Highways is proud to announce the finalists for the 2026 Highways Awards, the sector's largest and most prestigious social event.
With more nominations this year than ever before, the event provides the perfect opportunity to celebrate the teams, organisations and projects that are making a real difference across the UK's highways sector.
Here are your finalists for the 2026 Awards:
Active Travel Scheme of the Year
Sponsored by Waterman Aspen
- M Group Ltd, Thorpe Wood Cycleway
- Project Centre, Transforming Deptford Church Street: A Safer, Connected Active Travel Corridor
- London Borough of Newham, Royal Docks Corridor Project
- Norfolk County Council, Transforming Heartsease Roundabout
- Angus Council, Arbroath - A Place For Everyone
Apprentice of the Year
Sponsored by the Institute of Highway Engineers (IHE)
- Harry Goodwin, Amey
- Jack Showghian, Balfour Beatty
- Bailey Colman, Ringway Jacobs / Cheshire East Highways
- Chloe Lyons, Ringway Jacobs/Cheshire East Highways
- Anthony Thomson, Project Centre
- Irfan Uddin, London Borough of Islington
- Liam Simpson, Waterman Aspen
- Harry Colleran, Huyton Asphalt
- Natasha Malloy, Heidelberg Materials UK
- Mia Wright, Jacobs
- Samuel Leighton, FM Conway
- Jordan James, M Group
Best Use of New Technology Award
Sponsored by Coeval
- East Riding of Yorkshire Council, Raich Carter Way – DDN-Enabled Low-Carbon Smart Lighting Scheme, East Riding of Yorkshire
- AeroTruss, Menai Suspension Bridge
- BUKO Traffic & Safety, BUKO Digital
- Tees Valley Combined Authority, Tees Valley / Yunex FUSION – Region-Wide Adaptive Traffic Signal Optimisation
- AmcoGiffen, Industry First PPI App - Eliminating People, Plant Interface Risk
- Core Highways, Integrated Traffic Modelling and Dynamic Diversion Technology on the A382
Bridge Project of the Year
- Winvic Construction Ltd, Orwell Bridge, Ipswich - National Highways Scheme Delivery Framework
- AtkinsRéalis, North Bridge Refurbishment (Edinburgh, UK)
- Tarmac Kier Joint Venture (TKJV), Transport for London's Lambeth Bridge
- GRAHAM, Renfrew Bridge - Clyde Waterfront and Renfrew Riverside
- AtkinsRéalis, Haverfordwest Footbridge
Digital Transformation and AI Award
Sponsored by Norse Group
- Ringway Jacobs/Cheshire East Highways, Smart Roads, Safer Networks: Transforming Highways with AI Video Intelligence
- AmcoGiffen, Industry First AI Solution to Eliminate People Plant Interface Risk
- Tees Valley Combined Authority, Tees Valley/Aimsun - Region-Wide Automated Traffic Digital Twin
- Core Highways, Transforming Traffic Management Through Digital Modelling and Real-Time Data on The A382
- Jean Lefebvre UK Ltd, Maince Works
Health, Wellbeing and Inclusion Award
Sponsored by Huyton Asphalt
- AMEY TI, Unlocking Future Connections
- Hounslow Highways, Health, Wellbeing and Inclusion Award
- M Group Transport, Youth Justice Service Work Experience Pilot
- Ramudden Global UK, Armed Forces Community Employment & Inclusion Programme
- M Group, Building Heroes Highways Training Academy
Highways Partnership of the Year
Sponsored by WJ
- East Riding of Yorkshire Council, Decarbonising Streetlighting - A UK-Wide Partnership Delivering a New Model for Low-Carbon Street Lighting.
