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

  • Mexican road projects in hand while others face delays
    February 23, 2012
    Several key highway developments are being planned in Mexico, although project delays are now facing increasing public scrutiny.
  • Top US industry figure welcomes movement on highway bill
    March 19, 2012
    A senior US construction association figure has praised congressional leaders for breaking the “logjam” over the introduction of a highway bill to generate jobs and improve transport infrastructure.
  • Egis buys Projacs to boost its Middle East presence
    August 5, 2015
    French engineering group Egis has acquired 51% of Projacs, a major project and construction management firm in the Middle East. Egis, based in Guyancourt, north of Paris, made the purchase for an undisclosed sum. The move follows the purchase in Brazil of highways contractor Lenc at the end of last year. Projacs, founded in 1984, is based in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, but also operates in neighbouring countries. It
  • Thirst for Infrastructure: The Belt & Road Initiative
    November 8, 2017
    Susanna Zammataro, IRF Geneva, writes: The China Highway and Transportation Society (CHTS) – an esteemed member of IRF – will be hosting a special Session on the Belt and Road Initiative during the IRF World Meeting in Delhi, 14th-17th November 2017. Last May, president Xi Jinping welcomed 28 heads of state and government to Beijing to celebrate the “Belt and Road” initiative, an ambitious plan in terms of infrastructure development, but also in terms of foreign policy. Launched in 2013 as “One belt, On