Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to help reduce traffic congestion (a) on rural roads and (b) in rural communities.

Managing the traffic on local roads is the responsibility of the local traffic authorities. They are subject to a network management duty which requires them to manage their roads to deliver expeditious movement of traffic, including pedestrians. A wide range of tools is already available to help them to manage congestion and traffic flow. In addition, the Department for Transport provides substantial funding to local authorities to improve their respective networks to help and alleviate congestion and promote better provide improved infrastructure, including for public transport and cycling and walking through the ‘Major Road Network’ (MRN), ‘Large Local Majors’ (LLM) and Levelling Up Fund initiatives.