TO BE PUBLISHED July 2025
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This conference will consider how UK road infrastructure policy can best respond to changing demands and fiscal pressures.
We expect discussion to focus on how best to prioritise the renewal and maintenance of existing assets, the future role of large-scale enhancements, and the development of long-term funding models that support strategic delivery and sustained performance.
It will bring together key stakeholders and policymakers to assess implications and implementation of the forthcoming Road Investment Strategy 3 (RIS3) - which is expected to be announced in the forthcoming Spending Review and will be implemented from April 2026 - as well as the Strategic Road Network Interim Settlement 2025-2026 and the National Highways interim delivery plan. Attendees will explore the use of performance-linked funding, how it might affect local and national planning, and strategic considerations for improving engagement with private finance to support schemes of national significance, such as the Lower Thames Crossing. Further discussion is expected on the potential impact of the transition to RIS3 on confidence, delivery capability, and regional investment pipelines.
Sessions will assess what might be needed to improve the capacity of local authorities and National Highways to fulfil policy and funding expectations - including preventative maintenance, systems for demonstrating compliance, and long-standing concerns of how to close the structural funding gap. Delegates will also consider priorities for digital innovation, and how developments in road twinning, autonomous systems and intelligent materials might be deployed to best support emissions reduction, performance improvement, and cost-effectiveness in both new and existing programmes.
Further sessions will examine strategic issues such as how the sector might respond to the long-term decline in fuel duty revenues - including potential future funding models such as road pricing - and implications of the transition for investment in public transport. Areas for discussion also include the wider role of road infrastructure in the net zero transition, next steps for EV integration, and improving the coordination of frameworks with utilities to reduce costs, disruption, and delay.
With the agenda currently in the drafting stage, overall areas for discussion include:
- RIS3:
- assessing and implementing funding
- performance-linked funding models:
- how conditional funding can encourage transparency and delivery against national priorities
- risks for councils unable to comply because of administrative or financial constraints
- local authority capacity:
- differences in how well councils are able to meet the requirements linked to maintenance funding
- options for supporting councils with fewer resources, especially in rural areas
- governance and delivery oversight:
- adequacy of current monitoring systems for National Highways in terms of targets and delivery
- performance of projects towards environmental goals
- regional transport integration:
- contribution of road investment to wider regional growth and road network strategies
- coordination with planning for housing, employment, and economic development
- freight and logistics connectivity:
- resilience and reliability of strategic freight routes to support economic activity
- design options for reducing delays and improving efficiency on high-traffic corridors
- net zero transition:
- extent to which road infrastructure planning supports decarbonisation goals
- development and use of carbon metrics and climate impact assessments
- future skills and workforce needs:
- skills needed to plan, build and maintain digital, low-carbon and climate-ready road networks
- strategies for building workforce capability in partnership with industry and academia
