Major Road Network

The Major Road Network (MRN) is a classification of local authority roads in England. It incorporates the National Highways-controlled Strategic Road Network (SRN) and the more major local authority controlled A roads. This network accounts for around 4 per cent of the nation's road length but 43 per cent of the traffic flows. It is designed to allow central government funding to be more effectively targeted towards the more economically critical road infrastructure. The system was proposed by the Rees Jeffreys Road Fund in October 2017 and adopted by the government in its 2017 Transport Investment Strategy. The MRN scheme was implemented in late 2018 and local authorities were required to submit proposals for £3.5 billion of funding for new schemes to be constructed 2020-25.

2016 Rees Jeffreys Road Fund report

The creation of the Major Road Network was proposed in the October 2016 Rees Jeffreys Road Fund report A Major Road Network for England written by David Quarmby and Phil Carey. The remaining 98 per cent of the network is currently under the control of 153 separate local authorities. As it stands the local authority roads network, accounting for 98 per cent of the nation's road length faces declining central government funding and a confusing system of applying for capital expenditure. There is a significant difference in funding available for the HE SRN and the economically-critical local authority major roads. The greater use of technology-driven solutions for MRN roads was also suggested, in a similar way to how the SRN has seen more technology investment, such as with smart motorways. == 2017 Department for Transport consultation ==

2017 Department for Transport consultation

In December 2017 the Department for Transport (DfT) issued a report, entitled Moving Britain Ahead, which outlined further details of the proposed MRN which the government had committed to earlier in 2017 within its Transport Investment Strategy. == Implementation ==

Implementation

The Major Road Network was implemented in late 2018 when the DfT issued maps of the roads to local authorities. The maps were not released to the public. The DfT called for local authorities to submit bids so that 10 top priority schemes in each region could be considered for funding in the 2020-25 budget period. £3.5 billion was made available from the DfT's National Roads Fund, though there is a requirement for a 15% contribution from local authority or third party sources. The submissions deadline was Summer 2019. The network has since been published with the data being made available for download. == References ==

Source: Wikipedia ↗

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