.
The news comes after the Department for Transport (DfT) made a huge fanfare of progressing major road and rail schemes this week.
While five strategic road network (SRN) schemes now look set to progress under the third road investment strategy (RIS 3 2026-2031), the 28 local schemes the department is continuing were already on the books.
At the same time, Ms Alexander told MPs that a pair of significant schemes had been immediately dropped and suggested more could follow after further review, laying the blame on the previous government and accusing it of creating financial 'blackholes'.
She revealed she had dropped the £1.2bn A12 widening scheme from plans for National Highways' strategic road network - thus removing any chance it will be in RIS 3.
She also revealed she had decided to axe the £100m A47 Wansford to Sutton scheme despite ground surveys having already started earlier this year.
'We are already investing over £500m on improvements to the A47 corridor, with work to dual sections in Norfolk already underway. But it’s just not feasible to support further investment at this time,' Ms Alexander said.
'I understand some communities will feel frustrated. But by taking this decision, we’re rebalancing funds towards those areas that, for too long, haven’t had the infrastructure investment they’ve deserved. The North and Midlands will now get a higher proportion of strategic road spend than we’ve seen in the last five years.'
She went on to say further cuts could be coming down the line: 'Many other [schemes] now need to be reviewed. My officials will work with councils on which schemes to prioritise and I will update the House on next steps once those discussions have taken place.'
Pointing to a legacy of slow or stalled delivery, Ms Alexander suggested that the Government was looking at cutting large scale schemes on the local network next.
'The previous government spent years developing plans for large local schemes and major road network projects that were neither affordable nor got off the ground. We can’t go on like this,' she said.
'Schemes that formed part of the previous government’s major road network programme, all of which were meant to be in construction by now, have not progressed as expected. Almost half are yet to reach the outline business case stage, despite being in the programme for six years.'
Despite mentioning six-year-old schemes, Ms Alexander went on to blame 'the tragic legacy of the farcical ‘Network North’ announcement made by the previous Prime Minister,' which only dates back to 2023.
