Road Construction

A council leader has launched a bitter attack on Natural England after the environment watchdog effectively blocked a £274m road scheme due to its impact on bats.

Kier has agreed to acquire the rail business of the collapsed Buckingham Group but administrators have been unable to save the rest of the construction business and nearly 450 people have been made redundant.

The Scottish Government should continue to set targets that are ‘just about within reach’ for the transition to sustainable transport, even if they could eventually be missed by a significant margin, a Transport Scotland official has said.

National Highways has announced that it has put ‘key contracts’ in place to deliver its scheme to build a tunnel for the A303 at Stonehenge.

Hopes for the second and third stages of East West Rail (EWR) have been all but extinguished after the transport secretary described the scheme as ‘uncertain’ when backing a nearby £1bn road improvement.

The chair of the sub-national transport body whose area includes the proposed East West Rail scheme has called on ministers to provide certainty over the £5bn scheme and another at risk rail scheme in the area.

Liz Truss twice pledged to build new roads in her maiden speech as prime minister.

The Welsh Government is set to announce a freeze on new road-building projects, while a review of highway schemes across the country is carried out.

The Scottish Green Party has not ruled out supporting a Scottish National Party (SNP) administration that continues with major roadbuilding plans such as the A9 dualling, despite the country again missing its target for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Transport secretary Grant Shapps has announced the cancellation of the Oxford-Cambridge expressway after Department for Transport analysis suggested it was not cost-effective.

The Welsh Government’s first major road scheme reappraisal against the climate emergency has backed further road building, on the basis that the increased carbon emissions will be offset by reductions elsewhere.

Grant Shapps has announced that £13m major road network (MRN) cash will be released for upgrades to the A595 at Grizebeck, Cumbria – two years after his predecessor cited the scheme as one of the first to be funded under the MRN.

Highway authorities could be saving millions and reducing CO2 emissions if they switched to warm mix asphalts (WMA) on road construction and maintenance, MPs have said.

Five councils will share £600m government cash to support the delivery of up to 50,000 new homes in high demand areas by helping pay for related infrastructure including roads and rail.

Abi Bunker, director of conservation at the Woodland Trust, explains how the National Planning Policy Framework for England is working well in some areas, but also highlights that it is also being laxly administered by some local authorities, leading to unnecessary loss and damage of our nation’s oldest woods and trees.

Highways England has been given a reasonably clean bill of health by its watchdog's annual report, although more progress must be made on safety, customer satisfaction and the continuing delays to delivery.

Highways England has sought to play down the additional carbon dioxide emissions from its planned Stonehenge tunnel, which will increase congestion on part of the route as a result of additional, induced traffic.

The planned tunnel at Stonehenge, which could now cost £2.4bn, risks costing more to build than the economic benefits it is expected to provide, the National Audit Office has said.

One of the Traffex 2019 event partners, WSP, is at the forefront of the new technology that will change the way we plan and manage our network. Adrian Malone, head of digital project delivery at WSP talks to Transport Network about new systems, digital twins and virtual reality.

Troubled construction firm Dawnus Group has gone into administration.

The Department for Transport has released maps of the major road network to sub-national transport bodies in advance of bids being handed in this summer.

With the rail industry and its customers facing ‘another difficult year’, passengers with disabilities continue to be let down by government and the industry, MPs have said.

Balfour Beatty Group has been fined £600 after a worker died on a construction site in Scotland.

MPs have called for clarity over funding for two major road projects after the Government confirmed that the schemes ‘sit outside’ the second Road Investment Strategy.

Highways England has called for changes to Heathrow’s plans to build its new runway over the M25, including addressing the risk that aircraft will distract drivers.

The Government has called for a new balance of risk in public sector outsourcing and for complex contracts to be piloted before risking wider public sector exposure.

The delayed Aberdeen bypass has fully opened, despite an ongoing row between the Scottish Government and the contractors on the project.

A controversial study ordered by Chris Grayling during the 2017 General Election campaign has found ‘a strong strategic case’ for large-scale improvements to the A27 east of Lewes in Sussex, despite an existing £75m package.

A charity provided £1.25m to construction industry workers and their families in 2018, up a ‘staggering’ 75% on the previous year.

Labour’s shadow transport secretary has accused the Government of losing track of plans to expand smart ticketing across the rail network after ministers refused to say exactly what their £80m programme has achieved.

The Government has published its long-awaited revised plans for the major road network (MRN) of key local authority roads, including amended criteria for inclusion in the network and a reduced role for Highways England.

Too many frameworks are putting firms through unnecessary extra bids but failing to deliver the expected work, civils contractors have said.

Ministers have called for more use of offsite assembly and digital technology after publishing a £600bn pipeline of infrastructure spending.

Computer road design could take over a significant proportion of work from human consultants over the next decade, under Highways England's Rapid Engineering Model (REM), a senior figure has suggested.

Highways England is to carry out a fresh consultation on ‘important new evidence’ regarding its controversial plans for a bypass at the A27 at Arundel.

The Lower Thames Crossing will now have three lanes in each direction and will nearly double road capacity across the river, Highways England has announced.

The Oxford to Cambridge Expressway will follow the new East West Rail link to offer better connectivity and encourage more people to travel by train, ministers have said.

Highways England has announced that the upgrade of the M60 in Greater Manchester to a smart motorway is now complete.

Campaigners have accused the public company building the HS2 rail link of reneging on legally binding commitments made by the Government to ensure cycle safety, ‘putting lives at risk and costing the taxpayer more’.

Highways England has published the first four sections of the updated Design Manual for Roads and Bridges (DMRB) – the document that sets the design and safety standards for the strategic road network.

The controversial A27 bypass could face a judicial review after the local national parks authority announced plans to scupper what it said was a 'damaging scheme'.

Highways England has announced its preferred route for the £250m scheme to build a bypass for the A27 at Arundel in West Sussex.

Chris Grayling has given the go-ahead for the controversial road tunnel at Silvertown in East London, despite concerns over its impact on air pollution in the area.

A major project to create the North East’s first triple decker junction is entering its final stage as work starts to complete the new underpass.

Highways England has denied risking archaeological deposits at Stonehenge by using a mechanical digger to excavate evaluation trenches in wet conditions.

Highways England has pledged to further refine its plans for a tunnel at Stonehenge in response to the views of international heritage experts.

The final section of the Norwich Northern Distributor Road – now named Broadland Northway – has finally opened after just missing its target date.

The cost of the project to build the Southern Bypass around the Cambridgeshire city of Ely has increased by £13m.

Ministers have launched a package of measures designed to ‘level the playing field’ for smaller businesses bidding to win a share of billions of pounds worth of government contracts.

More than half of the people employed by Carillion before it went into receivership have now been found secure jobs.

Council leaders have hit back against claims that local authorities are reneging on sustainable transport packages because they are allowed to ‘mark their own homework’.

The development of more than 600 new homes in Leeds is to go ahead after the council secured more than £7m from the Government’s Housing Infrastructure Fund (HIF).

Highways England has launched a consultation on its plans for the A303 at Stonehenge, including ‘green bridges’, grassed canopies at the portals and the conversion of the existing road into a route for walking, cycling and horse riding.

Highways England has launched an independent panel to review the design of its new schemes and 10 ‘principles of good road design’, which it hopes will be adopted across the roads sector.

Shares in struggling infrastructure firm Carillion fell sharply on Friday following reports that lenders had rejected its survival plan and that it had lined up a possible administrator.

Councillors in Norfolk have voted to allocate a further £19.25m to cover the rising cost of the troubled Norwich Northern Distributor Road - including more than £1m for 'unseasonal rainfall' - but the current projected cost of £205m may still rise.

A senior figure at the Department for Transport has refused to rule out the use of competitive bidding when it comes to local or regional funding allocations around the proposed major road network (MRN).

Transport secretary Chris Grayling has welcomed the appointment of Stephen Metcalfe MP as the Government’s Envoy for the Year of Engineering, next year.

The Norwich Northern Distributor Road has run into further trouble, with Norfolk County Council warning there is a ‘high risk of a significant increase in cost beyond the £178.9m budget’ but refusing to reveal how much more cash it could pay out.

Highways England has confirmed that it will spend £250,000 on a study into a possible scheme that could upgrade a section of the A27 in Sussex to dual carriageway, despite progressing a £75m upgrade to the route.

Highways England could increase the speed limit on motorway road works to 60mph as early as this year, following trials that showed that higher speeds reduced drivers’ heart rates.

The Government has announced funding totalling £345.3m to improve local roads and public transport across England, including £101m for two roads through the Large Local Majors fund and cash from the National Productivity Investment Fund.

Transport secretary Chris Grayling has confirmed that the Government has agreed to Highways England’s plans to re-profile the current Road Investment Strategy (RIS), with some schemes brought forward, some delayed and six schemes shelved.

The new £600m Mersey Gateway Bridge opened at the weekend, ‘on time and under budget’.

A host of contractors have landed places on Manchester City Council’s £200m Highways and Infrastructure Construction Works framework.

Nine national campaign groups have written a joint letter to transport secretary Chris Grayling about what they called the ‘devastating’ impact of a planned bypass for the A27 at Arundel, Sussex.

The first section of dual carriageway to be constructed as part of the Scottish Government’s A9 dualling programme has now fully opened to traffic.

Highways England should work to develop a Good Design Guide and ensure that a design-led approach is at the heart of the review of the Design Manual for Roads and Bridges, an expert panel has said.

Highways England will progress a £75m upgrade to the A27 in Sussex, despite the possibility of a larger scheme that would upgrade the route to dual carriageway.

The transport secretary has announced £5m development funding, which he said could make the TransPennine rail route Britain’s first digitally controlled intercity main line railway.

The first phase of the £380m A1 Leeming to Barton upgrade will open to traffic at the end of the week but full completion of the project has again been delayed.

Completion of the new £208m section of smart motorway on the M60 and M62 has been delayed, with the scheme not fully open until next summer.

GRAHAM has appointed Rob Cook as its new highways framework director as its civil engineering division continues to secure contracts across the UK.

Highways England has appointed Knight Architects, along with engineering consultant WSP, to design bridge crossings for the proposed new A27 Arundel Bypass.

Highways England is supporting local authority road improvement schemes in Hampshire and Leicestershire with nearly £20m from its dedicated Growth and Housing Fund.

A new 20-mile long concrete safety barrier on the M6 in Cheshire is nearing completion as part of a £274m project to upgrade the route to an all lane running Smart Motorway.

A county council has welcomed Highway England’s decision to hold a second consultation on the proposed route of a new road after complaining it had previously offered only one option.

The Queen will officially open the Queensferry Crossing on 4 September, after which an additional 10,000 people from local communities will walk the new link across the Forth.

Highways England has announced an amended route for its £282m scheme to take the pressure off the M42 junction 6 near Solihull.

A contractor is being sought to design and construct a £58m single carriageway bypass that involves an obstacle course of engineering and environmental challenges.

Highways England has partially opened a new flyover on the A21 in Kent, part of the delayed £70m scheme to upgrade the road.

Highways England has announced its preferred route for a planned £50m scheme to improve the roundabout at Junction 19 of the M6 near Knutsford, which it said was backed by three quarters of people responding to its consultation.

Highways England has announced that its £174m smart motorway project on the M3 has opened on time – without the smart motorway technology.

Ministers have pledged to take the ‘next steps’ within the next six months on 55 improvement schemes in the current Road Investment Strategy (RIS) worth a total of £6.1bn.

A joint venture between Amey Arup has won a contract worth up to £50m for preliminary works on the dualling of a 26-mile section of the A96 in Scotland.

The Scottish Government has hailed the opening to full capacity of its upgraded motorway network in Central Scotland after a ‘mammoth effort’ to remove thousands of traffic cones.

An announcement by Chris Grayling of Government funding for a study into a possible new road has raised controversy after the transport secretary used the announcement to promote local Conservative candidates.

Shell Bitumen has brought together its engineering, innovation and research and development teams at a new technology centre in Bangalore, India, with the aim of developing the bitumens of the future.

Infrastructure firm Skanska UK has announced that president and CEO Mike Putnam is stepping down with immediate effect, to be replaced by Gregor Craig.

Transport Scotland has opened the ‘missing link’ section of the M8 motorway, meaning that Glasgow and Edinburgh are now fully connected with uninterrupted motorway for the first time.

Confirmation of Government backing and a preferred route for the Lower Thames Crossing – expected to cost £4.4bn – has stirred new controversy, with local Conservative MPs voicing their opposition to the longstanding project.

Highways England chief executive Jim O’Sullivan gave Transport Network an interview at Traffex this week and said he was very impressed with the event and confident about his company’s capital funding position.

AECOM has secured an eight-year contract with Highways England to be its technical partner for the £1.4bn A303 Amesbury to Berwick Down improvements scheme, which includes a proposed tunnel alongside Stonehenge.

