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Highways England steps in to improve toxic air in Dorset village11/05/2021 Highways England is to impose a permanent 30mph speed limit in a village suffering high air pollution after a trial achieved an improvement. |
Government to overhaul procurement system11/05/2021 The Government plans to overhaul public procurement and replace it with 'three simple, modern procedures' to give the public sector more scope to negotiate with potential suppliers to deliver innovative solutions. |
Queen's Speech: Transport and infrastructure key to union's levelling up11/05/2021 The Government used the Queen's Speech today to make infrastructure investment a core element of its future 'levelling up' plans. |
Highways England to restore Victorian bridge10/05/2021 Highways England is to restore a disused railway bridge in Oxfordshire after plans to demolish it caused an outcry. |
£335m Area 9 contract ready for summer procurement10/05/2021 Highways England is seeking a contractor for its Area 9 Maintenance and Response Contract, covering the West Midlands, which could be worth £335m over eight years. |
Comment: 'We can design more forgiving roads'10/05/2021 Dr Suzy Charman, executive director of the Road Safety Foundation, makes the case for safer roads, as well as safer drivers. |
Highways Engand to set new baselines for its environment targets07/05/2021 Highways England is set to produce baselines for its biodiversity and carbon emissions reduction targets in its Delivery Plan update, due to be published in the Summer. |
£10m A9 framework finally finds a home07/05/2021 The Scottish Government’s £3bn A9 dualling programme has taken another small step forward with the announcement of the successful bidders for a £10m ancillary works framework, four years after the works were advertised. |
Sneak preview of automated cone laying machine in action06/05/2021 King Highway has posted a ‘sneak preview’ video of its automated cone layer vehicle online. |
Keltbray posts loss in 'year of human accomplishment'06/05/2021 Specialist engineering and construction business Keltbray made a pre-tax loss of £9.4m for the year ended 31 October 2020, which it said was driven by the costs of COVID-19, as well as restructuring costs. |
Jacobs reappointed to controversial bridge portfolio06/05/2021 Highways England has awarded Jacobs a new £30m contract for ‘the maintenance and disposal’ of over 3,000 assets that make up the Historical Railways Estate. |
Mott MacDonald invests in smart energy company Piclo06/05/2021 Mott MacDonald Ventures, the strategic corporate venture arm of Mott MacDonald, has made an equity investment in smart energy company Piclo. |
Traffic surges in Scottish cities but pollution measures delayed06/05/2021 New data shows that traffic levels in Edinburgh and Glasgow have exceeded pre-pandemic levels, adding to fears about air quality following delays to Scotland’s planned Low Emission Zones. |
M Group moving on up after Skanska deal05/05/2021 M Group Services has completed the acquisition of Skanska UK’s infrastructure services operation. |
TfL given date to appeal Streetspace ruling, while Harrow has other plans04/05/2021 Transport for London (TfL) has been given a court date for its appeal against a High Court ruling that its streetspace plans were unlawful. |
North Lanarkshire tenders £5.7bn 'roads and place' partnership contract04/05/2021 North Lanarkshire Council has tendered a £5.7bn commercial place-shaping partnership contract, which would last 20 years with the option to extend for a further five. |
All lane running smart motorways now more lethal, data shows04/05/2021 Fatality rates on all lane running (ALR) ‘smart motorways’ have exceeded those on conventional motorways for the past two years, with 15 people now confirmed to have died on motorways without a permanent hard shoulder in 2019. |
Kier wins six-month Birmingham extension29/04/2021 Kier Highways has been awarded a six-month extension on its Birmingham Interim Services Contract, which was originally a 15-month deal reported to be worth around £85m. |
SWARCO puts Wolverhampton in control of MyCity29/04/2021 Wolverhampton City Council has worked with traffic technology specialist SWARCO Traffic to streamline the city’s traffic management via the firm’s MyCity platform. |
Ramboll appoints new MD28/04/2021 Global engineering and consultancy company Ramboll has appointed Philippa Spence as its new UK MD, following Mathew Riley’s recent appointment to the group executive board as chief operating officer. |
