The Council’s investment in building and maintaining urban infrastructure has been highlighted in a new report going to Cabinet on Wednesday 9 April.
Over £12m has been invested across Derby to deliver wide ranging improvements across the city’s green and grey urban infrastructure. This includes almost 25km of road and over 12km of pavement maintenance as we look to improve the condition of our travel infrastructure.
The environment has been at the heart of many of these schemes as we look to build a greener, more sustainable city, including large signal replacement schemes to improve efficiency, and the continued work of our Transforming Cities Programme.
This green push goes beyond delivering physical infrastructure. We worked to decarbonise our highway maintenance operations and employed innovative in-situ recycling techniques to reduce lorry movements and minimise waste.
Several schemes have also improved safety on roads around the city, including traffic calming measures, School Safe Havens, and ensuring over 200 sets of traffic signals and crossings have been maintained.
To allow further improvements over the next year, Cabinet will be asked to formally accept over £15m of funding from the East Midlands Combined County Authority and approve a £9.5m capital programme for City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement, Bus Service Improvement Plan, and Active Travel Fund.
The City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement was allocated to Mayoral Combined Authorities following the cancellation of HS2 and would not have been accessible without the creation of EMCCA.
The report also sets out the proposed capital programmes for a number of key strategic areas including Highways and Transport (£9.4m), Vehicle Plant and Equipment (£5.2m), Flood Defence (£0.25m), and Parks and Open Spaces (£0.3m).
Councillor Carmel Swan, Cabinet Member for Climate Change, Transport, and Sustainability, said:
Our urban infrastructure plays a huge part in the lives of our citizens; from the roads and paths they travel on to the parks where they relax and exercise. Over the past year we’ve worked hard to make sure these assets are in the best condition, and I am confident that this will continue over the next year.
This isn’t without it’s challenges, and demand for new infrastructure and maintenance continues to escalate, which all costs money. However, I am delighted that funding has been offered from EMCCA to allow such works to continue.
This influx of funding is good news for Derby. While it’s no secret that we’re navigating a tricky financial situation, I’m glad that we are still able to support these important programmes which are connecting communities, making our streets safer, and our city greener.
By approving these programmes prior to the start of the financial year means that the schemes, projects and initiatives are delivered in the best possible way and achieve value for money.
2025/26 will be the first year to be supported through direct investment by EMCCA, which is now the majority funder of Derby City Council’s capital programme. This investment will be subject to appropriate EMCCA strategic plans, governance, assurance and performance processes.