Some £3.7million is to be spent on improvements to Salford's roads and footways in the next 12 months in a bid to drive down legal claims for vehicle damage and pedestrian injuries. The cash comes from the city council’s capital allocation from the Department for Transport for the Highways Investment Programme (HIP) for the year ahead as legal claims for damaged vehicles soared to above 40 claims last year and personal injuries climbed to nearly 60 from almost zero.
Town hall bosses implemented a ‘network recovery plan’ in 2009/10 in a bid to arrest the deterioration of the highways. But since 2016/17 the authority has been consistently awarded less than it has bid for under the HIP.
It has asked for a total of £32.6m since then, but has received just short of £20m in that time. However, for the first time in the last seven years, Salford has now to received £3.7m - the amount it requested.
