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Chapter 1 The Agency and What it Does
The strategic road network, maintained by the Highways Agency, is used by vehicles covering one-third of a billion kilometers daily
The Highways Agency is an Executive Agency of the Department of Transport, Local Government and the Regions (DTLR) responsible for maintaining, operating and improving a strategic road network of motorways and trunk roads in England ('the network'), currently valued at about £60 billion. It has 11 offices in nine locations, with its headquarters in London and employed about 1,560 staff during 2000/01 (this figure excludes Agency posts which transferred to Transport for London (TfL), part of the new Greater London Authority, in July 2000).
Although only 4% by length of the total roads in the country, the Agency's network carries a third of all road traffic and two-thirds of all freight traffic, forming the social and economic backbone of the country.
As a network operator for the motorway and trunk road network, the Agency has a role both as an asset manager, maintaining and developing the network, and as a traffic manager, delivering a service to provide reliable and safe journeys as part of an integrated transport system.
The Agency also aims to develop and manage the network in a way that respects the environment and contributes to the sustainable development of the country and its economy. The Agency's long-term aim and objectives are set out in Appendix 1.
In July 2000, the Government launched Transport 2010: The 10 Year Plan. This set out the Government's long-term strategy for delivering improvements to the country's transport system and will see £21 billion invested in the strategic road network over the next 10 Years. The Agency played a significant role in developing this plan and will make a major contribution to delivering its road-based outcomes. In October 2000 the Agency launched its response document, Strategic Roads 2010, setting out how it will deliver its contribution to the 10 Year Plan outcomes. This will be done through: contributing to easing congestion; providing effective maintenance; safer travel; better information; smarter roads; quieter roads and delivering in partnership.