Comment: A super deductor can be a super carbon reducer28/04/2021 The Treasury's Super Deduction Tax Savings offer means that for expenditure incurred between 1 April 2021 until the end of March 2023 companies can claim 130% capital allowances on qualifying plant and machinery investments. Gary Spencer, MD at Meon Ltd, discusses the benefits for highways companies. |
AA calls for independent inquiry over SVD26/04/2021 The AA has called for an independent investigation into the system used to detect stopped vehicles on smart motorway all lane running (ALR) schemes. |
Seven share £60m Welsh surfacing works26/04/2021 Cyngor Gwynedd Council has appointed seven contractors to a framework worth up to £60m to provide surfacing and other works across north and mid-Wales. |
Griffiths scoops ECI deal on £38m bypass26/04/2021 North Somerset Council has awarded Alun Griffiths an early contractor involvement (ECI) contract for the Banwell Bypass and local highway improvements, which could be worth £38m. |
Colas digs deep to go electric23/04/2021 Colas has teamed up with hire company GAP Group Ltd and taken delivery of a purpose-built electrical excavator for use on its £38m major improvements scheme on the A46 Stoneleigh Junction. |
Denbighshire and Brett Landscaping complete high wire resilience act23/04/2021 Earlier this year, Brett Landscaping completed work for Denbighshire County Council after two substantial landslips destroyed part of a rural unclassified road in a very precarious geography. |
Highways England awards £195m archaeology framework23/04/2021 Highways England has announced the organisations that have won places on its new £195m archaeology framework, helping to unearth discoveries at schemes across the country. |
Highways England CEO to give keynote speech at Traffex23/04/2021 Acting CEO of Highways England Nick Harris will give a keynote speech at Traffex this June in what is expected to be his first major public address. |
Kier reaps the benefits of keeping it simple22/04/2021 Kier Group has hailed ‘significant financial and strategic progress' after returning to profit in the six-month period ending 31 December 2020. |
The long read: Will Britain's personal journey to LCRIG22/04/2021 Will Britain has been president of the Local Council Roads Innovation Group (LCRIG) since the organisation’s formation in 2013. Here, he discusses the group's journey to where it is today, how he has used his own career experience to help overcome challenges and the importance of removing barriers to change. |
Highways Presents: Roadgrip22/04/2021 Highways editor Dominic Browne speaks to Roadgrip director Richard Powell about the most environmentally friendly way to maintain a road. |
'Familiar face' Robinson back at RSTA22/04/2021 Dr Howard Robinson, the former chief executive of the Road Surface Treatments Association (RSTA), has become the organisation’s chairman. |
Senior MP criticises smart motorway safety progress22/04/2021 Highways England has pledged to accelerate safety improvements on smart motorways in its first progress report since a national 'stocktake' of the controversial schemes, though critics say change is not happening fast enough. |
Coroner calls for tougher air pollution targets to cut deaths22/04/2021 A coroner has written to government departments including the Department for Transport, calling for action on air pollution to 'prevent future deaths'. |
Jenoptik red light enforcement gets green light21/04/2021 Jenoptik Traffic Solutions UK has received Home Office Type Approval for a new red light enforcement system that uses a stand-alone camera to spot violations at signal-controlled junctions. |
Breedon sees 'increasingly positive' prospects20/04/2021 Construction materials group Breedon saw increased revenue in the first quarter of 2021 compared to the equivalent period last year, which largely predated COVID-19 restrictions. |
PACTS: Corrections could improve STATS1920/04/2021 More accurate data on road casualties should be a priority and not restricted to the initial judgement of police officers at the scene, a major road safety charity has said. |
RAC pothole figures 'a watershed moment'20/04/2021 Drivers are having to use roads that often ‘resemble the surface of the Moon’, the RAC has said after revealing a 37% year-on-year rise in pothole-related breakdowns in the first three months of 2021. |
Tugwell 'perfectly placed to lead TfN'19/04/2021 Transport for the North has confirmed the appointment of Martin Tugwell as its next chief executive. |
Highways England backtracks on SVD spacing19/04/2021 Highways England has admitted that radar units used to detect stopped vehicles on smart motorways are too far apart, despite having previously placed an £18m order based on the existing spacing. |
