Member

Today, though, I can provide more detail on how we will use our wider spending review settlement. Let me start with our main highways. It should come as no surprise when I say that the strategic road network is one of our most important national assets. Carrying one-third of all traffic and two-thirds of our freight and generating £400 billion for our economy, those essential arteries sustain our businesses, our trade, and our very way of life. However, with much of the network built in the 1970s and 1980s, not only are many routes in need of renewal; there are pinch points where nothing short of new infrastructure will do.