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To save money, more roadworks on the motorway and trunk network will be done in the daytime - when roads are busy, instead of at night when there is less traffic. Also to save costs, maintenance contractors will be expected to focus on short-term repair of roads, rather than long-term renewal.
The Asset Support Contract (ASC), beginning with area 2 in the southwest from July 2012, is expected to deliver substantial savings over the current arrangements, the agency said in its 2011/12 business plan, published yesterday (30 March)..
The HA said that the focus of the new ASCs will be on incentivising service providers to come up with innovations and improvements. Also, more roadworks will take place during the day to reduce costs.
Shifting to repairing rather than renewing to reduce costs “will allow us to spend less money on maintenance whilst concentrating on the functionality of the road and safety of road users,” the business plan says.
“This simplified approach will deliver savings and efficiencies while maintaining a competitive supply chain,” it says.
All areas will move to the ASC by 2015, with area 10 in the northwest following area 2. In the interim, some key parts of the ASC including the new standards will be incorporated to existing MAC contracts.
Management of technology is also changing. Out go TechMACs and instead service providers operating under the ASC will manage regional technology maintenance contracts on behalf of the agency.
The full business plan can be viewed at http://www.highways.gov.uk/businessplan.
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