New environmental remit to accompany £15bn road improvement programme

Highways England, the new national road authority charged with operating England’s most strategically important roads, has appointed global environment and health consultancy Ramboll Environ to support it on the development and implementation of a range of initiatives that will help deliver improved environmental outcomes on its road network.

Formed in April 2015, Highways England already operates approximately 4,300 miles of motorways and major A roads and is embarking on a 5-year, £15 billion improvement programme that will lead to significant construction activity in order to increase capacity.

Ramboll Environ’s UK team has been appointed to develop systems and frameworks that will help Highways England improve the environmental performance of its road network. Its appointment includes:

• Developing a new environment strategy that will guide all Highways England’s environmental activities for the next five years.
• Helping Highways England design and deliver a ring-fenced £300 million Environment Fund (£225 million in the first five years) that will target an ambitious programme of environmental improvements that go beyond ‘business as usual’ and offer solutions at the forefront of environmental thinking.
• Developing a series of key performance indicators to enable better measurement of environmental performance throughout the duration of the improvement programme.

Bram Miller, Director of Ramboll Environ and strategic sustainability specialist, said: “Two per cent of England’s roads carry one-third of all national traffic and two-thirds of all national freight traffic, bringing an inevitable environmental impact as well as economic and logistical benefits. This is an important move and we’re pleased to be supporting Highways England improve the environmental performance of both the existing network and of the substantial improvements that will be implemented over the next few years.”
The project will be delivered over 18 months, starting immediately.