The next Road Investment Strategy (RIS2) is ‘the biggest game in town’, with up to £4bn annual capital spending on the strategic road network, Highways England's chief executive has said.

A legal challenge against improvements to a section of the A6 in Northern Ireland has been thrown out, with a judge agreeing that appropriate assessments had been carried out and the decision to proceed with the road had been rational and lawful.

Fresh from winning a £40m Highways England contract, Kier Highways is exhibiting at Traffex for the first time this year and is looking to use the event to push boundaries and explore the latest innovations in the industry.

Highways England has allocated 13 packages of consultancy work worth up to £173.51m for 38 planned major road schemes.

The Government and Highways England urgently need to agree a more realistic delivery plan for the Road Investment Strategy (RIS), the National Audit Office (NAO) has warned.

The Department for Transport (DfT) has announced the schemes that will benefit from the first tranche of £220m to tackle pinch points on the Strategic Road Network.

An official Government report has come out against widening the South West Quadrant of the M25, backing measures such as developing alternatives to travel and moving traffic to ‘more sustainable modes’.

Transport for London (TfL) has announced the three companies who have been shortlisted to design, finance, build and maintain the Silvertown Tunnel under the Thames in east London.

A new £192m stretch of dual carriageway linking the M6 and M56 motorways has opened on schedule.

Highways England is advertising for bidders for a framework to carry out resurfacing work worth up to £3.3bn over four years.

The Public Inquiry into the controversial Newport M4 ‘Black Route’ relief road has been told that its economic benefits will outweigh the cost by two to one.

Transport Scotland is seeking bidders for the construction contract on a £100m project to dual another section of the A9.

Highways England and the local council have both said they are ‘disappointed’ with the transport secretary’s decision to drop a £280m plan to improve the A27 Chichester Bypass.

Professor John Read talks to Dom Browne about the future of highways and why we need to ask ‘what is a road?’

Party leaders at an Essex council have joined forces to express outrage at Highways England again writing to residents without informing the council.

Highways England has awarded Kier Highways a £40m contract as part of new delivery arrangements in the South West.

Newport City Council has voiced ‘strong concerns’ over air quality impacts if the Welsh Government proceeds with the controversial M4 relief road.

Infrastructure services firm AECOM has secured five contracts worth over £25m in fees with Highways England.

A £50m contract covering the eastern section of the Scottish Government’s programme to dual the road from Inverness to Aberdeen by 2030 is open to tender.

A new survey suggests the public are becoming more concerned about congestion, environmental and road safety issues – and more willing to change their own behaviour.

Highways England must incorporate a greater understanding of the nation’s housing needs and potential future development as it gears up to release its first strategic economic growth plan this year, councils have said.

To mark Road Safety Week, Mike Harper, director of Highways at Stirling Lloyd, argues for a return to the fundamentals with more High Friction Surfacing.

A new secure access cover system promises to prevent a cable theft or sabotage that could bring the new smart motorway section of the M3 to a halt.

Transport secretary Chris Grayling has announced £1.4bn plans for a seven-mile A303 dualling scheme, including a 1.8 mile tunnel at Stonehenge.

The Government and Essex County Council will co-fund a new £45m motorway junction on the M11 near Harlow

Campaigners have called for ‘a fundamental rethink’ of the Government's plans for the A303 at Stonehenge and warned that a proposed tunnel would substantially damage the World Heritage Site.

A giant bridge-building machine has finished work on another milestone for the Mersey Gateway project in Widnes.

Transport for London (TfL) has signed a £500m framework with three firms to deliver some of the capital’s highest profile road improvement projects

The Scottish Government has announced an extra £167m for the country’s trunk road network next year and promised ‘a vastly improved motorway network fit for the 21st century’.

Highways England has started main construction work on the £75m triple decker roundabout in North Tyneside.

A new Oxford to Cambridge Expressway could cost up to £3.5bn, it has emerged.

Key figures from the transport sector have disagreed about the chancellor’s pledge to spend more money on roads while freezing fuel duty.

Council leaders and industry figures have declared themselves willing to play their part in delivering the £1.3bn worth of improvements and maintenance on the transport network pledged by the chancellor, but called for more detail.

The Autumn Statement will include an extra £1.3bn to improve Britain’s roads and public transport, including backing for an expressway connecting Oxford, Milton Keynes and Cambridge, and ‘billions’ for other infrastructure projects.

Civil engineering contractors have called for changes to procurement practices, claiming that bidding costs are becoming unsustainable.

Kier, the property, residential, construction and services group, has sold Mouchel Consulting to WSP Global for £75m – with a reported profit of £40m.

The first section of road constructed under the Kincraig to Dalraddy section of the A9 dualling project is in use.

Staffordshire County Council is promising to create ‘better wildlife habitats’ as part of works to build a relief road.

Main construction of the £1.5bn A14 upgrade scheme will begin in November this year on the A1 near Brampton.

The first bridge crossing over Cheshire's new A556 link road will open this weekend as the project enters its final construction phase - due for completion in spring 2017.

The Department for Transport (DfT) has unveiled a shortlist of five potential routes for a Trans-Pennine road tunnel between Manchester and Sheffield.

Derbyshire County Council has launched a legal challenge over plans by Sheffield City Region to include the Derbyshire town of Chesterfield in a new mayoral combined authority.

With the Brexit vote still providing unintended outcomes galore and Usain Bolt, the world’s most efficient form of active travel, responding to taunts by promising to run faster, here’s our top five unintended consequences in transport.

Devon County Council has published three route options for a controversial new section of the A30/A303, as it aims to secure funding through the Government’s Road Investment Strategy (RIS).

With the RMT union striking because Southern Railway won’t delay changes to the role of guards and ministers delaying a decision on the Hinkley C nuclear plant, here are our Top 5 procrastinations in transport and infrastructure. As Saint Augustine might have said, give me new transport schemes, but not yet.

Copeland Borough Council has backed plans for a new £10bn nuclear power station in West Cumbria, but joined the county council in calling for investment in infrastructure in return.

Amey has named James Haluch as managing director of its newly formed Highways business.

Highways England is inviting people living along the A14 in Cambridgeshire to apply for grants of up to £10,000 to help ‘lock in the benefits’ of a major upgrade of the road.

The Government is funding repairs rather than prevention when dealing with wet weather events. Rhodri Clark reports on why proactive planning for the future is essential.

Highways England has unveiled a £75m scheme to create the North East's first 'triple-deck' road junction at the congested Silverlink roundabout in North Tyneside.

The world’s first ‘electric road’ went on trial in Sweden on Wednesday (22) June, aiming to halve energy consumption and eliminate local emissions.

