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Press release: Traffic officers hit the road to help motorists in Cornwall

As part of a trial announced earlier this year, Highways England’s traffic officers have been patrolling a section of the A30 in Cornwall for the first time during the busy holiday periods, and have been on hand to deal with everything from live lane breakdowns, road traffic collisions and debris clearance.

During the summer holidays, Highways England crews have attended a total of 112 incidents during the 31 days of patrols. And on the last Sunday in July, the traffic officers’ ‘powers of recovery’ averted major disruption on the westbound A30 as they were able to assist police by towing a broken down horsebox and vehicle to Okehampton Services.

The current patrols will come to an end on 10 September.

Rob Penney, South West Service Delivery Manager for Highways England, said:

The aim of the initiative is to provide further assistance to motorists on our South West network, and we’re delighted to extend our service further south into Cornwall and to continue our close working partnership with Devon and Cornwall Police and Cornwall Council.

The patrols have provided real value, they’ve been well received, and there may be scope to increase the patrols in the future, dependent on a review of this trial period.

Earlier trial patrols took place over the Easter and May Bank Holidays. During five days over Easter the traffic officers dealt with and assisted 16 incidents on the A30 between Carland Cross and Lifton Down, and during the May Bank Holiday weekend, they attended 13 incidents over the three days, 11 of which saw them help broken down vehicles to safety.

Highways England already works in partnership with Devon and Cornwall Police, forming part of a multi-agency partnership in terms of safety and severe weather handling, and the trial is aimed at providing further support to Devon and Cornwall Police to help meet the demands of increased traffic volumes and related incidents on the A30 in Cornwall.

welcome to cornwall
Welcome to Cornwall sign on the A30 near Liftondown

Traffic officers currently assist drivers in any difficulty, co-ordinate the resources of the emergency services, manage traffic to reduce incident-related congestion and clear debris from the carriageways.

The traffic officers are currently patrolling the A30 between Carland Cross and Liftondown and, based at Bodmin police station and Cornwall Council’s Castle Canyke depot during the peak holiday months, they have been much closer at hand to provide assistance along both the A30 and A38.

Chief Inspector Adrian Leisk, head of roads policing for the Devon & Cornwall Police and Dorset Police alliance, said:

Devon and Cornwall Police is delighted to expand its partnership working with Highways England into Cornwall.

This builds on the considerable success of the operational activity on the M5, A38 and A30 in Devon, where Highways England Traffic Officers have supported police resources in dealing with road traffic collisions and other incidents which have the potential to cause disruption on our strategic road network

This ‘one team’ approach will undoubtedly help support communities and businesses who rely on a resilient and capable road network in Cornwall, particularly during the busiest periods of the year.

Highways England’s Traffic Officer service patrols England’s motorways and major A roads, helping to keep traffic flowing smoothly.

Traffic officers are not an enforcement agency, but they do have the power to stop and direct traffic, close lanes and carriageways and manage traffic, and road users must obey their directions.

As well as incident management, they also deal with broken down and abandoned vehicles on the strategic road network, recovering vehicles that are causing a blockage or hazard, and ensure that the scene of an incident is safe, for road users and working partners.

For more information on the roles and responsibilities of a Highways England traffic officer go to the traffic officer information page.

General enquiries

Members of the public should contact the Highways England customer contact centre on 0300 123 5000.

Media enquiries

Journalists should contact the Highways England press office on 0844 693 1448 and use the menu to speak to the most appropriate press officer.


Link: Press release: Traffic officers hit the road to help motorists in Cornwall
Source: Gov Press Releases

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Press release: Consultation due to launch on major upgrade to the A38 in Derby

People interested in plans to upgrade the A38 in Derby are urged to have their say as Highways England prepares to launch a consultation this week on proposals to upgrade a busy bottleneck in the city.

The project, valued at around £225m, will make journeys between Birmingham and the M1 and through Derby quicker and simpler by separating long distance traffic from those making local journeys.

The Kingsway, Markeaton and Little Eaton roundabouts will be replaced with two underpasses and a flyover respectively, which will collectively help to reduce congestion on this busy route.

The consultation is the next step in making the scheme a reality and runs from Friday, 7 September until Thursday, 18 October 2018.

Highways England project manager, Paul Nagra, said:

This upgrade is an important development for the A38 and the tens of thousands of people that rely on the road every single day.

Once this work is complete it will provide smoother and more reliable journeys along this important route helping support future investment and economic growth opportunities in the area.

The design has now been developed in more detail and people attending the consultation can have their say on the proposals.

Anyone interested in the scheme can attend any of the public information events that are running between 7 September and 22 September at various locations throughout Derby.

For more information about the events and about the consultation, please visit the scheme website.

Alternatively email A38derbyjunctions@highwaysengland.co.uk.

General enquiries

Members of the public should contact the Highways England customer contact centre on 0300 123 5000.

Media enquiries

Journalists should contact the Highways England press office on 0844 693 1448 and use the menu to speak to the most appropriate press officer.

Link: Press release: Consultation due to launch on major upgrade to the A38 in Derby
Source: Gov Press Releases

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Press release: Minister for Asia and the Pacific unveils plans to curb Pacific Ocean plastic pollution

Britain has pledged to champion Climate Risk and Resilience at next year’s UN Secretary-General’s Climate Summit, and has confirmed that its three missions in Samoa, Tonga, and Vanuatu will all be free of avoidable single-use plastics.

The uninhabited Henderson Island was recently established to have the worst levels of plastic rubbish on its shores of anywhere in the world, and marine plastic pollution elsewhere in the region is a growing problem. The UK’s three additional diplomatic missions in the region will be barred from using avoidable single-use plastics, and will help promote further joint work on climate change issues in the region.

Making the announcement at the Pacific Islands Forum, Minister for Asia and the Pacific Mark Field said:

Climate change poses a clear and present danger to the people of the Pacific islands like nowhere else in the world. The UK is already working with Vanuatu through the Commonwealth Clean Oceans Alliance to tackle the scourge of plastic pollution, and it is important our own representatives lead by example by cracking down on single-use plastics.

But addressing climate change needs massive transformational change and I am proud of Britain’s contribution through the Green Climate Fund. We will be building on this by working much more closely with all the Pacific islands through our missions in the region in the coming years.

The UK is among the largest contributors of international climate finance and in the four years to 2020 will be giving developing countries over £5.5 billion to help them mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change.

This will build on commitments made at the Commonwealth Head of Governments Meeting in London earlier this year which saw the creation of the Commonwealth Clean Oceans Alliance.

The government has today also announced that the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu are the first of six countries to receive support through Defra’s £6 million Commonwealth Litter Programme, partnering with countries in their efforts to reduce single-use plastics and other litter entering the oceans.

The Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) will eliminate avoidable single-use plastics from its UK operations by the end of the year, and from its global operations by 2020. It is the first UK government department to announce such a ban and the commitment makes the FCO global a leader in the fight against plastic pollution.

Notes to editors

  1. Britain has in the past had missions in Tonga and Vanuatu and is now re-establishing High Commissions in each, along with a new High Commission in Samoa. They will collectively deliver significant bilateral and regional impact and help increase UK influence in multilateral fora.
  2. Initial estimates suggest that the FCO globally is consuming at least 3.45 million items of avoidable single-use plastics.

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Link: Press release: Minister for Asia and the Pacific unveils plans to curb Pacific Ocean plastic pollution
Source: Gov Press Releases