The Department for Transport (DfT) is making a £47.5m injection into enhancing the safety of some of the most high-risk roads in England.

The investment is expected to prevent over 760 fatal and serious injuries over the next 20 years

The funding forms part of the Safer Roads Fund and will see life-saving road safety engineering measures introduced on 27 local authority A-roads, from the Isle of Wight to Newcastle.

Estimates indicate the investment will prevent over 760 fatal and serious injuries over the next 20 years, with a benefit to society of £420m.

Projects have been chosen based on data independently surveyed and provided by the Road Safety Foundation. The data analysed is based on a road safety risk, looking at data on those killed and seriously injured alongside traffic levels.

Safety improvements include work to redesign junctions and improve signage and road markings.

Transport Secretary Mark Harper said: “Britain’s roads are some of the safest in the world, but we are always looking at ways to help keep drivers and all road users safe.

“We’re injecting £47.5m so that local councils around the country have the support they need to keep everyone safe, while reducing congestion and emissions and supporting local economies.”

It’s the third round of the Safer Roads Fund, which has provided £100m to date to improve the 50 most dangerous roads in England, the majority of which are rural roads.

The previous rounds of the Safer Roads Fund programme focused on treating the 50 highest-risk local ‘A-road’ sections in England with enhanced road safety engineering interventions. The scheme is expected to prevent around 1,450 fatal and serious injuries over the next 20 years.

Dr Suzy Charman, executive director of the Road Safety Foundation, said the latest funding was “transformational” for road safety teams in local authorities across the country.

“Systematic changes have already had a big impact on road death and serious injury, for example seatbelts and airbags protect lives when crashes happen. In the same way we can design roads safely so when crashes occur, people can walk away. This can be done by clearing or protecting roadsides, putting in cross hatchings to add space between vehicles which provides safer junctions like roundabouts, or adding signalisation and / or turning pockets, and including facilities for walking and cycling.”

The investment follows the Government’s announcement last year to introduce the UK’s first-ever Road Safety Investigation Branch, dedicated to preventing future road collisions, including from self-driving and electric cars.

Jonathan Walker, head of cities and infrastructure policy at business group Logistics UK, welcomed the investment, saying: “The safety of our members and other road users is of paramount importance to Logistics UK, and any investment which improves the safety of the roads network is welcome news. It is now imperative that Government and local authorities work with the logistics industry to ensure that safety of road users continues to be prioritised, while maximising the efficiency of freight movements.”

RAC road safety spokesman Simon Williams added that redesigned junctions, together with clearer signage and better road markings, were integral to improving safety.

But he added: “While we’re pleased the Government is taking steps to tackle some of the country’s most dangerous routes, we remain keen to see its wider plans to reduce the number of fatalities as part of the long-awaited road safety strategy.”

The 27 schemes receiving funding from the Safer Roads Fund 3 are: