Suffolk CC will spend £20m over three years to develop plans for new crossings in Lowestoft and Ipswich.
Lake Lothing in Lowestoft
The funding will be used for work to progress planning requirements for the two complex infrastructure projects ahead of a potential building start date of 2019/20.
It follows confirmation in the Budget of central government funding for the schemes.
Ministers are committed in principle to contributing £73.4m towards the Lake Lothing Third Crossing in Lowestoft, which has a total estimated cost of around £91.7m, and £77.5m towards the Ipswich Wet Dock crossing, which is estimated to cost a total of £96.6m.
This leaves a local capital contribution of around £37.4m for the two projects.
Council leader Cllr Colin Noble said: ‘To unlock the central Government contribution towards these important regional projects we need to invest in developing a final business case that demonstrates we have successfully completed all aspects of the statutory planning process; this will include detailed designs that will have been fully approved through consultation with our communities in Lowestoft and Ipswich.
‘These two crossing development schemes will unlock so much potential in the communities in and around Lowestoft and Ipswich; benefitting the wider East Anglia region, not just Suffolk.
'With a growing population and significant investment in Suffolk from business, the development of these projects will ensure that the county is capable of supporting further infrastructure development, including provision for future homes, education, healthcare and job creation.'
Suffolk’s funding will be split evenly between its revenue and capital budgets, with £6m in 2016/17, £9m in 2017/18 and £5m in 2018/19.
The £10m revenue funding will be used to carry out work towards acquiring the necessary consents required to build each scheme and to develop the final business case required for each project.
This includes costs related to planning applications, consultations, economic modelling and environmental assessments.
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