The Welsh Government has confirmed that it will hold an independent public local inquiry into plans to build a relief road for the M4 in South Wales.

UKIP has dropped its opposition to the ‘black route’ M4 relief road in South Wales, boosting the controversial scheme’s chances of going ahead.

Herefordshire Council’s planning committee has approved a controversial £27m link road.

Highways England has spectacularly demolished the old Merafield Bridge at Plympton, near Plymouth, beginning the final stage of a £6.3m maintenance project on the A38.

Workloads are falling in the roads sector and the number of projects in progress still does not reflect the Government’s major investment plans, according to civil engineers.

The Northern Powerhouse is in danger of becoming 'M62-centric' and benefiting the North West at the expense of other northern regions, an industry leader has warned.

The chief executive of Transport for the North (TfN) has stressed its intention to transform transport infrastructure across the whole region, following suggestions that the Northern Powerhouse is 'M62-centric'.

The Government-commissioned report that recommended a new runway at Heathrow significantly underestimated the costs of improving surface transport access, which could exceed £18bn, according to Transport for London (TfL).

New road schemes still dominate Local Enterprise Partnerships' (LEPs) spending plans for the coming year, campaigners have said.

Roads minister Andrew Jones has opened a new £32m road bridge in Essex, involving a viaduct nearly 1km long built with UK-sourced steel.

A new road that will link Swansea city centre to the Liberty football stadium will be completed a year earlier than planned, following a £1.1m contribution from the Welsh Government.

Tarmac’s contracting division has been awarded the prestigious BS11000 standard for collaborative business relationships by the British Standards Institution.

There are alternatives to outgoing London mayor Boris Johnson’s flagship tunnel plans if his successor rejects them, a senior Transport for London (TfL) official has said.

Transport Scotland has announced a shortlist of four organisations that it has invited to tender for the design work for the western section of the A96 dualling programme.

Transport minister Andrew Jones has opened a new £110m bypass in Devon.

London’s outgoing mayor, Boris Johnson, has set out a range of strategic initiatives that he says will be needed to prevent significant increases in road congestion across the capital.

Lancashire County Council has awarded a £110m contract for the planned Preston Western Distributor and associated Link Roads to leading engineering solutions provider, Costain.

Councils in Scotland need to improve the way they manage major projects including road schemes, schools, housing and flood protection, according to auditors.

An eye witness report on flood recovery work in Cumbria.

The 'clear strategic case' for a £6bn cross-Pennine part-tunnelled road corridor between Manchester and Sheffield could extend to a parallel rail link, a new report suggests.

The National Audit Office (NAO) is looking into the planned Norwich Northern Distributor Road after complaints about its value for money and calls for a review of local highways procurement.

Highways maintenance specifications should be changed in response to growing shortages of materials and cash, public sector and industry figures have suggested.

Road Expo Scotland this week is set for a record year with registrations topping the 1,500 mark for the first time ever.

A team driving the groundbreaking concept of renewable energy-powered roads are tipping Scotland as a potential leader in deploying the new technology.

Chancellor George Osborne plans to establish a National Infrastructure Commission to help advise the government on which projects should be prioritised.

A new £6.6m asphalt plant is the UK's first to use high capacity cold Recycled Asphalt Planings (RAP) technology creating mixes of up to 55% recycled content, according to owners Tarmac.

Work has started on the first leg of the largest transport project in Scotland’s history – the £3bn A9 Perth to Inverness dualling programme.

More bus lanes and bus priority measures are needed to cut growing urban congestion, an alliance of major transport groups has warned.

Under-road electric vehicle charging systems are set to be tested for the first time in the UK later this year.

Surveyor magazine’s groundbreaking event this September Highways Management: Smarter roads for the future has been approved for Continuing Professional Development (CPD) accreditation.

Passenger Focus recently became Transport Focus after being handed responsibility for representing users of the Strategic Road Network in England from 1 April this year. Transport Network spoke to chief executive Anthony Smith about making the transition to highways, his biggest fears, gamification and the importance of sticking to a plan.

Nine major road improvement sites have been given new look signs and road markings as Highways England trials different ways of making its roadworks clearer and safer.

Planning for the long-awaited upgrade of the A303 and A358 in Somerset is now underway, roads minister Andrew Jones has revealed.

For every ten minutes of journey time spent on the strategic road network last year, drivers needed to leave an extra six minutes to be confident of not being late, government statistics have revealed.

The city council of Rotterdam has revealed it is considering piloting a new type of road surface made entirely from recycled plastic.

After 30 years experience in highways, Trevor Collett talks to Dominic Browne about his hopes and concerns for the sector and being next in line to be president of the Local Government Technical Advisers Group (TAG).

Highways England has appointed an airports expert and former Heathrow boss as its new chief executive, following the departure of the popular Graham Dalton.

Highways England has set up a panel of experts to develop 'excellence in road design', as it sets about delivering £11bn worth of investment over the next five years.

The first contract awards on the £1.5bn A14 improvement in East Anglia have been announced, however the process has led Highways England to signal principal contractors must rethink their approach to win work on major projects.

Without the engineering workforce, financial investment in regional powerhouses is meaningless - so where does the solution lie?

Fears have been raised over Edinburgh’s multi-million pound funding gap for transport and schooling intended to serve new housing.

Highways England could face an early investigation from the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) after major overruns on engineering work in Chester.

The Scottish Government in partnership with the Scottish Road Research Board has launched a competition to offer second year undergraduate civil engineering students the opportunity to win a place on The Road Maintenance Research Working Group.

Capita has been awarded a contract to make Cardiff’s ‘roundabout to nowhere’ actually go somewhere by connecting the A4232 with the A48.

Newly released urban design guidance will be promoted by leading professional body the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation (CIHT) at Traffex 2015, along with a new membership offer for apprentices.

Groundbreaking research has seen microalgae waste used to create asphalt, in findings that could have a dramatic impact on road construction.

Leading infrastructure firm FM Conway has signed a major deal with top provider of bitumen binder Nynas, to help supply the firm with bitumen across the south east.

Senior figures in Highways England have claimed the new company’s multi-billion pound investment programme will put pressure on the nation’s lorry capacity rather than its aggregate industry.

Our cartoonist Rhiannon Rees takes a satirical look at the latest transport news to help brighten up your week.

Transport expert and local government patrician, John Elliott, with the latest in a series of articles on the controversial plans for new lower Thames river crossings.

Durham County Council is ‘beyond disappointed’ after a local plan involving a pair of new relief roads was branded ‘unrealistic’ by inspectors.

