Image: Highways England
Highways England is encouraging the UK’s ‘most creative minds’ to come up with innovative ideas to revolutionise roads and driving.
The Government-body has launched two competitions, with £20m available to fund projects which change the way the country’s motorways and major A roads are designed, managed and used.
One competition is for unproven feasibility projects – which could be further funded for development – while the other is for proven projects at development stage.
Highways England is inviting ‘ground-breaking’ entries covering six themes:
- Design, construction and maintenance
- Connected and autonomous vehicles
- Customer mobility
- Energy and the environment
- Operations
- Air quality
Examples of eligible projects could include roads which repair themselves, robotic construction methods, and improved connections between different modes of transport.
To help anyone interested in entering either competition, Highways England is hosting a webinar on Thursday (14 February).
Mike Wilson, Highways England’s executive director for safety, engineering and standards, said: “This is an exciting opportunity for entrepreneurs, collaborative partnerships, and organisations of any size to help shape the roads of the future.
“We want to explore new and innovative approaches and invest in the best – and we’re keen to engage with a wider network than we have traditionally worked with.
“Together we can make great improvements both to people’s journeys and communities and the environment around our network.”
Further details about the funding, and the webinar, are available on the Innovate UK website.
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