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Roads roundup

John Sisk and Lagan Construction Work has been appointed to build the £40M A19/A1058 coast road junction improvement works by Highways England. Work will start in 2016. “The scheme will improve journey times on the A19 by reducing congestion and improving safety for the thousands of drivers that use this junction each day. The A19 is a vital strategic link providing access to the Tyne Tunnel Trading Estate, Silverlink Retail Park, Cobalt Business Park and South East Northumberland,” said Highways England assistant project manager Darlene Procter.

The government has launched a £20M competitive fund for collaborative research and development into driverless vehicles, along with a code of practice for testing. The measures announced by Business Secretary Sajid Javid and Transport Minister Andrew Jones are intended to put the UK at the forefront of the intelligent mobility market, expected to be worth £900bn by 2025. The government wants bidders to put forward proposals in areas such as safety, reliability, how vehicles can communicate with each other and the environment around them and how driverless vehicles can help give an ageing population greater independence. Successful bidders will match fund projects with their own money.

Off road trials of dynamic wireless power transfer to charge electric and hybrid vehicles as they travel on England’s major roads are due to take place later this year. The trials are the first of their kind and will test how the technology would work safely and effectively on the country’s motorways and major A roads, Highways England said

Mott MacDonald has been appointed to supervise construction of two sections of the A1 motorway in Poland. The scheme is being co-financed by the country’s General Directorate for National Roads and Motorways and the European Union (EU). The aim of the project is to reduce congestion in the city of Czestochowa by diverting traffic onto the newly constructed 25km motorway. Four junctions and accompanying structures, including four bridges, nine road overpasses and 15 viaducts, will also be constructed as part of the scheme.

The Delhi government in India is embarking on a massive exercise of "redesigning" all roads that are more than 60ft wide to tackle congestion. According to reports there are 1,260km of such roads, four of which will be tackled initially under a pilot project. The decongestion plan for the city will include building 300-400 km of bus rapid transit corridors but will no longer be built.