- Traffic Group Signals, Dawsons Corner, Leeds
- Project Centre, Delivering Olympia Together: A collaborative approach to complex urban highways
- FM Conway, A New Way to Power London's Construction: Mobile Charging for Electric Plant
- Cheshire West and Chester Council, Partnership excellence to accelerate and embed sustainable road renewals
- Liverpool City Council, Liverpool Live Labs: A Decarbonisation Partnership for Transforming City Highways
- Essex Highways, Essex Highways Partnership
- VolkerHighways, West Sussex HTMC
- Heidelberg Materials UK, National Highways, Autolink Concessionaires (A19) Ltd, Sir Robert McAlpine , A19 Design, Build, Finance, Operate (DBFO)
- Marlborough Highways, A Lasting Partnership Between Hackney Council and Marlborough Highways
- Balfour Beatty, Lincolnshire Highways Alliance
Line Marking and Street Design Award
Sponsored by the Road Safety Marketing Association (RSMA)
- M Group Transport, Thorpe Wood Cycleway
- AtkinsRealis, Salisbury Station Forecourt Transformation
- WJ, A1 Apleyhead to Newark: Brighter Lines for Safer Wet-Night Journeys
Major Project Award (Above £10 million)
Sponsored by SPL
- Octavius Infrastructure, A140 Long Stratton Bypass
- Galliford Try Infrastructure, North East Melton Mowbray Distributor Road
- Angus Council, Arbroath - A Place For Everyone
- Balfour Beatty, A63 Castle Street
- Transport for London, Silvertown Tunnel
- Essex Highways, Harlow Sustainable Transport Corridor (North to Centre)
Operational Team of the Year
Sponsored by Associated Asphalt
- Premier Traffic Management, Premier Traffic Management CDM Academy
- Ringway Jacobs / Cheshire East Highways, A Team Dedicated to a Better Customer Journey
- National Highways, West Midlands Corridor Committee
- Colas, Schemes Delivery Framework - Vehicle Restraint Systems Team
- AtkinsRéalis, Structures' Moonshot
- Transport for London, Construction Advisory & Innovations Team
- Transport for London, TfL Streets Team - London on the move
Product of the Year
- SDS Infrastructure, M4 Junctions 43–47 Highway Improvements – SDS Aqua-Xchange™ Runoff Pollution Control media
- Gautam ZEN UK Ltd, XyloBIND the key to unlocking Sustainable Durable Asphalts
- Multevo Ltd, A UK-first in-situ recycling solution for long lasting pothole and patch repairs
- Associated Asphalt Contracting Ltd, Sustainable, Carbon-Negative Bitumen Alternative - AAPure
- SmartVision, SmartVision - AI Highways Monitoring
- Colas, Colas Active Seal with Pentack
- Huyton Aspahlt, HALO FibrePave
- Multipave Infrastructure, Eco-Phalt Bio: From Low Carbon Innovation to Carbon Negative Reality
- MAV Systems Ltd, MAV AiQ with GhostPlate Technology®
- WJ, Instacure: The 1.5-Second Road Marking
Project Team of the Year
Sponsored by Associated Asphalt
- M Group Transport, A382 Jetty Marsh Link Road Project Team
- National Highways, Midlands LED Retrofit Programme
- Connect Plus, CPS, M Group, Tarmac, Techjoint, Collaborative Transformation of M25 Pavement Asset Management
- Extrudakerb Ltd, M1 Scheme 4
- Amey Transport & Infrastructure, Unlocking Future Connection in Collaboration with Speedy Hire, Breedon, Scottish Prison Service, & Hatton Traffic Management
- Octavius Infrastructure, A140 Long Stratton Bypass
Road Safety Scheme of the Year
Sponsored by FCL
- National Highways, Road Safety Partnership
- Balfour Beatty Asset & Technology Solutions, Connect Plus M25, M25 Wisley Interchange, Lower Thames Crossing, DBFO, M4 Smart Motorways, M3, A63 and A2.
- GRAHAM, National Highways SDF Area 6 & 8 – (KSI) Killed, seriously, injured speed reduction schemes
- Doctor Air Brake Ltd, Reverse Smart Safety
- M Group Transport, Thorpe Wood Cycleway
- Transport Scotland, Transforming Road Safety Culture Across Scotland
- Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council, Transforming Hartburn Lane: Eliminating Conflict and Improving Safety for All Road Users
- WJ, A52 Bottesford: Restoring Grip & Visibility to Improve Safety
Small Project of the Year (Under £10 million)
- Westminster City Council - with WSP and FM Conway, St Johns Wood High Street
- Heidelberg Materials UK, A47 Acle Straight
- Somerset Council, M5 Junction 26 Chelston Link Project
- ACO Technologies, Fabian Way
- Huyton Asphalt Civils, Merseytravel Old Haymarket Public Realm Works
- George Cox & Sons Ltd, Heaton Mersey Common
- Crown Highways Ltd, ATF4 Pinson Road to Rose Hill Cycle Scheme
- Extrudakerb Ltd, M1 Scheme 4
Steve Berry Highways Authority Innovation Award
- FM Conway, National Highways, M4 Junctions 16–15 Low Carbon Resurfacing Scheme
- Somerset Council, M5 Junction 26 Chelston Link Project
- Hounslow Highways, Steve Berry Highways Authority Innovation Award
- London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham Council, The Greenside Green Rain Garden - Westville Road
- Cheshire West and Chester Council, Enabling sustainable first-of-a-kind road renewals through a material system optimised for circularity and biogenic carbon removal
Worker and Site Safety Initiative Award
Sponsored by Traffic Group Signals
- Kier, National Highways, A417 Health, Safety and Wellbeing Programme
- Steve Perkins Associates working in partnership with National Highways, MRPro - Musculoskeletal Risk Profiling research in highways
- FM Conway, Naked Flame Mitigation for Thermoplastic Roadmarking
- AmcoGiffen, Industry First PPI App - Eliminating People, Plant Interface Risk
- East Sussex Highways, Safer sites through partnership and action: protecting roadworkers from abuse
- Huyton Asphalt, Harm Avoidance
Michael Conway MBE Community Leaders Award
Sponsored by FM Conway
- Katy Bald, Amey Transport & Infrastructure Scotland
- Cheryl Latreille, VolkerHighways
- Kathryn Boyce, Balfour Beatty
- Michael Barratt MBE FCIHT MIHE, Transport for London
- Tom Price, M Group
- Rada Stanton, Surrey County Council
The winner of the Special Merit Award will be announced on the night.
Due to personal circumstances in our judging team, we have had to delay announcing the finalists of our Sustainable Project of the Year and Sustainable Innovation of the Year awards. These should be announced next week.