The UK’s leading traffic and parking exhibition this year features a new section simulating a live public highway to help delegates explore the latest technology and design developments, Transport Network can reveal.

Labour’s shadow transport secretary has attacked the Government’s road building plans as politically motivated and refused to back key schemes such as the dualling of the A1 north of Newcastle.

Road construction could increase over 40% by 2018 following a major spending boost for the Highways Agency, according to construction industry representatives.

The Department for Transport’s (DfT) approach to road maintenance funding is ‘ludicrous’, with decades of ‘unpredictable and fluctuating budgets’ putting value for money at risk, an influential group of MPs has claimed.

The Government’s £317m ‘pinch point’ road improvement programme has cut congestion at 39 bottlenecks since its launch in 2011, according to the Highways Agency.

Regeneration in the West Midlands will receive a £25.9m package of transport investment to unlock the potential of a key industrial site in Walsall, the Government has announced.

Transport links in Bridgwater and Taunton will receive a £2.8m boost in advance of the construction of the UK’s first nuclear power plant in over 20 years, the Government has announced.

Sunderland City Council has approved plans to complete the continuous dual carriageway between the A19 and the city centre, however residents may have to wait years before work starts.

Two multi-million pound highway dualling contracts have been put to market by the Scottish Government, with work on the A96 and A9 up for grabs.

Wandsworth and Transport for London (TfL) have begun work on London's first fully segregated ‘cycle’ roundabout.

The Department for Transport (DfT) has agreed to put £29m towards the A684 bypass in North Yorkshire, allowing construction on the £34m scheme to begin.

Transport minister Patrick McLoughlin has pledged to ‘seriously consider’ Gloucestershire’s £255m A417 Loop scheme, it has emerged.

The Department for Transport (DfT) will carry out a detailed appraisal of two lower Thames crossing options, after confirming that a new crossing will be built in east London.

Transport minister Baroness Kramer has opened a major highways scheme in Luton to help tackle traffic jams while supporting active travel for pedestrians and cyclists.

A group of councils in the North East are set to tender a highways surfacing contract framework worth at least £30m - with some estimates reaching as high as £100m over its potential five-year term - as part of the wider NE Highways Alliance project.

The Midlands Highways Alliance (MHA) has revealed the contractors appointed for its £261m transport infrastructure framework.

Transport Scotland has named Connect Roads as its preferred bidder for the historic £745m Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route/Balmedie Tipperty (AWPR/B-T) road construction project.

Highways Agency reforms will not be enough to address the problem of unpredictable funding for roads maintenance, government auditors have warned.

The Department for Transport (DfT) and leading highways experts are developing standardised rules for permit schemes in advance of the deregulation of the system from 2015, Transport Network can reveal.

The Asphalt Industry Alliance’s Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) survey is seen by many as the national benchmark for highway maintenance performance in the UK. Its chairman Alan Mackenzie talks to Dominic Browne about the need to push for a long-term approach to highways maintenance.

The Government has given the green light to the Crewe Green Link Road, agreeing to release up to £15.6m towards the £26.4m project to provide transport links to Basford.

The Government has announced £23m of investment for enterprise zones including cash for roads, utility lines and building construction.

Transport for London (TfL) would need to charge users of the Silvertown tunnel under the Thames from the outset but no further charging schemes are planned, bosses have revealed.

Investment in roads will have to ‘substantially’ increase over the next decade with the Government having to find 'new funding streams' to support increased demand, MPs have said.

London mayor Boris Johnson has unveiled initial plans for a 22-mile £30bn underground ring road in London, dubbed the ‘Inner Orbital Tunnel’.

The Royal Borough of Greenwich has hit back at claims it has betrayed residents by shelving plans for a £1bn extension to the Docklands Light Railway (DLR).

Transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin today officially approved plans to transform the Highways Agency into a government-owned company in less than a year.

Prime minister David Cameron and chancellor George Osborne today jointly kicked off a year of major infrastructure investment, with £36bn of spending planned across 200 projects.

The Highways Agency has released updated plans for its £1.5bn A14 upgrade, reiterating there will be no tolling involved.

Experienced highway engineer Chris Summers takes a look at how road maintenance techniques have changed over the last generation, for better and worse...

Signs are due to be installed in Southend’s shared space scheme, following consultation on the project after several accidents in the area. The new signage will be introduced at either end of the shared space – in a similar way to other projects across the UK, such as Ashford. Other shared space a

Transport minister Baroness Kramer has announced it will invest up to £19m in a new transport scheme in Norwich, designed to help two business parks to grow.

A levy on foreign truck firms using UK roads came into force this week and has been welcomed as ‘good news’ for British freight operators.

Communities secretary Eric Pickles will receive a planning application for the £290m Manchester Airport relief road after the third and final local council approved the scheme this week.

The Government’s draft National Policy Statement (NPS) proposes building new roads for 40% more car, van and lorry trips by 2040. This is neither realistic nor desirable.

Work on the A9 Crieff Road bridge in Scotland has been completed a fortnight ahead of schedule with transport minister Keith Brown thanking road users for their patience.

Liverpool City Council is set to invest £80m over the next eight years in its highways network, in a move set to significantly cut Liverpool’s £256m highways maintenance backlog by 2022.

Roads minister Robert Goodwill says 'capacity will be a problem' in delivering the Government’s £24bn highways investment commitment by 2021.

The UK’s flooding crisis shows no sign of abating as weather forecasts predict more rain throughout the week and ministers and transport bosses warn the devastation could take months to clear up.

The first in a series of exclusive articles for Transport Network from the Road Surface Treatments Association, charts the rise and fall of high friction road surfacing.

A masterplan for future transport provision in East Lancashire will support ‘millions of pounds’ of local investment, councils have confirmed.

Communities secretary Eric Pickles has announced the 12 shortlisted projects in line to receive a share of a £100m infrastructure fund for local enterprise zones.

Highways around central London could require a massive overhaul due to the impact of the new Crossrail service, a report has claimed.

Major schemes on England's strategic road network on average deliver a £4 return in long-term benefits for every £1 spent, according to a major study from the Highways Agency.

Newport City Council has given its backing to a new M4 relief road despite raising concerns about the possible environmental impacts.

A new £250,000 asphalt recycling centre for road and pavement surfacing projects by both the private and public sector has opened near Bedford.

Work on the controversial Bexhill-Hastings link road is ‘progressing well’ and the highway is due to open on time in 2015, according to East Sussex CC.

