Highways Agency to become Highways England
Infrastructure Bill to bring major reforms to the way major roads are managed from April 2015
CHANGES to how major roads are managed from April 2015 took another significant step forward on 8 December, with the second reading of the Infrastructure Bill.
The Bill, which is expected to receive Royal Assent by March 2015, provides the legal framework for the Government’s £15 billion Road Investment Strategy and includes major reforms to the Highways Agency.
To ensure greater certainty over the upgrades planned between now and 2021, the Highways Agency will become a government-owned company and will be replaced with Highways England from April 2015. It will be responsible for delivering more than 100 new road schemes between now and the end of the next parliament.
Roads Minister John Hayes said: ‘This government is making a transformational £15 billion worth of improvements to our road network between now and 2021. It is only right that the new government-owned company has a name that reflects its new role, as a road operator that delivers a fast, efficient and better service for road users and the country.’
Highways England has this week published a five-year Strategic Business Plan which sets out how England’s motorways and major A roads will be modernized, maintained and operated between 2015 and 2020.
This is the first time a five-year business plan has been developed for the country’s strategic road network. Published in response to the £15 billion Road Investment Strategy announced last week, it explains how the new company will deliver the largest investment in roads since the 1970s, enabling economic growth in cities and towns across the country.
The plan focuses on modernizing, maintaining and operating the network, making specific commitments including, among others: the building of 400 miles of extra capacity by creating a spine of smart motorways that relieve congestion and reduce delays without the need for widening; the introduction of a new standard for A roads known as ‘expressways’; and substantial resurfacing of the network at 1,150 locations.
The plan will be followed by a detailed Delivery Plan, due for publication before Highways England starts operating in April 2015, which will set out how the Strategic Business Plan will be delivered.
Meanwhile, the Infrastructure Bill will also provide for a strategic road network monitor role. This will be undertaken by the Office of Rail Regulation, which will publish information on the performance of Highways England and will have the power to take action for poor performance.
