It says that motorways and major A roads carry more than two-thirds of all freight, and this demand is set to increase in the short, medium and long term.
In its Strategic Road Network Initial Report, technology will play an increasingly major role in keeping people moving, and the country connected.
It also stresses the importance of keeping existing roads properly maintained, and that it does so in a way which minimises disruption to road users and local communities. The report will be used to inform the government’s next road investment strategy which begins in 2020.
Highways England chief executive Jim O’Sullivan said: “We are delivering a record £15 billion of government investment to give people safe, efficient and reliable journeys, and provide businesses with the links they need to prosper and grow. Because people’s journeys are important to us we are setting out our high level aspirations which will help ensure the network continues to drive economic growth, jobs and prosperity, and keeps traffic moving today, and into the future.”
Another aspiration mentioned in the report is to roll out expressways.
A Department for Transport consultation on the report will run until Wednesday, 7 February 2018. Results will be used by the department to help develop the next road investment strategy, which the government is expected to publish in 2019. It is then that detail on specific road projects will be outlined.