Government outlines 80 new road schemes as part of £15bn spending plan

The Government plans are both short-sighted and retrograde. If you build roads you get more traffic. The Government should be investing in our public transport infrastructure and building convenient networks of cycling and walking routes rather than creating more traffic jams.

The funding is there and I think it will really represent a big moment, that we're not just balancing the books, which of course is essential, but we're also rebalancing the economy as a whole so that all parts of the country can be connected with each other.

So we're not just rescuing the economy, which of course has been the central mission of this parliament, but also renewing it in the next parliament and beyond.

This is just yet another re-announcement on promised road improvements.

The Government has 'announced' plans for road investment at least three times since 2013. And no additional money has been announced.

We know David Cameron’s record on infrastructure is one of all talk and no delivery. Infrastructure output has fallen significantly since May 2010 and less than a third of projects in the Government’s pipeline are actually classed as ‘in construction’.

If Ministers were as good at upgrading roads as they are at making announcements about upgrading roads, life would be considerably easier for Britain's hard-pressed motorists who have been consistently let down by this Government.

All road users are entitled to safe and uncongested national arteries.

We can no longer ignore the inadequate resources going into the mainstay of the UK transport system - our roads - which carry 86% of passenger journeys and more than 90% of freight.

This is not about concreting over the countryside with new roads but upgrading many existing routes which have been the source of misery to motorists for years if not decades. That the Government is investing money along whole lengths of roads and not just a mile or two here and there is to be welcomed.