Highways Agency - Safe roads, Reliable journeys, Informed travellers

Where are the roadworks

Tips when setting out on a journey

Follow these simple tips to help you reach your destination safely:

1. Plan your journey and let someone know your route and when you expect to arrive at your destination
2. Check local and national weather forecasts
3. Listen to the radio for travel information
4. Carry food, blankets and a torch - especially in winter
5. Make sure your vehicle is well-maintained and properly serviced, especially:
   • Windows and mirrors - clean and clear
   • Lights - working correctly
   • Oil and fuel - correct levels
   • Battery - fully charged
   • Tyres - correct tread depth and pressure
6. If you do break down on a motorway use a roadside emergency telephone, as the breakdown/emergency services will be able to locate you easily. If you have to use a mobile phone, make sure you know your location using the numbers on the marker posts on the side of the hard shoulder
7. Adjust your driving to the conditions
8. Respect other road users by dipping your headlights and keeping your distance
9. Don't use your mobile phone while driving
10. Don't drink or be under the influence of drugs when driving

Why do we have roadworks?

England's motorways and trunk roads are the busiest in Europe with 153 billion kilometres travelled each year on a road network 9,400km or almost 6,000 miles in length.

With all this traffic there comes wear and tear.

We plan both routine and emergency roadworks in order to:

• Keep the road network in good working order
• Protect the safety of road users
• Minimise the need for more expensive maintenance at a later date

The types of activities our contractors do includes:

• Salting and snow clearance during the winter
• Emergency repairs after accidents and incidents
• Keeping fences, barriers and road markings in top condition
• Resurfacing, repairs of the carriageway and structural defects
• Building new carriageways, such a road widening
• Cutting grass at junctions and central reservations to improve visibility
• Clearing drainage systems - this helps prolong the life of a road
• Clearance of litter
• We even change the light bulbs in the central reservation!

This is a lot of work and actually most of it you'll never see because we plan most of our roadworks to occur overnight or in off-peak periods. This is so that drivers don't get inconvenienced or delayed. Sometimes you'll see all the cones and roadworks signs left out with reduced lanes and a speed limit and yet no one appears to be working. This is often because safety barriers or hard shoulders could have been affected by the works and are considered to be temporarily unsafe.

It is only in relatively rare cases, for example road widening or resurfacing, that we you'll actually see roadworks happening. This is because the schemes are so large that the work cannot be completed overnight or that it would be unsafe for roadworkers for the cones and signs to be removed and replaced every day.

For this reason, roadworks actually contribute the least to the causes of congestion:

• 10% Roadworks
• 25% Accidents
• 65% Volume of traffic

One of the reasons to encourage people to drive safely through roadworks is that actually they don't cause as many delays as an accident, which itself can cause further roadworks and emergency repairs. Our workers turn out in all weathers and conditions next to very fast moving traffic to keep the roads safe and well-maintained. So spare a thought and reduce your speed for both your sake and theirs.