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The UK’s road markings are said to be vanishing rapidly, according to a new survey by a leading highways organisation. A snapshot survey of nearly 500 miles by the Road Safety Markings Association (RMSA) revealed that well over half of white lines in Scotland and Wales are almost non-existent, and England’s fare little better. On average, the RSMA survey found that 50.6% of the UK’s surveyed road markings are barely visible. And almost a quarter (23%) of roads are classified as needing ‘emergency repairs’.

Cities all over Britain and Europe will be invited to embrace electric driving and encourage their communities to support Nissan’s campaign – ‘The Big Turn On’ – in a bid to win 30 quick chargers from the company. The quick chargers are part of a wider initiative from Nissan to get one million consumers switched onto electric driving in just 100 days. The basis of the campaign is to engage the public and support their city’s bid to win a new electric driving infrastructure from Nissan. These chargers can re

Colombia's Transport minister Miguel Peñaloza said the government intends to award key national motorway maintenance contracts from June 2013, starting with the contract for the section between La Pintada and La Manuela, part of Autopistas de la Prosperidad. The second contract would be awarded in December of the same year, said Peñaloza, with all contracts due to last be six years. ISA will not be taking part in any of the projects.

Discussions are underway in Switzerland at present over options for maintaining and upgrading the Gotthard Road Tunnel in the 2020-2025 period. One option is likely to cost some €539.65 million (CHF 650 million), requiring the tunnel to be closed for a 30 month period. The other option is likely to cost €752 million and will see the work carried out in stages over a 42 month stretch. For this second option, the tunnel would remain open during the summer period so as to allow it to carry the higher volumes o

New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) has told Transport Minister Gerry Brownlee that the completion of the government's roads of national significance programme might be pushed to 2024, as certain key motorway projects could take up to three years longer than anticipated. Under the NZ$9 billion (US$6.92 billion) plus programme, NZ$2.40 billion will be used for the Waikato Expressway; followed by another $2 billion for Auckland Western Ring Route including Waterview Connection; $1.76 billion for the highway b

Engineering specialist AECOM will carry out a study into the proposed Lower Thames Crossing project in the UK.

National Post, 12 Jun 2012, online:- Up to US$535.76million (CAD 550mn) has been offered by the Canadian government towards the US$973.75million (CAD 1bn) construction of Detroit River International Crossing bridge between Windsor, Ontario and the US city of Detroit. The construction of the bridge is due for completion by 2016.

The New South Wales (NSW) government in Australia will invest AD $5 billion (US $4.95 billion) to build and maintain critical road and maritime infrastructure across NSW as part of the 2012/13 State Budget. “This year’s budget includes a significant investment aimed at tackling congestion in our busy city areas and improving our rural and regional network with major commitments to the Pacific, Princes, Hume and Great Western highways,” said NSW roads and ports minister Duncan Gay.

Funding for vital highway construction and repair projects in Rwanda has been approved as part of the country’s budget for 2012/13. The government will have more than US$ 2.18billion (RWF 1.30tn) to work with with the infrastructure sector, including highways development, being allocated just over 23% of that total. Among highways projects due to receive budgeted funding are:

A live crash demonstration of the Highway Care (HC) manufactured BarrierGuard 800 portable steel safety barrier was staged recently at Eastern Creek Raceway in Sydney, Australia. Organised by the Boylan Group, Highway Care International’s (HCI) partner, and Australia’s largest equipment hire company, Coates Hire, the event drew 200 Australian engineers, designers and road industry professionals and showcased technology already established throughout Europe.

New rules in the US mean that electric vehicles will require noise generation equipment. This covers electric vehicles and hybrids as well as motorcycles, medium and heavy trucks and buses. It specifies that the alert sound must be sufficient to allow a pedestrian to detect a nearby EV or PHEV operating at constant speed, accelerating, decelerating and operating in any other critical scenarios. It must reflect the minimum sound level emitted by a motor vehicle that is necessary to allow visually-impaired an

Nigeria’s Oyo State is planning to rebuild bridges damaged by flooding in Ibadan and Oyo town. Contracts have now been awarded for the work. The bridges identified for rebuilding are Apete Bridge, Ayeye Bridge, Osoro River Bridge, Ogbere Babanla Bridge, Olomi Bridge and Secretariat Road Bridge in Ibadan as well as Alaadorin Bridge and Sakutu Bridge in the town of Oyo.

The South African government is engaging with the private sector to review alternatives to the e-tolling system on Gauteng highways. The move was announced by the country's deputy president, Kgalema Motlanthe, who repeated his earlier assertion that the "most equitable way" to fund the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP) is via the user-pay system. He added that the underlying cause for frustration relating to the user-pay system should be resolved by engaging with the private sector.