Skip to main content

UK government’s Highways Agency makeover to boost infrastructure

The government plans to turn the Highways Agency into a Network Rail-style public company as part of its efforts to boost national transport infrastructure. While the government has revealed plans for a long-term investment totalling €32.37 billion (£28 billion) in road-building, few projects are ‘shovel-ready’, with much of the investment backloaded until 2020. Funding levels will increase to more than €3.46 billion (£3 billion) a year by the end of the decade for major A-roads and motorways. The legislati
July 17, 2013 Read time: 1 min
The government plans to turn the 2309 Highways Agency into a 4139 Network Rail-style public company as part of its efforts to boost national transport infrastructure.

While the government has revealed plans for a long-term investment totalling €32.37 billion (£28 billion) in road-building, few projects are ‘shovel-ready’, with much of the investment backloaded until 2020. Funding levels will increase to more than €3.46 billion (£3 billion) a year by the end of the decade for major A-roads and motorways. The legislation will not include proposals for tolling. The government says maintenance and construction industry will have confidence with a free-standing Highways Agency and a ringfenced budget. To encourage the use of electric vehicles, an additional €576.54 million (£500 million) will be pledged.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • UK Government’s green light for new Taunton road link
    May 22, 2013
    Work on a new link road will go ahead in Taunton, western England after receiving final approval from Local Transport Minister Norman Baker. The work is needed to improve east-west connections across Taunton and open up access to new development. The overall US$32.07 million (£22.1mn) scheme will see Somerset County Council construct a new road linking Staplegrove Road in the west of the town to Priory Avenue in the east. “This important scheme will help to reduce traffic demand through the town centre and
  • Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh benefiting from major transport investment
    September 9, 2013
    Saudi Arabia is undergoing a series of upgrades to its transport network in a bid to improve Traffic flow rates and boost safety - Mike Woof reports. The massive growth in the use of motor transport worldwide since the start of the 20th century has transformed every country on the planet. But perhaps no country has changed more dramatically than Saudi Arabia, the world’s leading oil producer. At the start of the 20th century Saudi Arabia’s population was small and the country had few industries while it is
  • China’s infrastructure development for Anhui and Jiangsu Provinces
    July 21, 2017
    China’s Anhui and Jiangsu Provinces are developing transport infrastructure with a series of major projects. In Anhui Province plans have been drawn up for road and highway improvements as well as upgrades to other categories of transport infrastructure over the period from 2017 to 2021. The road expansion programme will see Anhui Province increase its highway network by 1,157km to 5,700km during this period.
  • OECD countries invest average 1% GDP on road/rail infrastructure
    July 11, 2013
    OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries investment in road, rail and inland waterway infrastructure as a percentage of GDP averages around 1%, according to new research by the International Transport Forum (ITF). The figure is contained in the ITF at the OECD’s 2013 annual statistics update ‘Spending on Transport Infrastructure 1995-2011: Trends, Policies, Data’, which is accompanied by a related database, released today.