Winners named on £4.5bn smart motorways delivery

Costain has won the northern element of the Government’s latest £4.5bn smart motorways programme.

The 10-year framework will see the alliance of national contractors deliver a key element of the Government’s second road investment strategy, with a focus on technology and increased efficiency.

A range of partners have been named across the country, overall making up the SMP Alliance, with Bam Nuttall and Morgan Sindall appointed in the Midlands and Balfour Beatty awarded the contract for the south.

The framework winners were due to be announced last December however a decision was delayed, in part due to a Government review into the safety of smart motorways.

Schemes in the North West include the M62 Huddersfield to Rochdale motorway upgrade. Costain is already delivering the £150m M6 Warrington to Wigan smart motorway installation.

In a statement to the stock market today Costain said the contractor would use digital design techniques and would minimise disruption for road users by undertaking a greater proportion of work off-site.

Smart motorways use traffic management techniques to vary how existing roads are used at busy times, for instance allowing cars to drive on the hard shoulder, or changing the speed limits.

Alex Vaughan, chief executive of Costain, said: “This strategic programme will deliver the much-needed capacity and safety improvements across the strategic road network in England.

“This programme approach seeks a step change in delivery performance, and Costain has been a long-term partner for Highways England delivering a broad mix of services from consultancy and digital technology solutions through to programme management and complex project delivery, demonstrating Costain’s strong breadth of capabilities that add value in shaping and delivering England’s future transport infrastructure.”

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