Villagers blighted by lorries being sent down unsuitable roads could be about to breathe a sigh of relief as the Ordnance Survey prepares to launch a digital road map for the country showing highway widths as well as height and weight restrictions.

 

The new map will be available for use by developers of satellite navigation systems and will also help emergency services to find the quickest route when on call. Data provided by the map will cover nearly 350,000km of road.

 

The product is to be launched on 16 November and will, it is hoped, also allow local authorities to better plan road maintenance works and provide utility companies with a more thorough understanding of the location of buried assets.

 

Speaking in Parliament last week the Transport Minister Andrew Jones confirmed that the Department for Transport is investing £3M to create the national digital road map to enable “better integration and sharing of data on roads between local authorities and service providers”.

 

An Ordnance Survey spokesman said: “This new product delivers authoritative data in one central location. It will include information on speed limits and planned road maintenance and will enable more efficient routing for all road users, including HGVs.”

 

Satellite navigation systems manufacturer TomTom BRIDGE’s business to business vice president Sebastien Ruffino welcomed the new digital road map. He said: “Having access to real time information that enables drivers to re-route to more suitable roads based on vehicle size, weight and cargo will not only reduce each vehicle’s impact on the environment, but improve a driver’s journeys and contribute significantly to greater safety.”

 

(Photo: John M and licensed for reuse under this Creative Common Licence)