Ambitious Safety Target for Highways England

12 March 2015

The way England’s motorways and A-roads are built and managed is set for a transformation next month after the government announced the ‘go-live’ of the Highways England.

Highways England is a new arms-length government company that will take over running motorways and major trunk roads from the Highways Agency on 1st April 2015.

The new company will have new longer-term funding, which will mean it can plan ahead and invest in skills and equipment to speed up essential work and drive down costs to the taxpayer.

The move is part of a radical package of road reform that is expected to save the taxpayer at least £2.6 billion over the next 10 years.

In its new strategic approach to road safety management Highways England has an ambitious safety plan:

• Its objective is that “No one should be harmed when travelling or working on the Strategic Road Network.”
• It plans to implement a comprehensive Safe Systems approach and strategy focussed on safer vehicles and safer roads for safer people.”
• A Key Performance Indicator (KPI) has been agreed: The number of KSIs on the SRN. Target: Ongoing reduction in network KSIs to support a decrease of at least 40% by the end of 2020 against 2005-09 baseline.