Villagers fight HE’s road closure plan
A group of residents in a village near Peterborough have set up an action group to try to stop Highways England closing one of their two access roads. The Peterborough Telegraph reports that the closure plan is part of a multi-million pound dualling of a 1.6 mile section of A47 single carriageway between Wansford and […]
Highways England starts work on ground investigations for A66 trans-Pennine project
Highways England has started ground investigations as it prepares to start further work on trhe A66 trans-Pennine route. The work includes testing different ground conditions along the route and soil types. For this, engineers are using ground penetrating radar and have up to ten crews operating from two site compounds on the A66, drilling approximately […]
All lane running driving requires a ‘different mindeset’, says RAC Foundation
The challenge for Highways England alongside smart motorway upgrades, is to effectively communicate to the travelling public that all lane running requires a different mindset, according to the RAC Foundation. Steve Gooding, Director of the RAC Foundation, said: “We welcome this acceleration in the retrofitting programme. Whilst the casualty numbers suggest smart motorways may, overall, […]
HE and TfL raise theme park concerns
Traffic managers are warning a planned new theme park near the Dartford Crossing in Kent could cause huge traffic problems. The East Anglian Daily Times reports that both Highways England and Transport for London are worried the £3.5 billion London Resort proposed for the Swanscombe Peninsula could have an impact on the Dartford Crossing, and […]
Smart motorways are safe ‘in most ways’ as, or safer than, conventional ones, but not in every way, says HE
Smart motorways are in ‘most ways’ safe as or safer than the conventional ones-but not in every way, according to Highways England. The organisation also said as part of its smart-motorways-stocktake-first-year-progress-report-2021, that converting parts of smart motorways back to a hard shoulder, would reduce their capacity by a quarter. “The resulting congestion on the motorways […]
Operation Brock barrier on M20 to be removed
A movable barrier installed to cope with any traffic problems due to Brexit-related freight hold-ups in Kent is being removed after transport managers decided it’s not needed. The removal will start on Saturday 24 April and take two days. It’ll mean the M20 in Kent returns to three full width lanes at the national speed […]
Shapps asks ORR to confirm evidence for ‘relative safety’ of smart motorways
Transport Secretary, Grant Shapps, has asked the Office of Rail and Road to confirm the evidence base for the ‘relative safety’ of All Lane Running (ALR) motorways. The move comes after Mr Shapps spoke to the House of Commons yesterday following the publication of Highways England’s smart motorway stocktake first year progress report. The report […]
Bam Nuttall to deliver A27 Arundel bypass works
Bam Nuttall is to deliver the main works package on the A27 Arundel bypass project. The company forms part of the Linkconnex consortium, that also includes AECOM and Mace, which has been working on the design and preliminary stage of the project since the end of 2018. Construction News now reports that the consortium will […]
Total UK, Tarmac and Highways England put new bitumen binder on long-term trials on A43
A new bitumen binder which aims to help increase the lifespan of roads is being put to the test in a long-term study. Total UK has partnered with Highways England and Tarmac to resurface a section of the A43 dual carriageway in Northamptonshire, with Total Styrelf Long Life. Three sections of the road have been surfaced, the first with a […]
New technology helps identify tyre safety issues with HGVs
One in 12 tyres on HGVs were found to be underinflated in a Highways England funded trial that saw 100,000 being tested. Aklongside this, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) identifying 5,000 overweight vehicles a month with plans now to roll the system out at strategic route locations across the country. Highways England’s Commercial […]