Highways England

Highways England has appointed six joint-venture companies to design and build ten smart motorways across England as part of a US$2.3 billion investment. Three of these projects will start in autumn this year: two in the Midlands on the M1 J19 to J16 in Northamptonshire and the M5 J4a to J6 in Worcestershire, and one in the north-west on the M6 J16 to J19 near Stoke-on-Trent. The smart motorway schemes, part of the US$23 billion government investment Highways England is delivering between now and 2021

The Balfour Beatty Vinci joint venture has been awarded a contract by Highways England to deliver a smart motorway package worth up to US$792 million, the largest of Highways England’s three packages within its US$2.3 billion Smart Motorway Programme. The joint venture will deliver smart motorway upgrades to a ten mile stretch of the M5 Junctions 4a to 6 in Worcestershire; a 12 mile section of the M6 Junctions 2 to 4 in the Midlands and a 32 mile stretch of the M4 Junctions 3 to 12 in London and Berkshir

Draft regulations to introduce variable mandatory speed limits as part of the planned smart motorway upgrade to 18 and a half miles of the M6 in Cheshire were published this week for consultation with key stakeholders. Highways England is planning to start construction work on the US$299 to US$427 million project between junction 16 at Crewe and junction 19 at Knutsford later this year. The hard shoulder will be converted into a permanent extra running lane and smart motorway technology installed to give

Jim O’Sullivan has been appointed as the new chief executive of Highways England and will lead the government-owned company which is responsible for delivering US$17 billion of improvements to England’s motorways and major A roads by 2020. O’Sullivan is an experienced engineer who is expected bring significant leadership experience the role. He has a broad range of experience working on safety critical transport projects, in the utilities industries and in world renowned businesses including British Airw

Drivers in Kent are set to benefit from better journeys thanks to a new agreement between Kent County Council and Highways England. The new partnership agreement will improve planning and communication between the two organisations and improve journeys for the many thousands of drivers who use Kent’s road network every day. The two organisations will share information about incidents better to improve the information on the county’s message signs. Roadworks will be co-ordinated to ensure that the dive

Highways England and Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding which will see the two bodies work in partnership to develop shared priorities and a long-term vision for motorways and key roads across the city region. The move follows the formation of Highways England earlier this year, a government-owned company with a five-year budget of over US$17 billion to invest in England’s motorways and major A roads. The new joint document aims to support economic growth in

A new system which collects data on road traffic collisions from police forces is set to be implemented across England and Wales. Collision Recording And Sharing (CRASH) has been built for the Home Office and Department for Transport (DfT) by systems integrator IPL. The platform will help pinpoint accident ‘black-spots’ to enable the DfT, Highways England and local authorities to work together to make safety improvements to the road network. All English and Welsh police forces are expected to be feeding

Highways England (formerly the Highways Agency) has awarded CGI a contract to provide its information and communications technology (ICT). The three-year end user computing services contract will support Highways England through a major IT refresh and its transition from a government agency within the UK Department for Transport to a government-owned company. CGI will provide end user computing services through a collaborative ICT model for over 3,500 Highways England staff. The new end user computing