National Highways (NH), formerly Highways England and before that the Highways Agency, is a

government-owned company A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a business entity created or owned by a national or local government, either through an executive order or legislation. SOEs aim to generate profit for the government, prevent private sector monopolies, provide goo ...

charged with operating, maintaining and improving motorways and major A roads in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It also sets highways standards used by all four UK administrations, through the

Design Manual for Roads and Bridges The Design Manual for Roads and Bridges (DMRB) is a series of 15 volumes that provide standards, advice notes and other documents relating to the design, assessment and operation of trunk roads, including motorways in the United Kingdom, and, ...

. Within England, it operates information services through the provision of on-road signage and its Traffic England website, provides

traffic officer Traffic police (also known as traffic officers, traffic enforcement units, traffic cops, traffic monitors, or traffic enforcers) are units and agencies who enforce traffic laws and manage traffic. Traffic police help to assist in patrolling ...

s to deal with incidents on its network, and manages the delivery of improvement schemes to the network. Founded as an

executive agency An executive agency is a part of a government department that is treated as managerially and budgetarily separate, to carry out some part of the executive functions of the United Kingdom government, Scottish Government, Welsh Government or No ...

, it was converted into a government-owned company, Highways England, on 1 April 2015. As part of this transition, the

UK government His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

set out its vision for the future of the English strategic road network in its Road Investment Strategy. A second Road Investment Strategy was published in March 2020, with the company set to invest £27billion between 2020 and 2025 to improve the network as described in the strategy. The current name was adopted on 19 August 2021.

History

The Highways Agency was created as an executive agency of the

Department for Transport The Department for Transport (DfT) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport ...

on 30 March 1994. As part of the Department for Transport's 2010

Spending Review A spending review, or occasionally a comprehensive spending review, is a governmental process in the United Kingdom carried out by HM Treasury to set firm expenditure limits and, through public service agreements, define the key improvements that ...

settlement, Alan Cook was appointed to lead an independent review of the government's approach to the strategic road network. It recognised that the Highways Agency was closer to central government than other infrastructure operators, resulting in a lack of a strategic vision and certainty of funding due to the wider policy environment in which it operated, as well as the limited pressure to drive efficiencies compared to that faced by regulated sectors. After an announcement on 27 June 2013 by

Danny Alexander Sir Daniel Grian Alexander (born 15 May 1972) is a British former politician who was Chief Secretary to the Treasury between 2010 and 2015. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch & Strathspey constituency ...

Chief Secretary to the Treasury The Chief Secretary to the Treasury is a senior ministerial office in the government of the United Kingdom and is the second most senior ministerial office in HM Treasury, after the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The office holder is always a full ...

, it became a government-owned company with the name Highways England on 1 April 2015. In July 2015, Jim O'Sullivan became chief executive, replacing Graham Dalton. In 2020, the agency launched an advertising campaign using the song " Go West" by

Village People Village People is an American disco group known for its on-stage costumes and suggestive lyrics in their music. The group was originally formed by French producers Jacques Morali and Henri Belolo and lead singer Victor Willis following the re ...

and covered by

Pet Shop Boys Pet Shop Boys are an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1981. Consisting of vocalist Neil Tennant and keyboardist Chris Lowe, they have sold more than 100 million records worldwide and were listed as the most successful duo in UK music h ...

. The lyrics changed to "Go Left", encouraging people to stop on the left hand side of the

motorway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway, and expressway. Other similar terms ...

in case of breakdown. On 19 August 2021, it was announced that Highways England would be rebranding to National Highways, thus removing any reference to England from its name. This move coincided with the permanent appointment of Nick Harris as CEO, after taking over as interim CEO from Jim O’Sullivan in February 2021. It was suggested that the 'national' in the new name refers to the fact that the company is responsible for setting highways standards for the whole of the UK, through the Design Manual for Roads and Bridges, even though decisions on the building and maintenance of roads outside of England are devolved to the

Scottish Government The Scottish Government (, ) is the executive arm of the devolved government of Scotland. It was formed in 1999 as the Scottish Executive following the 1997 referendum on Scottish devolution, and is headquartered at St Andrew's House in ...

Welsh Government The Welsh Government ( ) is the Executive (government), executive arm of the Welsh devolution, devolved government of Wales. The government consists of Cabinet secretary, cabinet secretaries and Minister of State, ministers. It is led by the F ...

and

Northern Ireland Executive The Northern Ireland Executive (Irish language, Irish: ''Feidhmeannas Thuaisceart Éireann'', Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster Scots: ''Norlin Airlan Executive'') is the devolution, devolved government of Northern Ireland, an administrative branc ...

