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

  • Snow removal: a right way and a wrong way
    June 12, 2015
    Snow. That winter menace for road users. Often it catches drivers unaware; often its efficient removal is planned for by road authorities. Some regions and countries get more snow than others, such as Scandinavia, northern Europe and North America, and are better at it.
  • Perkins will demonstrate how its engine will meet EU Stage IV/US Tier 4 Final emissions regulations
    January 6, 2017
    Perkins will showcase a complete line-up of Stage IV/Tier 4 Final engine solutions at Bauma, ahead of the new legislation next year. The four cylinder 854F-E34TA will demonstrate much of the technology on offer, as it uses Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) with an exhaust additive, plus a Diesel Oxidation Catalyst (DOC). Both Perkins’ 3.4 and 4.4-litre engine lines make do without a Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF), though the larger 7 litre will use a DPF as well.
  • Perkins will demonstrate how its engine will meet EU Stage IV/US Tier 4 Final emissions regulations
    February 7, 2013
    Perkins will showcase a complete line-up of Stage IV/Tier 4 Final engine solutions at Bauma, ahead of the new legislation next year. The four cylinder 854F-E34TA will demonstrate much of the technology on offer, as it uses Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) with an exhaust additive, plus a Diesel Oxidation Catalyst (DOC). Both Perkins’ 3.4 and 4.4-litre engine lines make do without a Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF), though the larger 7 litre will use a DPF as well.
  • Yanmar will show complete line of Tier 4 Final engines, along with an electronic diagnostic system
    January 6, 2017
    Engine supplier Yanmar will show a full range of California Air Resources Board (CARB) certified engines at Bauma. The company claims to be the first engine manufacturer to achieve the CARB accreditation across its complete line-up in the 19-56kW (25-75hp) range, and the engines all meet the US Tier 4 Final standard too. The firm will also announce an electronic diagnostic service system called Smart Assist-Direct. The system allows rapid updates of engine software and can automatically retrieve technical s