News

Albania’s road network will benefit from three new links being built during 2010. These will connect capital Tirana and Klos, Tirana and Elbasan as well as Berat and Tepelena. The new roads will help cut journey times substantially by as much as 50-70% overall. Once the new link is built between Tirana and Elbasan, journey time will be around 20-25 minutes and this project has been designed by an Italian company.

The EU is warning Bulgaria that €200 million in funding for the second Danube bridge project may be withdrawn if the work is not finished by the close of 2010. The EU is now considering whether to extend the projects deadline and the contractor building the bridge estimates that the work will not be completed until mid-2011. If funding is withdrawn, Bulgaria's Ministry of Transport hope to seek some financing from the European Investment Bank as well as the Bulgarian state budget.

Slovakia’s troubled D1 highway project continues to be a topic of controversy in the country, with doubts over whether there are sufficient funds to pay for the completion of the route. A political debate focuses on whether the Transport Ministry should have extended the deadline for the agreement of the financial package for the first tranche of contracts for the highway. The Slovenske Dialnice consortium recently met with the Transport Ministry over the decision not to continue with the PPP project to c

Chinese contractor Sinohydro is to start a road construction project in Moldova worth €48 million. It is likely to be the first of several Chinese companies to carry out work in the country.

Funding for a road project in Spain is being set out by contractor Sacyr. The savings banks Caixanova and Unicaja will provide the funding, which will allow work to be completed on a 24.5km stretch of the AP-46 toll road linking Malaga and Alto de Las Pedrizas as to date only half of the work has been finished on the €367 million project. A further €200 million is required, with Sacyr providing the rest from its own sources.

Serbia’s Corridor 10 project, seen as key to the country’s future economic development, is 20 years behind schedule. With construction delayed and the matter being debated, the Serbian Ministry for Infrastructure, which reported the schedule delay, says the country is working as fast as possible, with 22km being built/year. The corridor will connect the country with its neighbours and provide an important route for through traffic.

The UK Government’s annual report on the number of road deaths and injuries shows that 2,222 people were killed in Britain in 2009 while, according to police statistics, 24,690 were seriously injured. However, the real figure is estimated to be closer to 80,000 when data from other sources are taken into account. For the first time the government has estimated the total cost of road deaths and injuries to the economy, taking into account under-reporting of injuries by police and using other data sources.

The future of Britain’s highways industries, including maximising reduced budgets and improving road safety, forms the core of the conference programme at the Seeing is Believing event. With a keynote address and introduction by Roads Minister Mike Penning MP, Seeing is Believing, a combination of industry conference, trade exhibition and live demonstrations, has his full support, and is being held at a purpose-designed venue at the MIRA site, near Nuneaton, County Warwickshire, England, from 9-11 November

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is providing major funding in Albania’s road network. A loan worth €53 million will help pay for the construction of the new Fier and Vlore bypasses. This loan will aid further development of the Albanian road network and boosting economic integration in the country by co-financing the construction of the two bypass roads, located in south-western Albania. The EBRD loan is structured in two tranches and will be used by the Albanian Road Authority t

A new 1.5km tunnel to carry vehicle traffic, and estimated to cost €130 million, is being planned in the Finnish capital Helsinki. The tunnel would run under the Kalasatama area, and is the latest of several tunnelling projects under Helsinki. A major utility tunnel network system was started some years ago with the aim of reducing roadworks and congestion.

A report on road maintenance in 13 European nations highlights Italy as spending the most on its network in 2007. According to the data, Italy spent €835 million on road maintenance followed by the Netherlands with €786 million, the UK with €753 million and Spain with €718 million.

The new Ford Focus has become the first ever car to receive four Euro NCAP Advanced safety rewards after its driver alert and forward alert technologies were honoured this week. The rewards come a month after new Ford Ranger achieved an historic first by becoming the only pickup to receive a maximum 5 Star safety rating from Euro NCAP. Ranger also achieved the highest score ever recorded by Euro NCAP for pedestrian protection.

Belgian authorities are planning to tackle the growing problem of drivers operating vehicles while under the influence of drugs. Testing of a new system that uses saliva to establish whether drivers have drugs present in their system is now starting. Previous methods of testing for drugs using blood tests or psycho-motor skills will be replaced, should the tests on the new system prove successful.