. The renaming has met with some criticism, being the third name for the agency in six years, and with reports that 'Highways Agency' is colloquially used more than either newer name. The name has also attracted criticism from the other countries of the UK, particularly in Wales where the use of 'national' has been criticised despite transport being devolved to Wales.

Responsibilities

National Highways is responsible for operating, maintaining and improving the strategic road network (SRN)the motorways and major A roads in England. The SRN comprises over of road and includes various structures such as bridges, tunnels, drainage systems and technology assets including variable message signs and cabling. The SRN includes only around 2% of the total road length in England, but it carries around a third of all its motor vehicle traffic. National Highways is responsible for the

(DMRB) providing the standards, advice notes and other documents relating to the design, assessment and operation of

trunk road A trunk road is a major highway with a specific legal classification in some jurisdictions, notably the United Kingdom, Sweden and formerly Ireland. Trunk roads are planned and managed at the national-level, distinguishing them from non-trunk ro ...

s, including

motorways A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway, and expressway. Other similar terms ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. The manual is produced by National Highways in conjunction with the devolved governments of

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

and

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

. The manual is also used in some parts of the

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

. The authority also produces the Manual of Contract Documents for Highway Works (MCHW), and Asset Maintenance and Operation Requirements (AMOR) which supersedes the Network Maintenance Manual and Routine and Winter Service Codes, and its predecessor the Trunk Road Maintenance Manual. Contractors and

subcontractor A subcontractor is a person or business which undertakes to perform part or all of the obligations of another's contract, and a subcontract is a contract which assigns part of an existing contract to a subcontractor. A general contractor, prime ...

s are generally paid via a project bank account, which is the agency's default mechanism for ensuring that payments flow down through the

supply chain A supply chain is a complex logistics system that consists of facilities that convert raw materials into finished products and distribute them to end consumers or end customers, while supply chain management deals with the flow of goods in distri ...

and prevent payment hold-ups for sub-contractors undertaking work on behalf of a

prime contractor Prime contractor may refer to: * Prime contractor (US Government), a specific term in the US law for contractors that work directly with the US government * Prime contractor, a synonym of general contractor A contractor (North American English) or ...

Operating the network

National Highways' operations are split into areas which are loosely based on the

regions of England The regions of England, formerly known as the government office regions, are the highest tier of sub-national division in England. They were established in 1994 and follow the 1974–96 county borders. They are a continuation of the former 194 ...

. These regions are subdivided into nine operational areas as well as eleven areas and routes which are managed by DBFO (Design-Build-Finance-Operate) companies. Each area is managed and maintained by an area team (the Managing Agent; MA) and a contractor (the Managing Agent Contractor; MAC). The

M6 Toll The M6 Toll, referred to on some signs as the Midland Expressway (originally named the Birmingham Northern Relief Road or BNRR), and stylised as M6toll, connects M6 Junction 3a at the Coleshill Interchange to M6 Junction 11A at Wolverhampton ...

is a PFI concession which is also part of the strategic road network.

Strategic Road Network

Improving the network

In common with the regulated sectors, National Highways works to fixed

funding Funding is the act of providing resources to finance a need, program, or project. While this is usually in the form of money, it can also take the form of effort or time from an organization or company. Generally, this word is used when a firm use ...

periods called Road Periods. Each Road Period is currently five years in length, and a particular Road Investment Strategy (RIS) will broadly align with this. Before a new Road Period starts, National Highways will provide the

Secretary of State for Transport The secretary of state for transport, also referred to as the transport secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for the policies of the Departm ...

with an SRN Initial Report, including an assessment of the state of the SRN, maintenance and enhancement priorities, and future development needs. Following this, the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

produces a draft RIS setting out the high-level outputs that National Highways will need to deliver within the corresponding Road Period, alongside the proposed funding. National Highways will then respond with a Strategic Business Plan detailing its plans for delivering the RIS. This is reviewed by the Highways Monitor to assess whether the proposed requirements are deliverable with the proposed financial resources and sufficiently challenging. After the Strategic Business Plan and RIS are finalised, National Highways must deliver the agreed outputs and will be monitored on its progress by the Highways Monitor. Development of the SRN is achieved through National Highways' capital investment programme, currently funded entirely by government through

grant-in-aid A grant-in-aid is money allocated from a central/state government to subnational governments to provide specific services or fund specific projects. Such funding is usually used when the government and the legislature decide that the recipient ...

