Balfour Beatty started work this week on a new-style £100m contract to maintain roads across Warwickshire and Coventry.
The five-year deal for Warwickshire County Council in partnership with Coventry City Council is the first time in the region that highway work will be delivered by one provider across two local authorities.
The two authorities have the option to extend the contract for a further four years subject to performance.
Councillor Alan Cockburn, Warwickshire County Council’s Portfolio Holder for Environment and Economy, said: “The highways maintenance contract delivers one of our core services and is hugely important to residents and businesses.
“By agreeing a highways contract as partnership, we will be able to deliver much better value for money to the taxpayer. As neighbours, it makes perfect sense for Warwickshire and Coventry to marry some services and promote a leaner way of doing business.
“Collaborative working is essential in these financially testing times and this new highways contract will provide a high reputation service across the region over the next five years.”
Cllr Lindsley Harvard, Coventry’s Cabinet Member for City Services, said: “By working together we will get better value for money - which is good news for us all.”
Terry Woodhouse, Managing Director, Balfour Beatty, said: "We are committed to delivering an effective, efficient, sustainable and customer focused highways service for the county.”
Warwickshire’s highway network stretches to 3,820km and Coventry’s network extends to 820km.
The contract covers the county’s planned and routine highway maintenance, street lighting, bridge works and other transport projects up to the value of £250,000.
Coventry City Council will use the contract to deliver planned highway and bridge works and use its existing in-house Direct Labour Organisation to provide a 24/7 highway response and routine maintenance service.
There is also scope for other neighbouring local authorities to use the Warwickshire contract.
