Hertfordshire’s impressive Integrated Transport Control Centre

The road network of the southern English county of Hertfordshire, near London, is one of the busiest in the country, with an estimated 4.5 million journeys being made on the network every day. Combine this with the 7,783 reported incidents on Hertfordshire’s roads in 2012 and it’s easy to see how the network becomes congested. This is where the Hertfordshire Integrated Transport Control Centre (ITCC) comes in. From this facility in Hertford, officers from Hertfordshire County Council and their highways c
September 26, 2013 Read time: 3 mins
A Ringway Response Crew tackle a major lorry fuel tank spill after the Hertfordshire Integrated Transport Control Centre (ITCC) notified them of an accident on the busy A1081 near St Albans

The road network of the southern English county of Hertfordshire, near London, is one of the busiest in the country, with an estimated 4.5 million journeys being made on the network every day. Combine this with the 7,783 reported incidents on Hertfordshire’s roads in 2012 and it’s easy to see how the network becomes congested.

This is where the Hertfordshire Integrated Transport Control Centre (ITCC) comes in. From this facility in Hertford, officers from Hertfordshire County Council and their highways contractor 2393 Ringway monitor the road network using a range of CCTV and traffic cameras. Such close monitoring of the roads around the county means that the ITCC operatives can respond quicker than ever before to emergency situations or to ease congestion.

One such situation occurred on the A1081 London Colney Bypass, St Albans, at the end of June 2013. A lorry carrying a full tank of diesel was involved in an incident with a car resulting in contents of the lorry’s fuel tank being spilt on both southbound lanes of the carriageway. The spill stretched for approximately 100m and required immediate action.

After being notified of the incident by Hertfordshire Police at 7.05pm on 25 June, the ITCC dispatched a Ringway Response Crew to investigate.

Once on site, the crew began the diesel clean-up with further crews dispatched by the ITCC as the full extent of the spill became clear. As work began the ITCC monitored the site through CCTV and intelligent transport system cameras in the area, paying close attention to the effect of the necessary road closures on the local network. A number of diversions were put in place and monitored to help ease congestion around the site while work to complete the clean-up continued into the early hours of the morning. With the diversions still in place, the decision was taken that the damage to the carriageway surface was too severe and required resurfacing. Crews from Ringway worked with colleagues from 3281 Eurovia Surfacing to ensure the surface was replaced in a timely manner and the road could be reopened as soon as possible. With all works complete and the surface dried the road closures and diversions were lifted and the road reopened at around 19:30 hours on 26 June.

Throughout the entire incident the ITCC was able to keep stakeholders and the public informed of the works progress and diversion routes through local traffic information broadcasts and social media.

With the introduction of the forthcoming ‘Highways Live’ website, the ITCC will be at the heart of real-time traffic information for the county.
Highway & Network Management

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Royal Engineers complete paving course
    November 30, 2012
    Personnel from the Royal Engineers Corps have recently completed a paver course attachment with Eurovia Surfacing, the road and pavement surfacing specialist. The course saw the Corps learn how to design, build and maintain a military road network or airfield when deployed abroad. The students were given a full site safety induction on arrival and spent three days with the Eurovia Surfacing team as they looked to fulfil criteria towards achieving their Military Plant Foreman titles. “We are extremely gratef
    Read More
  • Loaders assist with clearing China road blockage
    October 25, 2016
    Earthmoving machines from XCMG have played an important role in helping clear a road blockage in China A road in China’s Gansu Province became blocked following a period of heavy rain. A landslide on a grass slope at a tunnel portal on National Highway 212 recently caused major traffic delays in the area. The task of clearing up the landslide was made more difficult still by around 500m3 of stone close to the tunnel portal also being moved by the landslide. Another route in the area that carries tourist
    Read More
  • Managing urban motorway complexity in Sydney
    October 4, 2012
    Sydney’s Hills M2 motorway is being widened while still carrying traffic and meeting tough environmental criteria More than 100,000 vehicles and over 27,000 bus commuters use the Hills M2 motorway on a typical workday, making it one of Sydney’s busiest motorway corridors. Owned and managed by Hills Motorway Ltd (HML) and a key part of the city’s orbital motorway network, the road stretches over 21km, providing a seamless link between the Lane Cove Tunnel and Westlink M7. The Hills M2 Upgrade is one of many
    Read More
  • Wirtgen paving technology takes off at Frankfurt
    February 27, 2017
    Time was at a premium for Wirtgen machinery when resurfacing the runway at Frankfurt/Main Airport Europe’s third largest airport, Frankfurt/Main, has new surface course on runways about every seven year, including the centre runway, the most-frequently used section.
    Read More

Highlighted Content