Plans to only partially install quiet road surfacing on a section of the M3 earmarked for a smart motorways scheme have been criticised by local leaders – who have approved plans to call on cabinet minister and local on MP Michael Gove for help.

Construction of the £56m Finningley and Rossington Regeneration Route Scheme (FARRRS) has begun with Mott MacDonald providing project management and technical support to Doncaster MBC.

The UK needs an extra airport runway in the South East by 2030 with another likely to be needed by 2050, the Government’s independent review into airport capacity has claimed.

Cotswold DC has called on the Highways Agency and the Department for Transport to support a dualling scheme in the area to tackle ‘chronic’ congestion problems.

Congestion in the UK’s 18 largest urban zones is costing car commuting households £4.4bn a year, according to estimates from a new economic study.

Ministers have revealed the winners of the latest tranche of local pinch-point funding, releasing £49m for 25 schemes designed to tackle congestion hot spots, alongside announcing a raft of major road and rail works.

Plans to drastically lower the planning bar for new road schemes have been released by the Department for Transport (DfT).

The Department for Transport (DfT) has launched a consultation on the policy framework that transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin will base nationally significant road and rail scheme planning decisions on.

The Highways Agency could slash procurement costs by 20% and make savings by laying and maintaining some stretches of road to lesser standards, the non-executive director, Alan Cook, has told the transport select committee.

The east of England is due to deliver an impressive cost-benefit return on planned roads investment of £6.4bn for less than £876m spent, according to new Department for Transport (DfT) data.

Patching up roads with ‘glue’ has enabled Surrey CC to slash road maintenance costs by millions a year through cutting the use of thousands of tonnes of materials, the councils has claimed.

The Highways Agency has awarded a £70.5m construction contract to Carillion PLC to convert the hard should of a major strategic section of the M6 into an active lane.

A new quality protocol (QP) has been released for the production of aggregates from inert waste - meaning the recycled materials, which are used in road building, should now conform to European standards.

The Government has announced more than £24m of funding to support major highways works in Leeds and on the A452 Chester Road in Birmingham.

The Government wants a lot more roads built across the country but as the first schemes reach the planning stage, they are meeting stern opposition.

Liverpool City Council has launched a controversial nine-month experiment to suspend the operation of all bus lanes in the city.

Transportation plans across the East Lancashire region have been outlined by the county council in the area.

The Highways Agency had awarded infrastructure firm Amey a £200m five-year contract to manage and maintain the strategic road network in Area 8 in the East of England.

Key infrastructure projects in Wales have been given a £617.5m boost, under the draft budget announced this week.

The Government and Lancashire CC have won a High Court battle with a local campaigning group over a £124m planned link road between the M6 and the port of Heysham on Morecambe Bay.

The Government has awarded £165m for a new relief road between the M56 and the A6, to improve access to Manchester airport.

Placing a compulsory toll on upcoming A14 improvements would single out the east of England for unfair business transport costs, according to the New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP).

Transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin has released £80m of further ‘pinch point’ funding to remove bottlenecks on the UK’s road network, with £25m of the cash dedicated to local schemes.

Plans for a new collaborative development framework have been put forward by the Highways Agency for investing £5bn-worth of projects across the country’s motorway and trunk road network.

An alliance of 19 councils has called on ministers to put High Speed Rail 2 (HS2) to a national vote with citizens deciding between the controversial rail scheme and alternative spending plans.

Leicester City Council has developed an eccentric method of improving road safety outside one of its schools by creating bollards painted to look like young children.

The City of London has voted to impose an area-wide 20mph speed limit in a move which aims to improve safety and quality of life across the square mile.

Resurfacing works on the A46 are due to be carried out over the next month in order to improve the general state of the carriageway.

Engineering consultant Mott MacDonald has been appointed to design the Highways Agency’s £24m 4km widening scheme on the A14 near Kettering.

Hounslow Highways has embarked on a collaborative working agreement with utility companies to share road space and carry out works at the same time to try and minimise disruption to residents and businesses.

The Highways Agency has published £1.5bn plans to upgrade the A14 between Cambridge and Huntingdon, including the possibility of local toll roads to ease congestion on the major route.

Concern has been raised about a £500m blackhole in the cost of five major transport projects in Scotland.

Leading highways contractor Ringway has pledged to create 21 local job opportunities in road worker positions for its client Cheshire West and Chester Council.

The majority of local authorities in the UK have adopted progressive pothole repair strategies in the wake of last year’s Pothole Review document, according to a recent survey.

Infrastructure services company FM Conway has received planning consent for a £10m state of the art asphalt plant in Heathrow.

Rising costs and skill shortages are the greatest challenge to the infrastructure sector, civils contractors have warned.

Britain’s roads are going to go through changes as radical as those when the motorway network was first built.

The Department for Transport (DfT) has sent a clear warning to colleagues at the Department for International Development (DFID) that ‘roads are not enough to improve mobility’ based on international data sets.

Campaigners have called for construction of the Bexhill-Hastings link road (BHLR) to be cancelled, after calculations suggested the scheme has ‘low’ value for money.

Councils in the South East led by Buckinghamshire CC have called on the Government to bring forward cash earmarked for future road repairs, stating they are ‘shovel-ready now’.

Winter resilience has been the central focus of pothole concern for the last few years. But with roads suffering degradation due to extreme heat this month, should we begin to look at summer resilience? James Evison reports.

The Government is to invest £12.8m into improvements on Nottingham Ring Road, after granting final approval to the scheme today.

Halton BC has announced Merseylink as preferred bidder for the Mersey Gateway Project, which will deliver a new £600m toll bridge to the region.

The Government’s £100bn investment in infrastructure must be complimented by a long-term funding strategy to ensure success, transport professionals have said.

Scotland’s five largest transport infrastructure projects are expected to cost £7.5bn over the next 30 years, the public spending watchdog has found.

Plans to have more than 100,000 new engineering technicians in the UK by 2018 have been outlined by the prime minister, David Cameron.

The Treasury has appointed solicitor Margaret Bonsall to lead a new unit to represent the public sector on the boards of PF2 projects – the successor to PFI - and manage its future stake in public infrastructure.

Chancellor George Osborne is expected to announce a multi-billion pound six-year infrastructure investment programme in the Spending Review this Wednesday.

The boss of Atkins in the UK and Europe has told Transport Network he remains ‘cautiously optimistic on roads’ despite selling the company's highways business to Skanska.

The Institution of Civil Engineers is urging England to copy Wales’ Local Government Borrowing Initiative (LGBI), which is providing £170m over three years for highway repairs.

