Skip to main content

International Safer Roads Conference focus on highway maintenance funding

UK road planners and engineers attending next month’s International Safer Roads Conference will find out how to avoid losing part of their highway maintenance funding from the British Government. In the Department of Transport document, ‘Gearing up for efficient highway delivery and funding’, Robert Goodwill, MP, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport, warns that local authorities will be incentivised to take up asset management to make the most from allocated resources.
April 30, 2014 Read time: 3 mins
UK road planUK road planners and engineers attending next month’s International Safer Roads Conference will find out how to avoid losing part of their highway maintenance funding from the British Government.

In the Department of Transport document, ‘Gearing up for efficient highway delivery and funding’, Robert Goodwill, MP, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport, warns that local authorities will be incentivised to take up asset management to make the most from allocated resources.

It is proposed that every highway authority will receive baseline funding, with additional funds, as much as 10%, for those with an asset management strategy in place.

The Roads Minister will be addressing the Conference, which is being held in Cheltenham, western England, from the 18 – 21 May 2014. UK delegates will be able to share best practice to help prepare a strategy to avoid losing any vital funding.
The underlying theme of the Conference is ‘saving lives through safer roads’ and delegates are travelling from around the world to share their experience and knowledge.

Dr Chris Kennedy, chairman of the organising committee, says they will be discussing the ever-changing issues of climate change and increasing traffic flows, as well as how types of vehicles place more pressure on existing materials and practices.

“The papers being presented also look at how to achieve more for less in what are challenging times”, he explained.

The 4th International Safer Roads Conference is co-sponsored by the Chartered Institute of Highways and Transportation, 1009 New Zealand Transport Agency and 3312 WDM Limited. Delegates will consist of engineers, practitioners, policy makers and other professionals from central and local governments, academics from universities and research organisations, consultants and contractors.

Dr Kennedy says the Conference will help encourage authorities to become more innovative to achieve best value in road and runway safety maintenance and practices.

“Studies have shown that driver behaviour can be linked with the road environment to produce innovative ways to reduce accident rates and these changes also need to use the appropriate surface materials.

“Many countries have been showing reductions in headline numbers of killed and seriously injured, but as the opening keynote speaker from the Dutch Institute of Road Safety will be discussing, these headline figures often fail to show that the number of vulnerable users continues to rise,” he said. “No country can afford to be complacent about its road safety record.”

Full details of the Conference can be found on %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 oLinkExternal www.saferroads.org.uk Visite Safe Roads website false http://www.saferroads.org.uk/ false false%>

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • World of Asphalt 2019
    December 12, 2018
    Tomorrow is your last chance to save 35% when you register for World of Asphalt 2019! Register now to attend the asphalt industry’s largest trade show and educational conference on February 12-14, 2019. Find solutions from 450 Exhibitors who will display their newest products and innovations. There’s no better place to train your team than World of Asphalt. With over 120 sessions to choose from, your whole team will leave with the right tools to grow.
  • Trimble’s new generation collision avoidance system lifts crane sector with Manitowoc Falcon
    January 6, 2017
    Trimble has put its new generation crane collision-avoidance system on show at Conexpo 2014, developed in conjunction with Manitowoc Cranes. The Manitowoc Falcon system combines precision GNSS with collision-avoidance technology to provide real time, centimetre-accurate positioning for multiple cranes working on a construction site. The solution, which can be seen on Stand N11766 at Conexpo 2014, has been designed to enhance crane operator awareness and improve safety and productivity in the construction
  • Trimble’s new generation collision avoidance system lifts crane sector with Manitowoc Falcon
    March 3, 2014
    Trimble has put its new generation crane collision-avoidance system on show at Conexpo 2014, developed in conjunction with Manitowoc Cranes. The Manitowoc Falcon system combines precision GNSS with collision-avoidance technology to provide real time, centimetre-accurate positioning for multiple cranes working on a construction site. The solution, which can be seen on Stand N11766 at Conexpo 2014, has been designed to enhance crane operator awareness and improve safety and productivity in the construction
  • Simem brings concrete batching plant to bauma
    January 6, 2017
    Focal point of Simem’s stand at bauma was an example of its Eagle portable concrete batching plant, which is said to offer top performance at lower cost without compromising the firm’s emphasis on quality. Modular elements with pre-installed pneumatic-electric systems are the key to enabling swift transfer of the Eagle plant from one project to the other. The ‘super-mobile’ MMX range of plant from Simem – said to be the best solution available for faster moving sites such as railways and highways – was also