and set out in the first Road Investment Strategy. For Road Period 1 (2015–20), Highways England invested around £15billion in its network, with additional funding to address other local challenges in proximity of the SRN relating to the environment; air quality; cycling, safety and integration; and growth and housing. For Road Period 2 (2020–25), National Highways will invest over £27billion in its network, of which £14billion is for road enhancements. The rest is for operating, maintaining and renewing its roads, and further funding to address challenges on the environment and wellbeing; users and communities; innovation and modernisation; and safety and congestion. As of this Road Period, National Highways' activities will, at least in part, be funded by vehicle excise duty.

Organisation

Highways Agency Smart Motorways control centre

Head office

The company head office is in Bridge House, on a one-way gyratory in

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, England, around south-west of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The nam ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

. Previously its head office was in

Dorking Dorking () is a market town in Surrey in South East England about south-west of London. It is in Mole Valley, Mole Valley District and the non-metropolitan district, council headquarters are to the east of the centre. The High Street runs ro ...

, Surrey. In 2014, the agency signed a ten-year lease with the owner of the Guildford facility.

National Traffic Information Service (NTIS)

Sopra Steria operates the National Traffic Information Service (NTIS) on behalf of National Highways. NTIS is the information hub of England's strategic road network. The service is based at Quinton, Birmingham and is responsible for providing accurate, historical, real-time and predictive traffic and incident information to businesses, the travelling public and National Highways' operations. It collects real-time traffic information from over 10,000 fixed sites on the motorway and all-purpose trunk road network from

MIDAS Midas (; ) was a king of Phrygia with whom many myths became associated, as well as two later members of the Phrygian royal house. His father was Gordias, and his mother was Cybele. The most famous King Midas is popularly remembered in Greek m ...

and Traffic Monitoring Unit (TMU) electronic loops in the road surface and automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras at the roadside. Additionally it uses anonymous floating vehicle traffic data (FVD) from vehicles to supplement the fixed traffic monitoring sites. NTIS also has access to nearly 2,000

CCTV Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of closed-circuit television cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signa ...

cameras, 300 weather stations, 4,600 roadside electronic signs, 16,000 roadside electronic matrix signals and incident data from over 250 operational partners including the

police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

and

local authorities Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...

. It processes this data to create useful intelligence for operational decision making and dissemination of current and predictive information to the public using the 4,600 roadside

variable-message signs A variable- (also changeable-, electronic-, or dynamic-) message sign or message board, often abbreviated VMS, VMB, CMS, or DMS, and in the UK known as a matrix sign, is an electronic traffic sign often used on roadways to give travelers info ...

, the Highways England website (including a mobile version), social media channels such as Twitter and the telephone-based Highways England customer contact centre as well as distributing information to the media and businesses through a number of data feeds. These feeds are widely used by organisations such as the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

and local newspaper websites for their own traffic information. Services such as Google Maps and sat-nav operators also use National Highways' data for their traffic information.

Area teams

The motorway network is divided into "Areas". They are contracts that are awarded by the

. The area teams work alongside the National Highways Traffic Officer Service – providing incident support, emergency traffic management and infrastructure maintenance. They are responsible for the management and operation of the roads in their area. In 2009,

fleet tracking A vehicle tracking system combines the use of automatic vehicle location in individual vehicles with software that collects these fleet data for a comprehensive picture of vehicle locations. Modern vehicle tracking systems commonly use GPS or ...

has been deployed to assist area teams to manage their specialist winter maintenance vehicles during the cold snap.

Staff

National Highways employs uniformed traffic officers; on-road and control room, as well as specialist staff for work in engineering, surveying, accountancy, and administration. There is a graduate entry scheme, with general entry and specialist engineering entry options. For the Traffic Officer Service each team is supervised by a team manager, one of between six and eight such managers generally working together, to ensure 24-hour management cover.

Fundraising

National Highways is partnering with The Tree Council to donate thousands of trees for community projects across the UK, aiming to plant three million trees by 2030 and support biodiversity. The article also highlights various corporate partnerships and fundraising initiatives, including

BNP Paribas BNP Paribas (; sometimes referred to as BNPP or BNP) is a French multinational universal bank and financial services holding company headquartered in Paris. It was founded in 2000 from the merger of two of France's foremost financial instituti ...