Comment: What will you do differently in a post-pandemic world?16/04/2021 Brian Kent, national technical director at Tarmac, takes a look at what the highways industry can do to reinvent our towns and cities in a post-pandemic world. |
Highways Award dedicated to Steve Berry OBE15/04/2021 The top awards ceremony in the highways sector will have a category permanently dedicated to the late Steve Berry OBE, as a testimony to his lasting impact and legacy. |
JCB and Tarmac team up against potholes15/04/2021 Tarmac and JCB have successfully trialled JCB’s new pothole machine in partnership with Rutland County Council. |
Tugwell lined up for top job at TfN15/04/2021 Martin Tugwell, current president of the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation, is in line to become the new chief executive of Transport for the North. |
ICE reviews infrastructure planning14/04/2021 The Institution of Civil Engineers has questioned whether Britain’s model of planning and prioritising – as led by the National infrastructure Commission – 'is as effective as it could be'. |
'Agile operator' Balfour hopes to cash in on growth14/04/2021 Balfour Beatty has said it anticipates strong growth in key markets, including transport infrastructure and services. |
Street Works UK slams Lane Rental 'scope creep'14/04/2021 The trade body that represents the utilities industry over street works has accused councils of 'straying' from the original intentions of the Government's Lane Rental scheme. |
Common pre-qualification standard 'to cut duplication'14/04/2021 A new industry-wide system is ‘set to transform’ the pre-qualification process within the construction industry, its backers have said. |
Multevo appoints new engineering contracts manager14/04/2021 Multevo has appointed a new civil engineering contracts manager to support recent service delivery successes across the UK. |
Exclusive: Transport’s legal costs revealed as sector faces more scrutiny14/04/2021 The annual cost of defending transport schemes against legal challenges has seen a dramatic rise, with one infrastructure organisation seeing costs more than treble in five years, figures obtained by Highways reveal. |
Eurovia turns electric to help make 40% carbon cut13/04/2021 Eurovia is introducing more electric vehicles and equipment after setting the target of a 40% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030. |
New SRN trial adds anti-ageing to the mix13/04/2021 Developers of a new blend of materials described as 'an anti-ageing cream for roads' say it could cut repairs and environmental impacts. |
SRL announces new chief operating officer12/04/2021 SRL Traffic Systems has appointed Adrian Murphy as chief operating officer following what it described as a period of substantial investment and strong revenue growth |
Consultants sought for Rest and Be Thankful scheme development12/04/2021 Transport Scotland is seeking multi-disciplinary consultants to support the construction of a new length of trunk road at the A83 Rest and Be Thankful. |
Highways England turns up the pressure on lorry safety12/04/2021 Highways England has said trials of new safety technology funded under its Designated Fund for innovation have proved hugely successful and that it plans to roll the system out at strategic route locations across the country. |
CIHT looks to the future with spring conference09/04/2021 The Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation virtual Spring Conference opens next week (13 – 15 April) under the key theme of Reshaping Everyone’s Future. |
In Memoriam: Steve Berry OBE09/04/2021 It is with enormous sadness that Highways reports on the death of our friend Steve Berry OBE, head of highways maintenance, innovation, resilience, light rail and cableways at the Department for Transport. |
DfT calls for resilience update, after celebrating COVID performance08/04/2021 Local highways resilience in England was robust and adaptable in the face of COVID-19, according to a report commissioned by the Department for Transport. |
£224m framework has plenty of headroom08/04/2021 A London borough is seeking bidders for highways and transport services framework contracts that could be worth £224m, although actual spend over the existing four-year frameworks has been just over £10m. |
A14 scheme 'to have positive biodiversity impact'08/04/2021 Highways England’s A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon scheme is predicted to add to the amount and quality of habitat for wildlife, according to a new report. |
Live Labs drone project hits new heights08/04/2021 Amey is embarking on the second phase of its drone trial technology project in Kent, focusing on inspecting vegetation and highways assets and identifying defects in power and water utilities infrastructure. |