Transport looks set to be the big winner in this month’s Spending Review with ministers expected to announce a multi-billion pound long-term commitment to major projects.

The Government is set to roll out a £100m fund for transport and infrastructure investment in Local Enterprise Zones, communities secretary Eric Pickles announced today.

Ministers have announced 14 new sites are set for increased investment from the Local Infrastructure Fund (LTF), with a view to making a start on 38,000 stalled new home developments.

The Department for Transport (DfT) has left the door open to providing further local pinch point cash after exhausting the current £190m fund on some 72 congestion-busting projects.

Anti-roads protesters have vowed to undertake more action against the Bexhill-Hastings link road following the release of information about additional carriageways.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation Development (OECD) has claimed the UK should invest more in infrastructure for growth.

Reform of the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) should focus on economic growth and introduce financial certainty to the sector if it is to be successful, according to the British Property Federation (BPF).

Leader of Birmingham City Council, Sir Albert Bore, has delivered his plans to ensure the city has 'among the best transport system in Europe'.

Campaigners have called on the Government to withhold funding for the controversial £100m Bexhill-Hastings Link Road after East Sussex CC cuts back on walking, cycling and public transport measures originally included in the project.

The Highways Agency has today published three route-based transport strategies as the first step in a major shake-up of service delivery on the nation's strategic highways network.

A £30bn investment in infrastructure would be the most effective way to boost economic growth, according to a report.

A joint venture has been appointed to develop proposals for the £160m upgrade of A63 Castle Street in Hull.

UKIP councillors at East Sussex CC have called on officers to use miles not kilometres in documentation and signage in a bid ‘to continue being English’.

Major new transport infrastructure has been proposed in Cambridgeshire to prevent congestion issues in the next decade.

The business lobby and engineering community have underlined the importance of plans for a new high-speed rail line (HS2) and urged politicians to remain committed to the controversial policy.

Increased congestion on the M6 and an inability to deal with a projected 25% rise in traffic means the adjacent toll road should be nationalised, Centro chief executive, Geoff Inskip, has claimed.

The Government’s 'Infrastructure Plan' is nothing more than ‘a list of projects’ with no ‘strategic vision [or] clear priorities’, according to an influential group of MPs.

The top road safety priority for local government is improving road surfaces and reducing potholes, according to a new survey.

Justice secretary Chris Grayling has announced measures to drive out ‘meritless’ judicial reviews in a move that could prevent major transport infrastructure projects from being delayed.

Local authorities could lose the power to fund highways projects through both the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) and Section 278 Highways Act agreements, under proposals unveiled by ministers this week.

County council officers in south Wales have trialled a traffic diversion around a rural town with poor air quality to prove the case for a by-pass.

All the news from day one of Traffex,the 26th international traffic engineering, Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS), road safety, parking and highway maintenance exhibition.

Yorkshire is set for a £1bn plus overhaul of its transport network as six of its councils prepare to vote for a ground-breaking package of new roads, railways and other key infrastructure.

James Evison takes a look at how far the responsibility for pothole damage to cars should rest with the manufacturers.

Margaret Thatcher left her mark on all aspects of British political life and transport was no exception, James Evison writes.

The Highways Agency has unveiled 58 schemes it will deliver as part of the third and final stage of its £317m pinch-point programme – 26 of which have been developed with local authorities.

Cities in the developing world need to future-proof infrastructure, including the usage of transport systems, in order to ensure long-term prosperity according to a new report.

An elderly woman has been arrested during two days of protests against the Bexhill-Hastings Link Road outside the Department for Transport (DfT) headquarters in Westminster.

The Government must act to provide ‘real transport alternatives’ a leading charity has warned following claims forecourt petrol sales have fallen by more than 20% in the last five years.

Councils are struggling with the transport aspect of local plans according to the author of a new report revealing councils have been pushed into extra house building under the new system.

Two new reports have been released by TRL which should be of significant interest to Transport Network readers.

Cash for improving congestion at 10 sites across the UK has been announced by the Department for Transport (DfT) as part of its Local Pinch Point Fund.

Whitehall management of major infrastructure projects, including transport schemes, has been described as ‘worryingly poor’ by a senior government adviser, following the release of a new report focusing on the issue.

Scottish local politicians have called on Holyrood to cap the amount councils have to spend on the £653m Aberdeen bypass scheme, for fear it may lead to unfair additional cost burdens.

Ministers have set the Highways Agency a range of challenging performance targets, including making 20% savings on major schemes and carbon emissions by 2015.

The Department for Transport (DfT) is facing national protests after transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin today approved £57m of government funding for the controversial £90m Bexhill–Hastings Link Road.

Manufacturing chiefs have called on ministers to prioritise roads spending over rail, as they warn transport infrastructure has become a critical issue for the sector.

Severe weather over the last year has worsened the UK’s pothole backlog by £338m, according to the annual ALARM report.

Campaigners fighting against the Bexhill-Hastings Link Road are set to stage a direct action protest in Westminster.

Chief executive of the North East LEP has claimed transport links in the area are ‘just fine’, and it is right the South East gets 80% of infrastructure spending.

Leading highways maintenance experts have slammed the Government in the wake of the Budget for leaving councils fighting a 'losing battle' against potholes.

Tesco has made plans with developers for a multi-million pound road scheme in Swansea against local wishes.

Details of how the Government is meeting the ‘financing gap’ for investment in infrastructure have been detailed in the 2013 Budget documents.

Immediate reaction to the Budget announced today (March 20) centred on the need for economic growth and criticism of the lack of cash for small-scale roads and transport projects.

A standard contract for highway maintenance services is now freely available and two more new HMEP products. All have the potential to deliver significant efficiency savings.

The Government has given the green light to two nuclear reactors at Hinkley Point in Somerset, paving the way for millions of pounds worth of local roads investment.

The Treasury has unveiled a new concessionary lending rate for up to £2.5bn of local infrastructure projects nominated by Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs).

Excluding councillors from the management of the Forth Road Bridges in Scotland is the right decision, influential MSPs have said.

The Government will not change or amend current street work qualifications following consultation on the issue as part of its Red Tape Challenge.

Local transport minister Norman Baker has approved nearly £15m of government funding for congestion relief work in Loughborough town centre that will move traffic onto a new inner relief road.

The chancellor will deliver his 2013 Budget on 20th March - but what will it mean for local government?

Chancellor George Osborne has come under fire for spending government cash on council tax freezes, when the money could have been used for capital growth projects such as roads and infrastructure.

Seven Welsh authorities plan a region-wide Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL), as criticism mounts of local government’s fragmentation in Wales.

