News

Making an emergency? Image courtesy of World Highways reader John Metcalf

Road safety lobby groups have criticised Britain for pushing down its annual road fatality rate by a further 2% in the past year, the lowest figure since records began in 1926. The Reported Road Casualties Great Britain 2013 (RRCGB) Annual Report, published in September 2014, reveals that 1,713 people were killed in road accidents in the country during 2013, with the number of people seriously injured down by 6% to 21,657 versus 2012.

London’s transport authority, Transport for London (TfL) is considering orbital and cross-city road tunnels to help reduce pollution in the capital and create more pleasant environments for the residents of its various districts. “We believe we need to think more ambitiously,” TfL’s Michael Colella, currently lead sponsor for HS2, told the British Tunnelling Society conference in London on Wednesday. “We are looking at taking a significant part of our road traffic and in essence burying it and reusing the

Hungary’s huge highway programme will see close to €161 million being spent on upgrading some 500km of the country’s network. Hungary’s Ministry of National Development (NFM) plans for the work to commence in the first half of 2015 and completed by the second half of the same year. The cost of the work will be covered from EU funds in line with the country's Transportation Operative Programme (KOZOP). The work is needed as data from Hungary’s national road information source, Orszagos Kozuti Adatbank, revea

Construction is commencing on a new logistics corridor crossing Honduras that will connect the country’s Atlantic and Pacific coasts. Some US$271 million is being spent on the project so far. The highway will feature two lanes in either direction for all of its 391km length. The country aims to boost its economic presence in Central America through this project, which will also help stabilise its economy. The work will cut congestion in key urban areas along the route, as well as improving connections to th

In Romania plans are in hand for a new ring road around the city of Satu Mare. The 19.5km ring road will reduce congestion in the city, which lies in the north of the country. The tender process has been opened by the Romanian roads authority, CNADNR, with bids being received until the 10th November 2014. Including VAT, the project will cost in the region of €184.7 million to construct and is expected to take four years to complete, with financing being delivered by the Operational Programme for Transport.

In Bulgaria questions hang over the construction of a section of the Struma Highway. Greek construction company Aktor was originally awarded the contract for Lot 4 of the Struma Highway but work on the project slipped behind schedule. The delays seen so far with the project have not been well received within the Bulgarian Government. The work was supposed to have been completed around the end of 2014 or the beginning of 2015 and the country’s transport ministry has said that work on the highway cannot be de

Urban road in Brazil are to benefit from additional funds for repairs and repaving. An increase of some US$1.35 billion in financing for the country’s accelerated growth programme (PAC) has been approved by the Brazilian Government. The increase in funding has been required as the budget set previously was insufficient for all the planned works.

Work on a new highway link is now underway in Algeria. The road will connect the port of Ghazaouet with the East-West highway, improving inter-modal transport. The new highway will boost truck movements to and from the port and help develop trade while also helping cut congestion in the town as existing links are not able to cope with the traffic volumes. The first 16km portion of the highway is being constructed by a Chinese contractor. Meanwhile construction of Algeria’s 58km coastal bypass connecting Gha

Victoria Banks and Neville Stanton [1] of Southampton University’s Transportation Research Group examine the real impact of creeping driver automation.

Victoria Banks and Neville Stanton [1] of Southampton University’s Transportation Research Group examine the real impact of creeping driver automation.

RedSpeed International is to supply around 600 speed and red light safety cameras to Transport for London (TfL). The award is the result of a process which started in August 2012 and will see the company’s SpeedCurb and RedSpeed products progressively installed with a completion date of October 2016. The installation of the RedSpeed digital red light camera replacement in London has already started. The cameras not only enforce against red light running, but also monitor and enforce against vehicles brea

New highway links between Montenegro and Bosnia will make major improvements in transport links for the two countries. Bosnia Herzogovina plans to build its 110km stretch of the Adriatic-Ionic highway that will connect with Montenegro. Meanwhile in Montenegro, plans are in hand for the first stretch of the Bar-Boljare highway. The Bosnian Government is finalising the route for the Adriatic-Ionic highway, based on an earlier feasibility study. This route is of prime importance for the region as it will conne

Mexico is continuing with its plans for a series of major transportation projects aimed at boosting connectivity. The country’s Secretariat of Communications and Transportation (SCT) says that work is underway on 110 of the country’s 128 planned bridge projects. Construction of the remaining 18 bridges is commencing in due course. And 23 of the 110 bridges being built at present are being opened to traffic shortly, with a further 46 opening in November 2014 and 38 opening in December 2014. The project to wi

Pakistan is planning a project to construct a new northern highway connecting Havelian and Hassanabdal. The loans required to finance the project have been signed by both the government of Pakistan and the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The Havelian-Hassanabdal (Burhan) Expressway (E-35) project is for a north-south access controlled highway. This new link will connect the existing highway network with north Pakistan and the associated construction contracts are worth some US$200 million in all.