's donation for an IT suite upgrade, Peninsula Group's Giving Tuesday fundraiser, and M&S's commitment to training young people through its Marks & Start program.

Governance and accountability

Formal governance structure

National Highways is a private company limited by shares, wholly owned by the

. The National Highways Board is the primary governance arm of the company and is accountable to the Secretary of State for Transport. The Board delegate responsibility of the day-to-day running of the company to the Chief Executive who, as the Accounting Officer, is accountable to the Permanent Secretary of the Department for Transport, as the Principal Accounting Officer, for the stewardship of public funds. The Principal Accounting Officer and Secretary of State for Transport are both ultimately accountable to

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

for the activities and performance of National Highways.

Performance monitoring

The

Infrastructure Act 2015 The Infrastructure Act 2015 is a wide-ranging piece of planning and infrastructure legislation passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom during David Cameron's administration. The act targets "transport, energy provision, housing development ...

established the

Office of Rail and Road The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) is a non-ministerial government department responsible for the economic and safety regulation of Britain's railways, and the economic monitoring of National Highways. ORR regulates Network Rail by setting its ...

(ORR) as the monitor for National Highways. ORR is responsible for monitoring and enforcing the performance and efficiency of National Highways, and advising the Secretary of State for Transport on its compliance against the Road Investment Strategy and Licence. The Act also established

Transport Focus Transport Focus is the statutory watchdog for transport passengers and road users in Great Britain, with offices in London and Manchester. It was named the Rail Passengers Council until January 2006 when renamed Passenger Focus. It was renamed ag ...

(previously Passenger Focus) as its watchdog with the purpose of promoting and protecting the interests of users of the strategic road network.

Traffic England

Traffic England is a website that gives information about the latest traffic conditions as well as details of any roadworks or events that may cause congestion. By selecting current motorway information users can see the average speed between individual motorway junctions, what is being displayed on all the

, and images from

traffic cameras A traffic camera is a video camera which observes vehicular traffic on a road. Typically, traffic cameras are put along major roads such as highways, freeways, expressways and arterial roads, and are connected by optical fibers buried alongside o ...

. The website is run by National Highways' National Traffic Information Service.

Survive Group

The

Survive Group {{inline, date=August 2024 The SURVIVE Group is a UK based consortium of private and public sector organisations concerned primarily with road safety. SURVIVE stands for Safe Use of Roadside Verges in Vehicular Emergencies History and operations ...

is a partnership between National Highways, the

National Police Chiefs' Council The National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) is a national coordination body for law enforcement in the United Kingdom and the representative body for senior police officers in the United Kingdom. Established on 1 April 2015, it replaced the forme ...

, the breakdown/recovery industry and other road service providers. The Survive Group has been established to improve the safety of those who work on the road network and the travelling public and is also dedicated to the promotion of driving safety. The name Survive comes from Safe Use of Roadside Verges in Vehicular Emergencies. The Survive Group website holds information on the Survive Group membership details and activities being undertaken by the working groups. It also supplies advice on how to drive safely in a wide range of driving conditions, advice on planning journeys. Survive also provides publications and new guidance produced by the Survive members plus news on new initiatives and forthcoming road safety events.

Historical Railways Estate

In 2013, Highways England took over responsibility for the

Historical Railways Estate The Historical Railways Estate (HRE) is formed of over 3,100 structures—predominantly bridges, viaducts, tunnels and other works—associated with former railways in the United Kingdom. The structures are owned by the Department for Transport (Df ...

(HRE) from

BRB (Residuary) Limited BRB (Residuary) LimitedCompanies House extract company no 4146505

Bridge infilling

Great Musgrave Bridge

In May and June 2021, the space under the road bridge at

Great Musgrave Great Musgrave is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Musgrave, in the Westmorland and Furness district of Cumbria, England. It is about a mile west of Brough. In 1891 the parish had a population of 175. Great Musgrave s ...

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...

was filled with 1,600tonnes of aggregate and concrete by Highways England, ostensibly for what HRE managers considered safety reasons. The bridge spanned a section of trackbed which local rail enthusiasts hoped to restore, linking the Eden Valley and Stainmore railways to create an tourist line between Appleby and

Kirkby Stephen Kirkby Stephen () is a market town and civil parish in Cumbria, England. It lies on the A685 and is surrounded by sparsely populated hill country, about from the nearest larger towns, Kendal and Penrith. The River Eden rises away in the pea ...

