Major Roads | Transport for the North

Major Roads

Our vision for the North is for transformational economic growth that is socially inclusive and delivers a resilient net zero economy. 

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Roads are used by pedestrians, cyclists, horse riders, motorcyclists, drivers of cars and vans, and passengers in cars, buses and coaches. In total, 96% of all personal journeys are made by these modes, amounting to 88% of personal distance travelled. As almost every journey involves a road at some point, our highways need to be safe, resilient and efficient to enable economic growth

Achieving this requires a fundamental change in how we manage, maintain and invest in our transport networks, including our roads.  
 
We have set out an objective for zero growth in total passenger vehicle miles per year on the North's road network. Meeting this will require significant changes to the way we travel, with more people, more often using public transport and active travel modes.   

What we're doing

Transport for the North works with national partners on shaping plans for investment in our nationally important transport networks, including the strategic and major roads connecting cities and towns within and beyond our region. With these roads carrying more than two-thirds of all road freight miles and one-third of car and passenger miles. Our Strategic Transport Plan and Major Roads report set out our priorities for the North's Major Roads, these are:
 [1][2]

• Enabling sustainable growth in employment and housing
   

• Decarbonising our transport system, with road transport responsible for the vast majority of transport related carbon emissions.

  Achieving modal shift from car to public transport, walking and cycling along with a rapid shift to Zero Emissions Vehicles is critical to meeting ambitions to meet net zero carbon emissions from transport.
   

• Improving the customer experience, including the safety, reliability and resilience for all travel modes using the road network.
   

• Maintaining and renewing existing highway assets, ensuring our roads are safe and resilient, in particular adapting to the impacts of climate change.
   

• Enabling the efficient movement of people and goods, through maximising the effectiveness of existing roads and targeted investment in new transport measures where needed.  

Major Road Network[3]

Using our extensive evidence base and technical tools we help shape planning for investment on the National Highways Strategic Road Network (SRN) and

Work we are doing includes:

• Providing evidence and support for the full dualling of the A66 Scotch Corner - Penrith.  

• Supporting work on developing options for improving safety, reliability and resilience of travel on the A628/A616 corridor between Manchester and Sheffield, the A590 / A595 upgrades in Westmoreland. 

• Advocating for targeted investment in supporting sustainable growth in housing and jobs and on improving safety, reliability and resilience for all road users on the Strategic and Major Road Networks. This includes making the case for North to get its fair share of funding through the Road Investment Strategy (RIS).  

• Appraising the vulnerability of our transport systems in the North to the effects of the increasing severity of climate hazards. We will use this evidence to support our partners with developing the business case for their maintenance and renewal programmes. 

• We are providing evidence to support planning the transition to zero emission vehicles (see our EVCI webpages), support for bus service improvements plans (see Bus pages) and our Carbon Assessment Playbook used to aid decision making on policies and investment needed to reduce carbon emissions in line with commitments to meeting net zero emissions.  [4][5]

What will it take to decarbonise transport?

Condensing an answer to the question 'what will it take to decarbonise transport?' is no easy task.

But in this Insight, our Head of Decarbonisation, Peter Cole, outlines two key elements he believes ... Monday 17th April 2023

Response to Bus Back Better strategy

On Monday 15 March 2021, the Government published Bus Back Better, a national bus strategy aimed at improving bus services and links for communities across England. You can read the strategy here ...

Monday 15th March 2021

Statutory advice on the Trans Pennine Strategic Road Studies

At the Transport for the North Board meeting on 14 January, Members agreed to write to the Transport Secretary to provide statutory advice on the Trans Pennine Strategic Road Studies ... Tuesday 26th January 2021

A595 funding announcement "welcome injection of cash"

Responding to the announcement by the Department for Transport that GBP12.7m has been committed to upgrade the A595 at Grizebeck in Cumbria, Peter Molyneux, Major Roads Director at Transport for the North ... Tuesday 27th October 2020

The importance of roads investment: An inconvenient truth?

This Insight article by our Major Roads Director Peter Molyneux is based on a presentation he gave at the ICE Learning Society Committee virtual event earlier this year ...

Thursday 8th July 2021

Poynton Relief Road work brings boost to connectivity in the region

Cheshire East Council has confirmed work has kicked-off on the long-awaited Poynton Relief Road scheme ... Thursday 22nd October 2020

Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging - helping to improve air quality in the North of England

There is no denying that the world's climate is changing and action is needed to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This is why, in 2019, the UK government became the first ...

Wednesday 30th December 2020

Future-proofing transport investment for the North

Simon McGlone, Senior Planning and Strategy Officer and Jack Snape, Analysis Manager, look at how Transport for the North's Future Travel Scenarios report can help shape investment decision-making for decades ...

Thursday 21st January 2021

Major Roads Report | Dec 2021[6]

This Major Roads Report sets out the scale of the challenge as we look to enhance their safety and reduce their environmental impact.

Major Roads Report Summary | Dec 2021[7]

A summary of the Major Roads Report that outlines the critical role that the North's strategic roads play in enabling our residents and businesses to go about their daily li

References

1. ^ Strategic Transport Plan (www.transportforthenorth.com)
2. ^ Major Roads report (www.transportforthenorth.com)
3. ^ Major Road Network (www.transportforthenorth.com)
4. ^ EVCI (evci-visualiser.transportforthenorth.com)
5. ^ Carbon Assessment Playbook (qcrinfo.wordpress.com)
6. ^ Major Roads Report | Dec 2021 (www.transportforthenorth.com)
7. ^ Major Roads Report Summary | Dec 2021 (www.transportforthenorth.com)