Hertfordshire County Council has awarded a new highways contract to Ringway, worth around £385m over its initial seven-year term.
The new contract, which will start from 1 October, will focus on improving the operational delivery of day-to-day services such as road maintenance, street lighting and signal repairs, responding to emergencies and running the seasonal gritting, grass cutting and improvement schemes.
It will also deliver transport and infrastructure schemes across the county, which the highway authority said will support its ambition to get as many residents as possible to walk, wheel and cycle to help build a sustainable road and transport network.
The council said the contract was awarded following a transparent, competitive, and robust tender process over 12 months and will be flexible to adapt to its priorities.
Available funding could be worth over £55M a year over the seven-year initial term, with potential contract extensions.
The council said that, recognising previous trials such as the pothole-preventing robot and electric gritter, the partnership will go further towards its plans for carbon neutral operations by 2030 and leading the way in technological innovation.
Phil Bibby, executive member for highways and transport, said: ‘While we had three excellent bids, Ringway’s vision for an innovative, data driven service, focused on efficient and effective operational delivery for our residents, sealed the deal.
‘The commitments they made in relation to trialling new fuels, introducing more electric vehicles to their fleets and using recyclable materials where possible will go a long way to supporting us in our cleaner, greener, and healthier ambitions.’
Ringway managing director Mitesh Solanki said: ‘This contract award is testament to the continued excellence of our team that delivers the current highway services in Hertfordshire, with such passion and pride.
'Credit goes to the efforts of those who put together the bid with support from many parts of our wider group – they challenged us to evolve a sustainable and innovative 21-year vision for the highway service for Hertfordshire and we’re pleased to have been awarded an initial core seven-year contract with the prospect of an increased term beyond.’
