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Auckland’s Western Ring Route project update - Mary Bell writes. A number of integrated projects in Auckland, New Zealand, will improve the lot of road users and cyclists, and significantly alter the topography of the city’s motorway. On September 29th the tunnel boring machine digging the first of twin road tunnels beneath the city broke into daylight after 10 months underground. The new 2.4km-long Waterview tunnels will connect the city’s Northwestern and Southwestern motorways, each carrying three lane

Aidan Reid has succeeded Koen Ricour as TISPOL president. Aidan is the TISPOL council member for the Republic of Ireland, and head of the Garda National Traffic Bureau. Aidan Reid's appointment comes at a time when Ireland has achieved an overall reduction of 52% in road fatalities between 2005 and 2013. Dublin has also achieved the safest roads of all EU capital cities. Chief Superintendent Reid graduated with an MSc (Hons) in Police Leadership from University College Dublin (UCD) in 2010. He holds an Adva

Crash data analysis from Spain highlights key areas of concern with regard to the road safety of specific vehicle types. The report was compiled by Ponle Freno-AXA de Seguridad and covers the period from January-August 2014, analysing more than 176,000 collisions. Most dangerous of all, quad bikes were the cause of 83% of the crashes they were involved in. Meanwhile industrial vehicles and trucks were the cause of 80% of the crashes they were involved in. Vans were the cause of 65% of the crashes they were

A budget in excess of US$1.09 billion has been set for road infrastructure spending in Russia’s Krasnoyarsk Region (Siberia). The funds will be used to widen, upgrade and repair road links over the next three years. In all the plans call for more than 1,000 km of roads and 62 bridges to be repaired during the 2015-2017 period.

A major highway project in Nicaragua is coming closer to fruition. The new link would cross the country, connecting its Caribbean and Pacific Ocean coasts. The Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) has been called upon to approve a US$150 million loan at the end of October 2014 to part finance the scheme. Meanwhile funds worth $39 million have already been approved for the Rio Blanco-Mulukuku section of this road, which has been put out to tender. The $150 million CABEI loan would be put to

Statistics from Vietnam show an improvement in road safety levels, with reductions in both deaths and injuries on the country’s network. For the period from January to September 2014, there were 6,800 deaths caused by road crashes in Vietnam. This was a drop of 4% for the same period in 2013. Meanwhile there were 17,800 injuries caused by road crashes between January and September 2014, a drop of 18% for the same period in 2013. Police data shows that 3.3 million drivers were caught for a range of traffic o

Azerbaijan will see a major investment in its road infrastructure. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is supplying funding worth US$350 million that will be targeted at road construction in Azerbaijan. The funding will be for the 2015-2017 period. Meanwhile a further $752 million from the ADB will be used to develop other aspects of infrastructure in Azerbaijan such as general transportation and utilities over the same period.

In India work is in hand for six new highways in Gujarat State. Approval for the projects has been given by the Indian Government. The new links will be two lane National Highways. The longest of the six links will be the 181km connection between Mahuva and Jetpur, with the next longest being the 165km Radhanpur-Charada stretch and followed by the 163km section between Bhimasar and Khavda. There will also be a 106km stretch between Ahwa and Pipaliya close to Maharashtra border, the Dhoraji-Jamnagar measurin

A Latin American Road Building Conference for contractors, equipment buyers and suppliers interested in the latest trends in road building technology and highway investment in the region will take place on October 20 2015 in Santiago, Chile, the day before CONEXPO Latin America 2015 opens. The new show, which will be held from October 21 2015 to October 24 2015 in Santiago, wants “education (to be) an important component of the CONEXPO show experience, extending the value of exhibits and networking opportun

Jacobs Engineering Group has won the contract to upgrade Scotland’s A9 highway which runs from central Scotland to the far north coast, converting the route into a dual carriageway between Perth and Inverness, one of the busiest sections of the route. Jacobs said that the deal will be “one of the largest road infrastructure projects in Scotland’s history.” This is the second of three design contracts awarded for the project; and it covers 44km of the route including 3km of existing dual carriageway betwee