National design panel calls for improvements on strategic network08/04/2021 Highways England’s Strategic Design Panel has called for a more concerted effort to achieve a ‘significant shift in design culture’. |
Traffic signals could use AI to make crossings easier08/04/2021 Smart traffic lights using wide-angle cameras and artificial intelligence are set to be trialled on local networks to help regulate crossing times for vulnerable pedestrians. |
Councils urged to bid for £15m traffic signals cash08/04/2021 The Department for Transport is urging English local authorities outside London to submit expressions of interest for a share of £15m of new funding to repair and upgrade their traffic signals. |
Highways England awards £328m contract on delayed A358 scheme08/04/2021 Highways England has awarded a £328m contract to design and deliver a long-awaited upgrade to the A358 between the M5 at Taunton and the Southfields roundabout on the A303. |
Shortlist revealed for £2.3bn Lower Thames Tunnel contract07/04/2021 Highways England has revealed its shortlist for a £2.3bn works package to build the Lower Thames Crossing road tunnel - the longest road tunnel in Britain. |
Highways Heroes: Going the extra 900km to support mental health07/04/2021 Stacey Smithson has been nominated by Highways England as a Highways Hero for her amazing, and exhausting, charity work. |
Mott MacDonald brings in TfL's former diversity boss07/04/2021 Mott MacDonald has appointed a former Transport for London (TfL) diversity boss as the company’s group head of inclusion and responsibility. |
Tarmac Kier JV wins £25m Barnet deal07/04/2021 A Tarmac Kier joint venture (JV) has won a £25m highways maintenance and improvements contract with the London Borough of Barnet. |
Highways England tenders £1.9bn Lower Thames Crossing contracts01/04/2021 Highways England has invited tenders on two roads contracts worth a combined £1.9bn to build routes north and south of the River Thames on the proposed Lower Thames Crossing. |
New cycle path leads the way to carbon savings01/04/2021 Jackson Civil Engineering and its supply chain have developed an asphalt mix that the firm says can significantly reduce the carbon footprint of surfacing works. |
Variable speed limits to cut bridge closures01/04/2021 Highways England has completed upgrades to the Orwell Bridge at Ipswich, which it said will help keep it open more often during high winds. |
National Roads Fund: Just £426m in two years for local roads01/04/2021 The Department for Transport (DfT) has insisted that it will fund ‘over 50’ local road upgrades during this Parliament from its flagship National Roads Fund (NRF) despite allocating just £426m in two years and funding only eight schemes so far. |
GW Highways and Kent: The real deal in partnership31/03/2021 In January, GW Highways began work on a £160m road asset renewal contract with Kent County Council lasting two years, with the possibility of a two-year extension. |
Highways England awards final concrete roads deals31/03/2021 Highways England has announced the winners of two contracts worth a total of £285m to upgrade the concrete surface of roads across the country. |
AA raises red flag over smart motorway scheme's refuge spacing31/03/2021 A new all lane running smart motorway has just four emergency areas on one carriageway over a 10-mile stretch, despite Grant Shapps telling MPs that he had ordered such areas to be ‘no more than a mile’ apart. |
ALARM 2021: Slow progress as industry bangs the five-year funding drum31/03/2021 The estimated one-time cost to get local roads in England and Wales back into a ‘reasonable, steady state’ is £10.24bn, according to this year’s ALARM survey – the popular benchmark for the upkeep of council networks. |
Comment: Take the chance to be bold on active travel31/03/2021 After a year of lockdowns, Rachel O’Donnell, director at AECOM, looks to the road ahead and suggests authorities should consider bold options for modal shift. |
New Highways England board member30/03/2021 Highways England has announced the appointment of Lawrence Gosden as a non-executive director to its board. |
Telent scoops £700k Solihull deal29/03/2021 Solihull Council has awarded Telent a 10-year traffic signal maintenance contract covering more than 160 highways assets. |
Balfour and universities' carbon capture tool makes savings in trials25/03/2021 A new carbon calculation tool for the construction and infrastructure industry has been created by a Tier One contractor and university partners 'offering a consistent, practical solution for the measurement of embodied carbon' |
Skanska in luck with £500m Black Cat deal25/03/2021 Highways England has awarded Skanska a £507m contract to design and build the long-awaited A428 Black Cat to Caxton Gibbet improvements scheme. |
