Aylesbury MP calls for money from abandoned HS2 routes to be reinvested in local roads

The northern leg of the project was abandoned in October

HS2 site
Author: Zoe Head-ThomasPublished 3rd Feb 2024

The MP for Aylesbury, Rob Butler, is calling on the government to reinvest money from the abandoned HS2 projects into local road networks.

In October, the Prime Minster announced the cancellation of the northern leg of the high speed train, with promises to reinvest the money into better transport links in the North.

The high speed train, for which several sites are under construction across Buckinghamshire, still promises to connect London and Birmingham, with original plans to connect the capital to Manchester in under two hours.

"The construction is causing untold misery for residents, every single day, with noise, traffic and daily disruption."

Mr Butler said: "The constituency is permanently and perpetually blighted by the construction of phase one of HS2."

"The construction is causing untold misery for residents, every single day, with noise, traffic and daily disruption."

Mr Butler has been calling on the government and the Department for Transport to invest in much needed road infrastructure in and around Aylesbury, an area subject to daily heavy traffic.

"The two link roads projects are absolutely critical to the future success of Aylesbury..."

Two schemes, the South East Aylesbury Link Road and the Eastern Link Road, were identified as projects under the Government’s Network North programme designed to redistribute the savings from HS2 to local infrastructure improvements.

He said: "The two link roads projects are absolutely critical to the future success of Aylesbury; they will ease congestion, they will reduce air pollution, and they will help to spur economic prosperity."

"These roads are essential to support the huge amount of house building that we have already seen in and around the town, and the thousands more homes that are going to be constructed in coming years, and that why it is so important that we get the money from the cancellation of Phase Two of HS2."

"Buckinghamshire is benefitting from an additional £51 million to resurface local roads as well as the extension of the £2 bus fare cap..."

"These are all things that we can all agree are really good for our communities."

A spokesperson from the Department for Transport said: “More information on these projects will be available in due course."

"Buckinghamshire is benefitting from an additional £51 million to resurface local roads as well as the extension of the £2 bus fare cap, funded by reallocated HS2 savings from our new approach to delivering Euston station.”

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