Central Bedfordshire Council is looking for a new contractor partner to provide up to £150 million of highways maintenance works over a minimum seven-year period, with a clear focus on quality, sustainability, and responsiveness.

The existing highways maintenance contract ends on 31 March 2023, and we’re taking this opportunity to re-tender the contract and have begun engagement with potential bidders.

The contract will cover maintaining and improving the roads, pavements, rights of way, drainage, street lighting, bridges and other structures, traffic management, winter service, and emergency response services such as handling flooding and removing fallen trees.

“We’re an ambitious council, and we invest funds in our highways network in addition to that provided by government. As outlined in our strategic plan, which contributes to our Vision 2050, the investment will deliver our strategic priorities and we are looking for a partner who shares our values and commitment,” it said.

The council intends to find a partner who will respond quickly to requests, carry out high-standard repairs and ensure the road network is well maintained and safe for all road users in all conditions.

The scale of this contract will enable the council to achieve good value for money.

Councillor Ian Dalgarno, our Executive Member for Community Services, said: “We are committed to providing our residents with first-class services that offer exceptional value for money. Given the importance and value of our highway’s maintenance contract, we have an opportunity to go to the market to look at all the available options for delivering these works in the future. This will ensure we procure the best possible deal, offering the highest quality of service for Central Bedfordshire.

The council said it has already engaged with over 30 companies and there is strong interest from potential bidders who want to work with us and share our ambition to provide quality highways maintenance for our residents in the future.

“Our roads are vital to residents, and we are determined to get the right partner in place to ensure they are well maintained. We will go out to tender in May, with a view to identifying a preferred bidder in the autumn. This will ensure that there is time for our new partner to mobilise collaboratively with us and be ready to start delivery on 1 April 2023,” it added.