'Make Manual for Streets Government policy,' CIHT says25/03/2021 The Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation has called for the seminal ‘Manual for Streets’ design documents to be made government policy 'to improve the integration of planning and transport'. |
Shapps brings in ORR to check smart motorway report25/03/2021 Transport secretary Grant Shapps has said he intends to delay publishing a progress report on smart motorway safety until ‘the summer’, despite recently telling MPs that he would ‘come back to this House and report on it very quickly’. |
Liverpool operated culture of 'rule avoidance' in highways25/03/2021 An independent report into the procurement of highways-related services at Liverpool City Council has called for the highways service to be completely restructured after finding a culture of ‘rule avoidance’ leading to excessive costs. |
ASI and Jobling Purser join forces for global expansion25/03/2021 ASI Solutions has signed an exclusive agreement with Jobling Purser to supply leading BBA HAPAS certified asphalt preservation product Rhinophalt. |
VolkerFitzpatrick wins A31 widening deal24/03/2021 VolkerFitzpatrick has bagged the contract to carry out a widening of the A31 at Ringwood in Hampshire, which is expected to cost between £25m and £30m. |
£65m Carlisle link road winner announced24/03/2021 Morgan Sindall has edged out bids from BAM Nuttall, Galliford Try and Kier to land the first stage of a £65m job to build the Carlisle Southern Link Road. |
'Rising talent' Lowery steps up at Galliford Try24/03/2021 David Lowery has taken over as managing director of Galliford Try’s Highways business, after Duncan Elliott brought forward his departure. |
The Insider: Martin Duffy talks new beginnings24/03/2021 Highways columnist Martin Duffy tell how being passionate about all things highways helps with his (other) three key positions in the sector. |
£12m more for Welsh roads as election nears24/03/2021 The Welsh Government has announced an extra £12m for local authorities to 'fix potholes and improve roads, pavements and active travel routes' across the country. |
Rejuvenating old asphalt the bio-way23/03/2021 Cargill gives Highways an international briefing on the art and engineering of bio-based road rejuvenation. |
Highways England collaboration produces supernatural success23/03/2021 Highways England is heading up an international effort to find the best products and systems available for the removal of older ‘ghost’ road markings to provide clear direction to our drivers. Innovation director Paul Doney gives an update on this area of innovation. |
Comment: LTNs, women's safety and why Rupa Huq MP is wrong22/03/2021 Active travel campaigner Sarah Berry weighs up the evidence around low traffic neighbourhoods and local crime figures, with a focus on women's safety and sense of security. |
RSMA helps to kickstart careers18/03/2021 The Road Safety Markings Association has been approved as a Kickstart Gateway Provider for the Government’s Kickstart Scheme and is looking forward to working with members and partners to deliver new talent into the road marking and wider highways industry. |
DfT preparing new road survey regime for next year18/03/2021 The Department of Transport has met survey companies and is looking to establish a new road condition survey regime for the 2022-23 financial year, Highways understands. |
UK Roads Board to investigate DfT flooding concerns18/03/2021 The UK Roads Board is carrying out an investigation into flooding and drainage on the network after a Department for Transport official said there were concerns about the level of understanding in this area. |
VolkerLaser scoops £4m Tamar Bridge job18/03/2021 VolkerLaser has won a £4m contract to resurface the main deck of the Tamar Bridge, which links Plymouth in Devon to Saltash in Cornwall. |
Matheson agrees Glen Croe route for A8318/03/2021 The Scottish Government has identified the Glen Croe corridor (Option 1), adjacent to the existing road, as its preferred route corridor for the A83 at Rest and Be Thankful. |
Cambridgeshire's roads go under new management18/03/2021 Cambridgeshire County Council has agreed to a subsidiary of M Group taking over its highway maintenance contract following Skanska’s decision to sell its infrastructure services business. |
TfL given date to appeal Streetspace ruling, while Harrow has other plans
All lane running smart motorways now more lethal, data shows
M Group moving on up after Skanska deal
Highways Engand to set new baselines for its environment targets
Revealed: Legal costs on the rise
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