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On 5 December, 2008 Britain’s motorway network celebrated its 50th anniversary, and to mark the occasion the Road Users’ Alliance (RUA) published ‘50 Years of Motorways,’ which claims that from a slow and modest start (over 30 years behind its European neighbours) the UK network has never managed to catch up. According to the publication, in the 1960s and early 1970s motorways were viewed as a route to renewal and prosperity. The network made some headway and grew to 2,500km; it crawled a further 1,000km ov

The iconic Dunlop bridge at Donington Park motor racing circuit in the UK has been carefully dismantled as part of preparations to get the track ready for the 2010 British Formula 1 Grand Prix. The pedestrian bridge straddled the circuit in for more than 30 years, but now it is planned to re-erect the bridge elsewhere on the revamped circuit venue (the position has to be decided). Even with the work on the £100 million (€112 million) redevelopment taking place, Donington Park will still host 500,000 visitor

Spain's road maintenance deficit has now reached €8.6 billion in the period since 2005, according to road maintenance companies. The industry has now asked the authorities to invest 2.5% of the roads value on maintenance to take up the shortfall. The companies include Imesapi and Dragados (ACS); Grupisa (Ferrovial); Acciona Mantenimiento de Infraestructuras (Acciona); Martinsa (FCC); Valoriza (Sacyr), and Elsan (OHL). This group says that the value of all the roads the Spanish government is responsible for

Financing is being put in place for the new bridge planned for the Strait of Messina to link the Italian mainland with the island of Sicily.

The Scottish city of Aberdeen is to benefit from a new 45km bypass. The project is expected to cost €442.5 million and will provide a route around the city and tackle heavy traffic congestion on existing roads. Vehicles currently either have to use a series of small country roads or enter the congested city centre and these routes are unable to carry the volumes of traffic being handled at present. The new bypass will reduce congestion and improve safety but is likely to be completed well after 2012 as was

Sagem Sécurité (Safran group) has signed a contract with Russian company United Telecom to supply and install 110 MESTA automatic speed control radars in Belarus, along with an automated ticket processing center. United Telecom specialises in the integration of intelligent transport systems, and the radars will be deployed along the M1 expressway between Poland and Russia to improve road safety.

A TEAM of private companies led by Spanish toll road operator Cintra has secured its financing for the Texas, USbased mega-toll project, the North Tarrant Express. The project The US$2 billion (€1.4 billion) project will rebuild existing lanes along Interstate 820 and portions of SH 183, and add new managed lanes as well, with construction expected to begin in late 2010.

Bidding is underway for the first section of Bulgaria's Trakiya Highway. This will be followed shortly by the bidding process for the second 32km stretch of the highway which will be 32km long. The highway is due for completion by early June 2010.

Stricter standards for particulate matter (PM) or soot proposed by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) could endanger transportation improvements. That is the message from the American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA), which believes that the tougher PM standards could put federal highway funds in jeopardy. Marc Herbst, executive director of the Long Island Contractors’ Association (LICA) and chairman of ARTBA’s Council of State Executives, explained that EPA’s proposed new standa