Highways England’s new contract has been developed as part of a wider ‘Routes to Market Programme’ to help procure work to modernise, maintain and operate the strategic road network.

 

The Regional Delivery Partnership is worth around £8.7Bn and will appoint regional delivery integration partners to deliver schemes such as conventional road widening and junction improvements.

 

A second procurement phase of the Partnership, worth around £300M, is to be issued in the autumn to support the development of route options using technical advisers.

 

And at the end of the year a new and separate model will be launched covering the delivery of the smart motorways programme.

 

Highways England says the new procurement vehicle will help to provide better value and continuity of work, build strong collaborative partnerships and create a streamlined procurement procedure.

 

“The new contract model puts collaboration at the heart of the relationships necessary to deliver the Road Investment Strategy at the scale and pace required, and I urge all of the supply chain to engage,” said Highways England procurement director Sharon Cuff.

 

“We want to be a client of choice in the sector and recognise the important role our supply chain play in helping us to shape and innovate within our new procurement models defined under Routes to Market.”

♦ Highways England has also launched a new set of recommendations to promote good design on future road schemes. The aim is to better serve the people who use the roads and the places through which they pass.

Ensuring road design is environmentally sustainable, fits within its context and is long lasting are among 10 new recommendations set out by a Strategic Design Panel.