Carillion-Kier JV Selected for £475 M6/M20 Smart Motorway Contract

Carillion, in Joint Venture with Kier, has been awarded a contract by Highways England for a package of smart motorway works that have an estimated value of up to approximately £475 million.

This latest package involves the transformation of four sections of motorway in England into smart motorways, namely the M6 between Junctions 16 and 19 and the M6 between Junctions 13 and 15, on the M20 between Junctions 3 and 5 and on the M23 between Junctions 8 and 10.

Smart motorways use a range of innovative technologies and operating procedures, to monitor and control traffic flow actively. This includes variable mandatory speed limits and converting the hard shoulder to an extra traffic lane to reduce congestion and improve journey times and safety.

The Joint Venture is one of the Highways Agency's three delivery partners for the Smart Motorway Programme (SMP) and this latest award follows Carillion's successful role as a delivery partner for six similar schemes across the motorway network in England. This latest package will also be managed through a collaboration agreement under which the delivery partners will be able to share knowledge and best practice. Work on the first tranche of the package, M6 Junctions 16 to 19, is scheduled to begin in the Autumn of this year and the contract for this scheme is worth £129.5 million. The other tranches of the package are phased for delivery over the next four years and final target costs for these schemes will be agreed with Highways England.

Commenting, Carillion Chief Executive, Richard Howson, said: "As a leading supplier to Highways England, we are delighted to have been awarded this latest contract for the smart motorway programme. We look forward to continuing our strong relationship with Highways England to improve journey times and safety on the M6, M20 and M23 motorways".