A new service has been launched that gives local highway authorities direct access to expertise and guidance from the UK’s largest local roads innovation programme.
ADEPT Live Labs 2 will be offering monthly drop-in ‘Triage’ sessions to highways teams, providing practical guidance on adopting low carbon approaches, insights into the projects and tailored signposting to relevant evidence and innovation. The service will be supported by the newly interactive ADEPT Live Labs 2 website that hosts the latest reports and resources from the Live Labs projects, for those in the sector looking to drive change.
The ADEPT Live Labs 2 programme entered Year 4 last month, shifting focus from piloting and testing to adoption and embedding new approaches as Business As Usual (BAU) across the UK local highways sector. At the heart of this next phase is the new monthly Triage service, believed to be the first of its kind in an innovation programme.
Launching on 12 May the service gives local highway authorities direct access to the programme team to explore how Live Labs’ learning and solutions can be applied to their local challenges and deliver tangible benefits. These free monthly drop-in sessions will run online via Microsoft Teams on the second Tuesday of each month. Authorities can address real-world challenges relating to carbon reduction, efficiency or wider environmental outcomes.
ADEPT’s Live Labs 2: Decarbonising Local Roads in the UK is a UK-wide £30m programme funded by the Department for Transport, aimed at decarbonising the local highways infrastructure network. The recent Year 4 extension enables the Live Labs 2 programme to deliver a comprehensive year long programme of communications and dissemination with a view to scaling and adoption by the sector; ensuring that the insights, evidence and innovations generated by the seven Live Labs 2 projects are shared widely. The Live Labs 2 projects completed on 31March 2026 with the exception of the Devon Live Lab which received a year’s extension due to delays in the main delivery programme of this road upgrade.
During the Triage sessions, Programme Director Giles Perkins will link challenges to evidence from across Live Labs 2 and connect local authorities with individual Live Labs for deeper insight and support.
The ground-breaking programme has spent the past three years bringing together local highway authorities, industry and academia to trial practical solutions to decarbonise local roads and improve efficiency. Year 4’s programme of events, engagement and collaboration across all four nations will support local highway authorities to adopt lower carbon, more efficient approaches as standard practice.
Giles Perkins, Programme Director for Live Labs 2, said:
“The first three years have been about testing and validating ideas. Year four is about adoption and scaling. Innovation only matters if it leads to change and the Triage service is about giving local authorities a direct route into the programme and supporting the move towards Business As Usual.
“The Triage service provides a real opportunity for local highway authorities to capitalise upon the learning and insights from the Live Labs 2 programme and get tailored advice as to how it could help achieve their objectives.”
The seven Live Labs 2 projects are:
- Devon County Council: A382 (including Jetty Marsh Link Road) – Carbon Negative Project
- East Riding of Yorkshire Council: High visual efficiency for low carbon lighting – decarbonising street lighting
- Liverpool City Council: ‘Ecosystem of Things’ driving a low-carbon economy
- North Lanarkshire Council: UK Centre of Excellence for Decarbonising Roads – North Campus
- Transport for West Midlands: UK Centre of Excellence for Decarbonising Roads – South Campus
- South Gloucestershire Council and West Sussex County Council: Greenprint
- Wessex Partnership: Net Zero Corridors
The Triage sessions are free to all UK Local Highway Authorities. The first will take place on Tuesday 12 May between 2 and 4pm. Registration is available HERE.
To sign the pledge and find out more click HERE.
For more information on the ADEPT Live Labs 2 programme, visit www.adeptnet.org.uk/livelabs2
(Picture: DfT)
