Boban John
Ringway, which has been looking after Hertfordshire’s highways since October 2012, will continue to maintain the county’s road network until at least 2032 having won the renewal tender.
The new contract, which will start from 1st October 2025, will focus on improving the operational delivery of day-to-day services such as road maintenance, fixing potholes, street lighting and signal repairs, responding to emergencies and running the seasonal gritting, grass cutting and improvement schemes.
The contract will be flexible to adapt to the council’s priorities and available funding but could be worth more than £55m a year over its initial seven-year term, with potential contract extensions thereafter. The original contract notice last year put the contract value at nearly £2bn over its potential 21-year term.
Hertfordshire has 5,100 km of carriageways, 5,500 km of footways and cycleways, 115,000 of street lights and 168,000 gullies.
Vinci subsidiary Ringway saw off competition for the contract from Kier and Milestone, who were also shortlisted.
Jacobs is the county’s professional services supplier for highways, having taken over from WSP-Arup last year under a 14-year deal.
Cllr Phil Bibby, executive member for highways and Transport at Hertfordshire County Council 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. We’re all excited to work towards a seamless ‘one service’ approach, working collaboratively with other service providers and delivering the best service possible for Hertfordshire.”
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