Business leaders are united on the need for more road and wider infrastructure investment in advance of chancellor George Osborne’s next Budget on 20 March.

There are 19,000 separate sets of roadworks currently underway in the UK, covering 834 miles or the distance from Lands End to John O’Groats, according to new research.

Elgin has given assurances to the Department for Transport (DfT) on the future of its free-to-use national roadworks data.

The Department for Transport (DfT) needs to give councils more control over refranchising local schemes, a report on Whitehall decentralisation has claimed.

The Government has set out its vision for how infrastructure in the UK can be delivered more efficiently.

All 20 areas bidding for the second wave of City Deals have been invited to negotiate new powers with the Government.

The Road Surface Treatments Association (RSTA) has launched a new code of practice detailing guidance and technical information on crack sealing and joint repair systems for road surfaces.

The Government could more than double its return on transport investments if local authorities were given more freedom to drive projects, ministers were told this week.

The durability of pothole repairs could be ‘greatly improved’ using ‘a few simple, cost-effective’ techniques, according to joint research by Nottingham Trent University and the University of Nottingham.

Public support for 20mph zones has almost reached an outright majority, according to new research published this week.

Edinburgh’s tram scheme has moved a step closer to full testing as power has been made live between the depot and airport in the city.

Consultation on the Integrated Transport (IT) Block funding offered by the Department for Transport (DfT) includes plans to end ‘perverse incentives’, it has been announced.

Nearly £150m has been set aside by Transport for London (TfL) for councils in the capital to undertake local transport schemes, it has been announced.

The Local Government Association (LGA) is assessing plans to pool town hall pension funds, to kick-start the country’s 500 stalled priority infrastructure projects.

What impact will the Autumn Statement have on local government funding?

Chancellor George Osborne unveiled a ‘revolution in infrastructure financing’ under the Treasury’s remodelled private finance initiative (PFI), in his Autumn Statement.

Council chiefs have called for urgent reforms to highways maintenance funding to tackle a £10bn blackhole in road repairs and prevent a national pothole crisis.

This time last year saw chancellor George Osborne invest billions into infrastructure projects through what was described by the Treasury as an attempt to 'kickstart' economic growth.

The Department for Transport (DfT) is open to bespoke ‘transport deals’ to devolve more power over local networks to individual councils, transport minister Norman Baker has revealed.

Councils are ‘essential’ to successful investment in transport infrastructure, the Local Government Association (LGA) claimed in a briefing released this week outlining future financing and management options for the UK road network.

The next 3 months will see the busiest period to date for HMEP with up to 7 products being released and at least another 5 seeking approval to be progressed. The products and scheduled release dates are as follows:-

Government’s failure to ensure long-term affordable insurance could leave 200,000 households without cover against flood damage, insurance companies have warned.

Two out of five highways in Britain require immediate work on road markings and are declining at ‘an alarming rate’, it has been claimed.

The Department for Transport must give councils ‘the freedom to fail’ when funding for major local transport schemes is devolved from 2015, the president of Adept has told Surveyor.

The most ‘cluttered’ route in the country and remains difficult for disabled access, a survey claims.

Plans to run bendy buses on the proposed rapid-transit routes through Bristol have been scrapped by the city’s Liberal Democrat-run authority.

More regional City Deals designed to improve strategic area-based transport links, similar to the Leeds City region deal, could be on their way, according to cities minister Greg Clark.

Planning permission has been granted by Hounslow LBC’s sustainable development committee for the regeneration of Brentford lock west

The bidding process for two major funds designed to support sustainable transport projects closed today (24 February)

New legislation to remove bureaucracy and boost business investment has been introduced to Parliament.

Free parking should be available in Wales’ towns to encourage shoppers onto struggling high streets, the Conservatives have said.

Northumberland County Council has become the 85th local authority whose roadworks data is now available to the public for free through an online porta

Atkins has been drawn into the ongoing dispute over the now-completed Cambridgeshire busway, following a £43m counter claim by BAM Nuttall

Compost is not only for domestic and agricultural use. WRAP’s Landscape and Regeneration programme has been applying compost with recycled materials t

Laura Sharman interviews the Alliance of Sustainable Building Products

Plans are due to be released next month relaxing rules on 20mph zones for councils, local transport minister, Norman Baker, revealed at the Liberal De

Localism has become a core element of public realm strategy, and communities are embracing the change, Surveyor has learned

Community decision-making has enabled radical streetscene changes to be put in place in Sutton LBC, it has been claimed.

Plans to be released next month relaxing rules on 20mph zones for councils, local transport minister Norman Baker reveals.

Christian Wolmar went to take a ride in one of the new urban light transit pods at Heathrow Airport - and was impressed at the scheme

Legislation which addresses the issue of congestion around streetworks is 'tolerable' - although local authorities do not have enough information to help co-ordinate emergency works more effectively. This was the message from representatives of NJUG and JAG (UK) in reply to questions from the Commons transport select

The local government sector has broadly welcomed the Government’s new policy framework for traffic signs, but one expert warned that ‘the devil will be in the detail’ behind the ‘double-edged sword’ of the localism agenda. The guidelines – published last week – made recommend

Local authorities look set to face additional scrutiny of streetscene projects as an inventory is launched, mapping out the cost of different types of street furniture to help residents calculate the cost of 'unnecessary' signage, guardrails and road markings. The tool has been created by the charity, C

Britain’s most expensive shared space scheme has opened to concern, with the threat of legal action should changes not be made to accommodate disabled people. The Exhibition Road project in Kensington and Chelsea, which cost £30m, has been criticised by Guide Dogs – the national mobility charity for

Supporting mobility for the growing ‘older old’ demographic is already a challenge for local authorities, and the demands are likely to increase as health and social services increasingly regard active lifestyles as preventative medicine. Rhodri Clark reports. The ‘over 65’ category still appears sometimes

Many of Scotland’s roads are still vulnerable to extreme weather conditions, according to Parliament’s climate change adviser. An independent report by the adaptation sub-committee of the UK Committee on Climate Change

The Government vowed to overhaul the nation’s infrastructure this week, as scores of trunk road and rail schemes were approved. But critics have attacked ministers’ lack of support for local highways and public transport projects. Delivering his Autumn Statement to MPs on Tuesday 29 November, the chancell

Normal 0 It is amazingly to reflect back only 6 months ago in the Spring that large swathes of the Country

The Government’s scrapping of face-to-face careers counselling could be ‘hugely damaging’ to the UK economy and lead to a shortage of engineers, it has been warned.

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