A digital road map of England and Wales that could 'transform highways maintenance' has been awarded £3m of government funds.
Ordnance Survey (OS) and the Department for Transport (DfT) are now liaising with councils, street data company GeoPlace and local highways authorities to compile what ministers have claimed will be the most detailed dataset of national highways ever produced.
Information will detail road widths, traffic calming measures and height and weight restrictions. Developed by OS, the digital road map will draw all existing information on road projects and maintenance together.
It will be made available to all areas of the public sector as well as satellite navigation systems. OS expects to deliver the initial product to the DfT before the end of March.
Transport minister Robert Goodwill said: 'This government is backing schemes that will make Britain's transport system world-class. This mapping project has the potential to substantially improve how we look after our roads. It will help make journeys more efficient and ensure traffic keeps moving.'
Neil Ackroyd, OS acting chief executive, said: 'We're pleased to be working with the Local Government Association, GeoPlace and the local highways authorities to create a single, unified highways product for use across both the public and private sector.'
'The new product will consist of the high quality and richly attributed data submitted by local authorities through the National Street Gazetteer combined with OS's widely used authoritative and fully maintained geographic roads data, creating a definitive highways network for England and Wales.'
