Carlton Reid12:49pm EDT
Jun 13, 2020,The U.K. government has asked local authorities to submit, as a matter of urgency, “shovel-ready” infrastructure ideas that could help boost the economy impacted by the coronavirus lockdown.
Protected urban cycleway networks—more ambitious and longer-lasting than pop-up “corona” cycleways—could be among the projects to receive government backing, reports the Financial Times.
£100 billion was already earmarked to be spent on infrastructure projects over the five-year parliament but, reports the FT, this could now be spent earlier than planned.
The newspaper has seen a June 10 letter from housing secretary Robert Jenrick which asks mayors and the local enterprise partnerships (LEPs) to submit infrastructure ideas by June 18.
The government is “willing to consider exceptional, additional shovel-ready capital projects that can be delivered within 18 months,” states the letter.
Projects need to “deliver on two overarching objectives,” continues Jenrick, “supporting green recovery” and “driving up economic growth and jobs.”
Projects must also fulfill “value for money standards.”
Cycling infrastructure is decidedly green, definitely delivers economic growth, and, according to Department for Transport (DfT) modeling, has off-the-scale bang for the buck benefits.
A DfT report found in 2014 that investing in cycling brings huge economic, social, and health benefits, with some cycling schemes having a benefit-to-cost ratio (BCR) of up to 35 to 1. That is, for every pound spent, the U.K. gets back £35 in social benefits.
The DfT’s “Value for Money” guidance says an infrastructure project will generally be regarded as “medium” if the BCR is between 1.5 and 2; “high” if it is above 2.
35 to 1 is, therefore, off the scale, and came after a grant-funded cycling project in Cambridge in 2013. Eight cities—including Cambridge—shared £94 million of Cycle City Ambition Grants to improve cycling facilities.
U.K. Government Dangles £100 Billion For Green-Recovery Infrastructure—Deadline: June 18 – Forbes
Carlton Reid12:49pm EDT Jun 13, 2020, The U.K. government has asked local authorities to submit, as a matter of urgency, “shovel-ready” infrastructure ideas that could help boost the economy impacted by the coronavirus lockdown. Protected urban cycleway networks—more ambitious and longer-lasting than pop-up “corona” cycleways—could be among the projects to receive government backing, reports the… [Read More]
