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“Connect made a point of visiting all the community councils, they explained what would be happening and when, and set up communication links between the community council and Connect.”
Huntley Gordon, Chair of Mearns Community Council M77/GSO project
Balfour Beatty Capital’s 214 km of highways schemes and street lighting projects comprising 75,000 lights combined are managed through Connect Roads.
Working closely with all partners, Connect Roads aims to ensure that all interested parties are kept up to date with the latest information and that highway users are also well informed. By effectively communicating plans for potential road closures, diversions and speed restrictions disruption is minimised for the local community and users.
Ensuring that new roads are integrated into the existing landscapes is a fundamental part of the approach to route design. To alleviate impacts, our designs incorporate environmental and landscaping mitigation measures as well as a range of environmental benefits and enhancements.
Maintenance responsibilities vary between projects but typically encompass the routine activities of minor repairs, cleaning seasonal winter maintenance and grass cutting, but also planning and executing major periodic lifecycle reconstruction and resurfacing.
Our street lighting projects typically involve responsibility for the renewal and maintenance of street lighting and highway signs.
Concession income from our road schemes is usually linked to traffic volumes typically measured by recording loops within the road itself. This method of measurement and income is commonly referred to as “shadow tolling”. For the M77 concession income is partly based on traffic volumes but is also partly based on carriageway availability.
The income on street lighting projects is typically based on availability.
To date traffic revenues on our road schemes have been close to or above original expectations.
As part of its asset management activities, Balfour Beatty Capital has changed its shareholdings in its roads projects through a series of acquisitions and disposals, increasing its shareholding in A30/A35, A50 and M77 in stages prior to a partial disposal at the end of 2005. The M1-A1 project was refinanced in 2001 and the A30/A35 and A50 in 2002.
We view our highways as essential assets and do our utmost to maintain them to consistently high standards. Our success is measured against a wide range of factors and the results are published in a Project Specific Annual Report.
