£20m injection for Staffordshire's highways
An extra £20m will be spent to improve Staffordshire's roads and footpaths if proposals by Staffordshire County Council are approved.
The cabinet will consider the plans for the investment on 1 February as part of its recommendations for the budget for the year from April 2012.
The money would be spent over two years in two main areas: preventative maintenance so there is less need for emergency or large-scale repairs; and more cash for the maintenance of rural roads.
Mike Maryon, cabinet member for highways and transport, claimed the cash injection into preventative work on roads and footpaths would lead to long-term savings for taxpayers.
The spending would come on top of the additional £30m the council has ploughed into roads since it came into power in June 2009.
Maryon said: "Investing now makes real financial sense to avoid more costly repairs later on, but it is also important to have a top-class transport network for the county economy to thrive and residents to get good jobs.
"This is particularly important in our rural areas which play a vital part in job creation activities such as tourism. This is why we are including rural roads of local concern into the programme this time."
