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North West receives more than £1.8 million for beating congestion targets

The North West will receive more than £1.8 million through the Government's Urban Congestion Performance Fund after exceeding congestion tackling targets, Transport Minister Paul Clark announced today.

Merseyside will receive almost £890,000 and Greater Manchester more than £978,000 from the Department for Transport fund. The money will be used to continue to help tackle urban congestion in the region. Total reward funding to date for these areas is now almost £4.4 million.

Paul Clark said:

"I am delighted that Greater Manchester and Merseyside are being rewarded for beating their congestion targets. The money will help local authorities give road users in these areas faster, safer and more reliable journeys - benefitting the local economy.

"Congestion has serious consequences for the economy and the environment and is a frustrating experience for all road users. Across England we have now provided nearly £23 million to the participating authorities to tackle urban congestion which is responsible for 80 per cent of all our congestion problems."

Merseyside and Greater Manchester are two of 10 urban areas across the UK sharing a total of £10.7 million for beating congestion targets. The other areas are Nottingham, Leicester, Tyne & Wear, West Midlands, London, West of England, West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire.

The £60 million Urban Congestion Performance Fund has been set to help England's 10 largest urban areas identify and tackle the causes of congestion on the major routes in their areas. Further funds will be available over the next two years provided the areas continue to exceed their target performance.

The latest awards follow the publication of National Statistics this month that showed that congestion had fallen by an average of 3 per cent across the 10 largest urban areas between the baseline (a mixture of 2004-05 and 2005-06 data) and 2007-08.

In Merseyside, the average journey time fell by 2.2 per cent, while the average level of travel fell by 7.6 per cent. The target area includes routes in Birkenhead, Liverpool and St Helens.

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