Road tech interests Herts

ROADS

Hertfordshire County Council wants to put itself at the forefront of road technology developments.  

Ralph Sangster, Hertfordshire’s cabinet member for highways, told cabinet colleagues: “We don’t know exactly what is going to happen, or when, or how, but I want us to track and influence the impending revolution within the county, rather than sit back and let things get done to us.”

Sangster said Hertfordshire’s highways client support team of Opus International Consultants and Arup were committed to supporting the council’s intentions, and would be recruiting a specialist manager who would provide access to the expertise of Opus, WSP (which now owns Opus), and Arup. 

Ringway, Hertfordshire’s highways service term contractor, was bidding to join the service to a Government-backed Knowledge Transfer Partnership, which would link it to research organisations, Sangster added. “If successful, this will help us think about how we go about making provision for transport in the proposed new garden town of Gilston and in towns like Watford and Stevenage that are undergoing significant regeneration and growth.”

Rupert Thacker, Hertfordshire Highways’ programme and strategy manager, is joining the senior advisory group of the University of Hertfordshire’s smart mobility research unit.