Safer, Speedier British Roads Ahead

Last year the British government announced plans for a £15.2 billion Road Investment Strategy (RIS) to improve the nation's roads. But how exactly will that money be spent, where can drivers expect to see improvements, and how will the changes affect the average haulier or courier driver, who travels these roads to make a living?

The Status Quo

Market research experts, Transport Intelligence, currently rank the United Kingdom as the fifth-most congested country in Europe, as of 2014. London takes the dubious top honours as Europe’s most congested city, with drivers wasting an estimated 96 hours in traffic per year - up 14 hours from 2013 data. If you’re a commuter, haulier, or courier driver in the UK capital, this can make life immensely frustrating, not to mention inefficient.

Transport for London’s Chief Operating Officer for Surface Transport, Garrett Emmerson, said of the findings: “[London is] seeing unprecedented increases in population and this, combined with strong economic growth and the consequent increase in building and construction, creates more traffic. To tackle this, we need continued, sustained investment to boost capacity and modernise London’s road network.”

Congestion is also an issue in other parts of the country, with Greater Manchester, Merseyside, and Greater Birmingham all ranking highly as Britain’s most congested areas. This nationwide issue is prompting the government to ask: “How do we fix this?”

The RIS

This is where the RIS comes in. The “continued, sustained investment” Emmerson calls for comes in the form of the Road Investment Strategy, which proposes to triple the levels of spending on England’s roads by 2021. The RIS is composed of 127 separate schemes in all parts of the country, with 29 of those in the southeast and London area alone.

To help accomplish this monumental project, the government has turned the Highways Agency into a government-run company, Highways England. Highways England manages and maintains the Strategic Road Network (SRN), a 4,300-mile network of motorways and major A roads. Although the SRN accounts for just 2% of England’s roads, it carries a third of national traffic. It is this massively important network that the Road Investment Strategy seeks to improve and expand.

The Payoff

A project of this size by necessity requires roadworks, which can be a headache for commuters and busy courier drivers striving to meet deadlines. However, a new ban will prohibit stretches of roadwork longer than two miles – welcome news for drivers who have experienced the recent 18-mile roadworks on the M1 in Chesterfield.

With an ambitious project like the Road Investment Strategy, it pays to keep the long-term benefits in mind. Over the next six years, the RIS aims to build over 1,300 new lane miles and save an estimated 46 million hours of time lost in traffic every year by 2030. That’s good news whether you’re a commuter, holidaymaker, haulier, or courier driver. The project will bring improvements to the entire country, not just hyper-congested London. In fact, the project’s largest single scheme is the £1.5 billion scheme on the A14 between Huntingdon and Cambridge.

Another benefit for drivers in England is the RIS’s commitment to making roads not just speedier, but also safer. The government and Highways England estimate that reduced congestion will prevent over 2,500 deaths and serious injuries on the Strategic Road Network over the next five years. Furthermore, the improvement of 200 sections of the cyclist network will make roads safer for drivers on two wheels, too.

Overall, whether you’re a long distance haulier, courier driver, or regular commuter, the Road Investment Strategy is a positive project for England’s transport future. Over the next six years, drivers can look forward to an improved, faster, and safer experience on roads all over the nation.