. Accused of 'vandalism', Highways England were forced to apply for retrospective planning permission, with

Eden District council Eden may refer to: *Garden of Eden, the "garden of God" described in the Book of Genesis Places and jurisdictions Canada * Eden, Ontario * Eden High School Czech Republic * Praha-Eden railway station Middle East * Eden, Lebanon, a ...

receiving 913 objections and only two expressions of support, and government intervention to pause National Highways plans to infill dozens of other Victorian bridges across England. Advised by planning officers to reject the application, the council's planning committee unanimously refused retrospective planning permission on 16 June 2022. Restoration of the Musgrave bridge to its former condition would cost an £431,000, in addition to the £124,000 spent on the initial infilling work. In July 2023, National Highways' plans to restore the bridge and remove the infill were criticised by locals as they involved closing the bridge for three months, necessitating long local diversions for regular users of the B6259 which crosses the bridge. Work began in August 2023 to remove the infill material. After the Great Musgrave outcry, National Highways developed a new way to assess the abandoned rail bridges and tunnels it controls, with decisions reviewed in collaboration with experts from heritage, environmental and active travel sectors. The stakeholder advisory forum includes the Department for Transport,

Sustrans Sustrans ( ) is a United Kingdom-based walking, wheeling and cycling charity, and the custodian of the National Cycle Network. Its flagship project is the National Cycle Network, which has created of signed cycle routes throughout the United ...

, Railway Paths Ltd, Railway Heritage Trust, the HRE Group,

Heritage Railway Association Heritage Railway Association (HRA) is an umbrella organisation representing the majority of the heritage and tourist railways, railway museums, steam centres and railway preservation groups in the UK and Ireland. Groups and individuals involved ...

Natural England Natural England is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. It is responsible for ensuring that England's natural environment, including its land, flora and fauna, ...

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked with prot ...

(also representing

Cadw (, a Welsh verbal noun meaning "keeping/preserving") is the historic environment service of the Welsh Government and part of the Tourism and Culture group. works to protect the historic buildings and structures, the landscapes and heritage ...

Historic Scotland Historic Scotland () was an executive agency of the Scottish Government, executive agency of the Scottish Office and later the Scottish Government from 1991 to 2015, responsible for safeguarding Scotland's built heritage and promoting its und ...

and ADEPT.

Congham Bridge

Congham Congham is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It is situated some east of the town of King's Lynn and west of the city of Norwich. History Congham's name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and derives from the Old English ...

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

, a railway bridge designed by the pioneering M&GNJR engineer William Marriott was infilled by National Highways in 2021. The railway route had been identified as part of a proposed footpath and cycleway between

King's Lynn King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is north-east of Peterborough, north-north-east of Cambridg ...

and

Fakenham Fakenham is a market town and civil parish in Norfolk, England. It is situated on the River Wensum, about north-west of Norwich. The town is at the junction of several local roads, including the A148 from King's Lynn to Cromer, the A1067 to N ...

, and in January 2023

King's Lynn and West Norfolk King's Lynn and West Norfolk is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Norfolk, England. Its council is based in the town of King's Lynn. The district also includes the t ...

Borough Council demanded that National Highways submit a retrospective planning application.

Rudgate Bridge

An 1847 skewed masonry arch at Rudgate near

Tadcaster Tadcaster is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in North Yorkshire, England, north-east of Leeds and south-west of York. Its historical importance from Roman times onward was largely as the lowest road crossing-point o ...

, designed by John Cass Birkinshaw for the Harrogate–Church Fenton line, was infilled by National Highways in 2021. The agency had to seek retrospective planning approval from

North Yorkshire Council North Yorkshire Council, known between 1974 and 2023 as North Yorkshire County Council, is the local authority for the non-metropolitan county of North Yorkshire, England. Since 2023 the council has been a unitary authority, being a county coun ...

for the infilling work and work on trees protected by a tree preservation order.

Notes

References

External links

* *
Highways England
page of the

Government of the United Kingdom His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

* * * – live traffic information from the HA including delays, roadworks, roadside message signs

Video clips

Highways England YouTube channel
{{authority control Companies based in Guildford Road transport in England Road authorities Government-owned companies of England Government agencies established in 1994 Organisations based in Birmingham, West Midlands 1994 establishments in England Department for Transport Interested parties in planning in England British companies established in 2015