Devon County Council is set to receive 5.04 million pounds for safety improvements to the A361.

This money for the Devon part of the A361 in Ilfracombe is part of the Government’s investment in 17 of the most high-risk roads in England, the Department for Transport has announced today (19 March 2024).

The Department for Transport says this will 'see significant reductions in fatal and serious injuries.'

Across the country, improvements will include: designing new junctions and roundabouts, improving signage and road markings, new road surfacing and landscape management and improved pedestrian crossings and cycle lanes

The £38.3 million across England will deliver improvements on 17 roads, and comes on top of the £147.5m already invested to deliver life-saving improvements on 82 high risk roads across England. This round of funding is expected to save 385 lives over the next 20 years, as well as reduce congestion, improve journey times and lower emissions.

The Government is on the side of drivers and is delivering a wide range of improvements across all roads, through our £24bn Roads Investment Strategy, our 30-point Plan for Drivers and the biggest ever increase in funding for local road improvements thanks to £8.3bn of reallocated HS2 funding.

Transport Secretary Mark Harper said: “Britain’s roads are some of the safest in the world, but we are always looking at ways to help keep drivers and all road users safe.

“As part of the Government’s plan to improve roads across the country, we’re providing an extra £38 million so that local councils in England have the support they need to keep everyone safe, while reducing congestion and helping to grow the economy.”

According to the Road Safety Foundation, it is estimated that all tranches of the Safer Road Fund will save nearly 2600 fatal and serious injuries over the next 20 years.

Once the whole life costs are factored in for the schemes, the overall benefit cost ratio of the investment is estimated at 5.3, meaning for every £1 invested the societal benefit would be £5.30.

Dr Suzy Charman, Executive Director of RSF said: “The Safer Roads Fund is a transformational initiative for road safety and for the local authorities receiving funds. It makes it possible for road safety teams across the country to proactively address risk of death and serious injury for all road users on these routes.

“Systematic changes have already had a big impact on road death and serious injury, for example seatbelts and airbags protect lives when crashes happen.  In the same way we can design roads so that when crashes happen people can walk away, by clearing or protecting roadsides, putting in cross hatching to add space between vehicles, providing safer junctions like roundabouts or adding signalisation and/or turning pockets, and including facilities for walking and cycling.”

“We congratulate the Department for Transport on this lifesaving initiative and thank Ministers for their commitment to safer roads.”

The funding from the Safer Roads Fund Round 3 2023/4 tranche are: A361, Devon County Council: £5.040 million