Technology gong for Hertfordshire's highways bosses

A new system which helps motorists to avoid lengthy delays and unnecessary diversions on Hertfordshire's roads has won a national award.
The awards nightThe awards night
The awards night

Hertfordshire County Council picked up the Best Use Of New Technology In The Highways Industry category, at the prestigious Highways Awards. The was also jointly given to the council's highways contractors Ringway, Essex County Council, and Essex's contractors Ringway Jacobs.

Together they have worked with Elgin, the company behind the national roadworks database one.network (formerly roadworks.org), to develop and implement a software application which allows real-time road closure information from across the two counties to be sent directly from works on the ground to drivers’ sat nav devices.

Live information about road closures on the Hertfordshire and Essex road networks is now sent directly to sat nav systems, and applications such as Google Maps, meaning that drivers have access to live information about which roads are open or closed. As a result, drivers can avoid lengthy delays and unnecessary diversions, helping to improve traffic flow and journey times.

Cllr Phil Bibby, cabinet member for highways and environment at Herts County Council, said: “I’m delighted that this unique project has won this prestigious industry award.

"Together with Ringway and our colleagues in Essex we are pioneering the use of real-time information to help our road users avoid disruption, and it’s fantastic to see this recognised nationally. With traffic on our roads forecast to increase, we all need to make use of these new technologies to beat congestion.”

The project has already scooped two other awards this year including the prestigious ADEPT Presidents Award For Deploying Digital Innovation And Technology, and the Department for Transport's Special Recognition Award for the Best Use Of Technology, at the Local Council Roads Innovation Group (LCRIG).cations Officer, on 01992 588606 or at [email protected]