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Highway sector experts in India are calling for tougher enforcement on helmet use, to boost safety standards for powered two wheeler riders. The country’s accident statistics show worryingly high levels of deaths and injuries for powered two wheeler riders. India is the world’s second largest producer of two-wheelers and these constitute nearly 70% of the country’s registered vehicles. According to India’s National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), some 28,234 persons (21.1%) of two-wheeler riders have been kill

A proposal for a new bridge from Sweden to Denmark is included in the Swedish government's new infrastructure development plan for the country. The Swedish politicians would prefer a fixed link and they have invited the Danish government to examine the prospects for bridge plans. The Swedish suggestion is for a bridge link across the Sound (Øresund) between Helsingør in Denmark and Helsingborg in Sweden and Danish officials have been invited to comment. This proposal forms part of Sweden’s new infrastructur

The Polish authorities are calling tenders for eight sections of a delayed stretch of the A1 highway. The 180km section is between Strykow to Pyrzowice and the tenders will be for design and construction work. The project is worth €1.8 billion and the contracts are expected to be signed in September of this year, with construction commencing in the second half of 2011 and due for completion in 2014. Meanwhile, over €84 million is being invested on a ring road construction project around Przemysl. Approval h

The Spanish Government has set up its Extraordinary Infrastructure Plan (PEI), which is designed to stimulate the country’s economy and employment through investment in transport. In all the plan calls for public private collaboration investment of €17 billion, with €11 billion being used for new works and €6 billion for renovation and maintenance. Spending on roads will take €5.1 billion and the tender process for the various projects will commence in the second half of 2010. The economic impact on public

Luxembourg’s A7 highway will be connected fully to the rest of the country’s highway network shortly. Work is close to completion on the Strafelter tunnel, which will provide the link. The Nortdstrasse project is costing a total of €680 million and will connect Mersch and Luxembourg.

A NEW report revealed by the European Commission says that increasing the share of fuel used in transport beyond 5.6% could cause more harm than benefit to the environment. At the end of 2008 the EU agreed to set a target of 10% of transport fuel coming from renewable sources such as biofuels as well as hydrogen and ‘green’ electricity by 2020. The agreement also included a requirement that all new energy sources be sustainable, setting sustainability criteria for biofuels, and is this last point that is p

Leading UK think-tank, The Social Market Foundation (SMF), argues in a new report, Roads to Recovery, that each citizen should be given a free, tradable share in the road network worth over £1,500 (€1,700); road user charges should be introduced, and road tax abolished. The SMF claims the UK’s “creaking transport infrastructure” makes economic recovery harder, with congestion predicted to cost businesses and households an extra £22 billion a year by 2025.

A consortium led by Mott MacDonald and including WYG and Atkins has secured a major European Commission contract to help strengthen vital infrastructure work across the Western Balkans. The consortium will provide technical support as part of the Infrastructure Projects' Facility (IPF) of the Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF). The IPF prepares priority infrastructure projects in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Kosovo. The