More than £33 million to be spent improving roads and bus services across Nottinghamshire

The East Midlands Combined County Authority (EMCCA) met on Monday, March 10, to discuss investment in major transport projects across Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire.

The meeting of the group’s board discussed how much money will be invested into transport across the East Midlands.

Out of a £21 million regional Bus Grant, £4.9 million will be invested in Nottingham City and £5.4 million will be invested into Nottinghamshire County Council.

Some of the funding for key schemes includes a £2 million investment into smart parking signs, and there will also be £1 million in improvements to footways, cycleways, carriageways, parking areas and green spaces across the city.

The rest of the funds will be allocated to other projects in the city, documents say.

Nottinghamshire county will get £15.1 million for carriageways, footways, drainage and road markings for overall improvements of transport networks across the county.

The rest of the funds will be allocated to other projects in the county, documents say.

The Bus Services Grant will improve the reliability of bus services, providing better facilities and information for passengers.

It will also help the move to fully zero emission bus fleets and support the development of and connectivity to the region’s growth zones.

Funding will also go towards road surface improvements, such as fixing potholes and improving roads.

Coun Sam Smith (Con), leader of Nottinghamshire County Council, questioned when the council would receive the funds to carry on its projects.

He said : “It’s great to see this huge investment coming forward into what is the number one priority, so its good to be cracking on with that.

“Nottinghamshire County Council have a pipeline of projects ready to go and spend the money.

“We’re gearing up our supply chains, but we just need confirmation of when we will actually get the money.

“Some guidance on when the formal notice of when that money will be sent to us would be really helpful.

“There’s lots of roads in Nottinghamshire that need it.”

The EMCCA is the new regional body led by elected Mayor of the East Midlands Claire Ward (Lab) in charge of powers and funding devolved from Government to try to speed up growth in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire.

Coun Simon Spencer, deputy leader of Derbyshire County Council (Con), added: “We welcome the next investment into our transport network across the region as a whole.

“This is a great opportunity for the organisation to have a vision of how we want to move people around the East Midlands as a whole, and a strategic plan and strategic network which is integrated and timetables that deliver on that.

“We need to bring people into the East Midlands, but when we get them here the ability to move around is paramount, and particular get people to and from work.

“Let’s take a pragmatic approach to funding in areas and deliver the annual strategy.”

Councillors voted to move the recommendations forward.