Northern Ireland’s battered and potholed roads are set to receive a much-needed funding boost after the Executive agreed almost £55 million in new allocations, with a significant portion earmarked for road repairs and transport infrastructure.
The funding package includes £29.7 million in capital investment, alongside £25 million in resource funding to help meet public sector pay pressures.
The money has become available through additional Barnett consequentials and reduced spending requirements across departments.
At the heart of the announcement is a £16.8 million capital allocation for the Department for Infrastructure, which Minister Liz Kimmins said will allow for urgent and targeted investment in roads following months of severe weather that have left motorists across the North grappling with dangerous driving conditions.
“Infrastructure lies at the very heart of everything we do,” the Minister said, adding that recent storms, prolonged rainfall, ice and snow have taken a “severe toll” on the road network.
She confirmed the funding will enable targeted road maintenance to be rolled out in the coming weeks, at a time when public frustration with the state of local roads is at an all-time high.
The scale of the problem was laid bare as Minister Kimmins revealed that 49,000 road defects have been recorded in the last three months alone — almost half the total number logged during the entirety of the previous year.
To further address the crisis, the Minister has also launched a £7.85 million Winter Recovery Road Fund, aimed specifically at repairing the worst surface defects caused by recent extreme weather.
“This winter period has taken a severe toll on the road network,” she said. “While it is not possible to address every issue in the short-term, this fund will allow an urgent and direct focus on repairing the defects causing the most concern.”
The Winter Recovery Road Fund will operate alongside 40 resurfacing schemes already programmed following December Monitoring allocations, with officials also being asked to explore ways to maximise workforce capacity to speed up repairs.
Finance Minister John O’Dowd said the Executive was united in its approach, stressing that roads would benefit from almost £17 million in additional capital funding, alongside allocations of £6.5 million to help people with disabilities adapt their homes, and £6.4 million for education.
He also confirmed that the £25 million resource allocation would be directed towards meeting health service and teacher pay costs.
Minister Kimmins acknowledged the long-standing challenges facing road maintenance, pointing to a “legacy of underfunding from the British Government”, but said her department would continue to maximise every pound available.
She added that the newly launched Road Maintenance Strategy, which recently closed for public consultation, will underpin longer-term improvements to standards across the network.
“The Winter Recovery Road Fund provides a short-term boost, but it is coupled with a longer-term strategy to ensure maintenance is timely, durable and delivered to a consistently high standard,” she said.
The Minister also urged the public to continue reporting potholes and surface defects through the online portal, as maintenance teams work to prioritise and make safe the most serious hazards.
For motorists who have endured months of cratered roads, damaged vehicles and mounting repair bills, the funding will be closely watched to see whether it finally delivers visible improvements on the ground.
