Agreement close on £2bn roads plan

The authority was one of only three to have been selected, along with the Isle of Wight and the London borough of Hounslow, for the former Goverment’s PFI “pathfinder” schemes.

As the Government has reduced its funding for the project to £1.21bn, Sheffield Council, is now considering borrowing £100m of funding for the project itself.

Part-funding the scheme could save the council around £50m over the 25-year-contract.

Coun Bryan Lodge, the council’s cabinet member for finance, said: “Borrowing £100m would mean that, rather than asking the chosen contractor to borrow all the money on our behalf, we could borrow some of it ourselves at a lower rate of interest.”

Either Amey (UK) plc or Carillion plc will be selected soon to undertake the project, and works are set to begin in spring next year.

Over the next five to seven years, the city’s roads will be improved, and then maintained throughout the rest of the contract period.