Long-delayed transport projects could finally have their day after the Government announced plans to devolve power.

The Department for Transport wants funding for major transport schemes to be determined in the regions rather than in Whitehall.

The move paves the way for schemes such as the dualling of the A303 and A30 through Somerset and conferring motorway status on the A38 in south Devon.

The plans, under consultation, propose giving budgetary control to a body of Local Enterprise Partnerships and councils which would then set priorities.

As it stands, Whitehall must approve all projects costing in excess of £5 million. But the Government hopes the plans would encourage the formation of consortia across wider areas to deal with larger strategic schemes, although the Government insists this would not be compulsory.

The consultation proposes allocating money to the local transport bodies by funding formula rather than bids.

It is planned the new system would be in place at the start of the next spending review period in 2015.

Transport Secretary Justine Greening said: “We want a system that is much more responsive to local needs and it makes good sense to give local residents and passengers a greater say in the transport infrastructure that they rely on so much.

“These proposals could hand real power to communities so they can make locally accountable decisions on what transport improvements are needed in their area. This is a key plank to our localism agenda, freeing local authorities from central government control, so I look forward to responses from across the country.”

But the shake-up of the system is likely to spark concerns that the process could get bogged down by narrow interests and infighting as each area battles it out for scarce resources, instead of targeting money at strategic projects that would benefit the entire area.

Such tensions were highlighted by difficulties in creating LEPs themselves.

The level of funding available under the revamped system in the next period has to be decided but the £5 million threshold defining a major scheme is to be scrapped, meaning that a project of any size could get the go-ahead, subject to funding.

There is an expectation private sector contributions would continue to be secured.

The DfT proposes to publish indicative allocations for each LEP area by August.

The consultation proposes that local transport bodies decide and agree their prioritised list of schemes by April 2013.