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An extra £6.6 million is being invested in upgrading
roads, streetlights and footpaths over the next three years as part
of Telford & Wrekin Council's budget proposals.
The investments would be up to £1.7 million a year spent on
upgrading roads and footpaths to help improve safety and reassure
people and around £500,000 a year put into replacing old
streetlights and other environmental improvements.
The Council estimates that the money would support the
refurbishment of around 40 lengths of roads and 80 stretches of
footways in the first year, including many schemes targeting estate
roads in urban areas and roads that link villages in rural
areas.
In addition to this, the Council would also get around £3.9
million over the next three years (£1.3 million a year) from
Government to support schemes on major principal routes in the
borough, such as one to prevent flooding and surface problems on a
section of the A41 at Woodcote Hollow, near Newport.
In total, this means that the Council will be spending around
£10.5 million over the next three years on these key services.
The Council's investment in streetlights will help to replace
around 500 outdated street lights a year, particularly targeting
areas where there have been problems linked to anti-social
behaviour.
Alongside this, the Council will also look at other
environmental improvements to help boost public safety such as
cutting back shrubs to improve visibility.
Cllr Stephen Bentley, cabinet member for the Environment, said:
"We are proposing to pump extra money into these key areas because
local people have told us that these are a top priority for
them.
"Much of this extra money will also go to improving the road and
footway network, particularly on unclassified roads.
"In addition, we'll also be looking to help ensure that we can
make our streets as safe as possible by replacing ageing
streetlights and seeing if there are other environmental measures
we can take to help improve
safety." |