Flood defence part of U.K.’s National Infrastructure Plan 2014

The United Kingdom’s National Infrastructure Plan 2014, published Tuesday, includes injecting £2.3 billion into flood defences and £15 billion into road improvements.

The plan commits to £2.3 billion of capital investment to more than 1,400 flood defence projects in an unprecedented six-year program of investment, notes information posted on government’s website. As a result of the investment, it notes, more than “300,000 homes will be better protected and over £30 billion of economic damages prevented.”

With regard to roads, the plan outlines the biggest package of improvements undertaken in the modern age, including £15 billion of investment, which will triple levels of spending by the end of the decade, the government reports.

Citing progress on infrastructure investment and delivery since 2010, the information notes that this includes 55 major roads and transport schemes and 500-plus flood and coastal erosion defence improvements.

“Overall, £460 billion worth of public and private investment to the end of the decade and beyond is planned across the key infrastructure sectors,” states the government.

“Good quality infrastructure is vital for the economic well-being of this country,” adds Danny Alexander, Chief Secretary to the Treasury. “Every part of the country needs to be able to move people, goods, data and power, quickly and easily, and to protect itself from flooding. That is what our pioneering focus on better infrastructure seeks to achieve.”