In total, £4.3bn will be spent over the lifetime of the 209 schemes' construction. This will be followed in 2015 by an even larger programme of improvement and investment on our major roads, with spending rising to £3bn a year by 2020.

The road programmes form part of a £100bn package of investment in Britain’s infrastructure over the next seven years; the largest programme of investment since the 1970s.

Announced by transport minister Robert Goodwill, the programme ‘will help create a high-performance road network that can cope with the expected 43% increase in traffic by 2040’.

Robert Goodwill said: ‘Roads are the lifeblood that keeps our economy going – they create jobs and help get products to markets. This government is committed to delivering the modern infrastructure we need to compete in the global race, investing across the board to cut congestion and reduce journey times in roads, rail and local transport.

‘We are already seeing massive improvements being made to our major roads and motorways. In 2014 the public will see even greater improvements right across the country.’

Schemes under construction in 2014 include: 178 “pinch point” schemes that tackle local bottlenecks on our roads, and 31 “major schemes” to dramatically improve key networks.

Schemes that are due to start or complete in 2014 also include: M4 J19-20 and M6 J5-8 near Birmingham, A11 Fiveways to Thetford near Norwich, M25 J23-27, A45/A46 Tollbar End and M1 J19 improvements in the Midlands, A23 Handcross to Warninglid near Crawley, the M3 J2-4a in the South East and the A1 Leeming to Barton in the North of England.