The government has published a draft of England’s third Road Investment Strategy (RIS3), which outlines priorities for £25bn of spending on major roads.
The strategy for the Strategic Road Network, which will cover the period from 1 April 2026 to 21 March 2031, has an emphasis on maintenance and renewal as well as reducing environmental impacts of the network to improve safety outcomes.
The previous government scrapped plans for major construction during RIS3, saying mooted road projects would only be delivered after 2030. It also cancelled smart motorway projects, apart from on the M56 J6-8 and M6 J21a-26, which were more than three-quarters complete.
The new government has confirmed it is taking the same approach, saying that RIS3 will “set out the pipeline of schemes that will continue to be considered for construction in RIS4 or late RIS3 if funding becomes available”.
The draft strategy states: “RIS3 will have a far greater focus than earlier RISs on the maintenance and renewal of the existing network. Investment should also support integration with the local road network, as well as promoting modal choice for long distance journeys, and support active travel and public transport provision for shorter journeys.”
The strategy also says National Highways should “invest in construction materials that accelerate the construction industry towards decarbonisation by 2040” and apply design principles that will “ensure materials can be reused or recycled at the end of their life”.
It adds that National Highways ought to “reduce the environmental impact of roads in areas such as noise, air and water pollution” and “explore opportunities for restoring nature, increasing species abundance, connecting habitats and working at landscape scale”.
The government has also called on the highways body to “be ready to harness the rapidly developing possibilities of new technology to change the way people think about transport and how vehicles and physical infrastructure respond to each other”.
The total funding envelope for RIS3 is £24.98bn, including costs for both capital and resource expenditure — an increase of less than £1bn from RIS2, which was originally planned to have £27bn but saw funding cut to £24bn.
RIS2 started in April 2020 and ended on 31 March. The five-year period covered by RIS3 was delayed by a year due to the July 2024 general election, with National Highways given £4.8bn of funding for the interim year.
National Highways is now working on a strategic business plan for RIS3 to outline whether government objectives can be delivered within available resources.
The draft strategic business plan will be submitted to the Department for Transport by 1 September. Regulator the Office for Roads and Rail will then appraise the plan in an efficiency review, which is due to be finished by 30 November.
In a foreword to the RIS3 draft, transport secretary Heidi Alexander said the plan will be a “core component of the government’s new 10-year infrastructure strategy” and will “reduce regional inequalities, ensuring that all parts of the UK benefit from faster, safer and more reliable road travel”.
“Our objectives for RIS3 will be a continuation of the work begun in the first two road periods. Safety, customer service and delivery will remain the cornerstones of the way the strategic road network is managed,” she added.
“RIS3 will also build on work started in RIS2 to ensure that through a long-term focus on maintenance and renewals, the network remains safe and fit for the future.”
