Highway to hell? Yes, my dream has come true – a ‘well-suited’ (get it?) pose in a metal T-shirt in the latest edition of Chartered Institution of Highways & Transportation (CIHT) Transportation Professional publication to talk about ‘Seeing the Road Ahead’.

I have a feeling – in the UK at least – that in the transport sector 2023 is going to include a lot of discussion about the future of road investment.

It has been one of the great privileges of my career to have been one of the members of the Wales Roads Review Panel (https://lnkd.in/enVpaNtb). Outcomes from the work of the Panel are expected soon.

This article is – sorry perhaps to disappoint you – not spilling the beans about what the Panel found, that’s not my place. However, it is prompted by the very fact that the review of road schemes in Wales has taken place. Could this mark a turning point nationally and internationally for the future of road investment?

In the article I take a look at:

🤘 The changing place of roads in supporting and shaping society – the driving imperative of economic growth, an appraisal system born of the motor age, the costs of roads and their use, the doubt now cast over capacity enhancements in the face of a climate emergency, and a need in light of the digital age to rethink connectivity in society

🤘 The challenge of the transition – why the Wales Roads Review may signify difficulties ahead for significant but arguably necessary changes in road investment considerations, the need to overcome longstanding instincts about road investment, and the inevitable pains of turning the tide

🤘 The change of mindset needed for investing in the future – the need to rethink what options might present themselves to invest in that can help achieve the outcomes we seek, and the art of the possible when we look at the dynamics in play in a changing society

I hope you may find this an interesting read and I look forward to your views. And on a personal note while I hope we are not all on a highway to hell, it is #MetalFriday for me so I will be playing AC/DC loud tonight. So come on folks, let’s get rockin’ on roads!

University of the West of EnglandMott MacDonald

#roadinvestment#roads#highways#climatechange