Highways England sees difficult road ahead as it launches with ambitious delivery plan

Dalton: sees challenges ahead with £11.4bn programme

Dalton: sees challenges ahead with £11.4bn programme

Highways England starts operations today, vowing to upgrade the network to make it safer and more reliable for motorists.

The Government-owned company takes control of the network with a business plan that promises £4 of long-term economic benefits for every £1 invested in 112 schemes to minimise congestion. The five-year plan also aims to ensure that 90% of travel on the network by 2020 is on roads deemed safe enough to have won a Eurorap 3* rating.

The company has at the same time committed to making capital efficiency savings of £1.2bn - which compares to the £11.4bn ministers have allocated it for the five-year period in a bid to provide the stability that the rail network enjoys.

Graham Dalton, CEO of the company,to step down this summer, says in a forward to the plan that "the road to successful implementation" of the plan will... "not be straightforward".