Engineer wins contract for roads of the future

PLANS to adapt roads for self-driving cars are moving forward.

Engineer Costain is trialling technology that will see information about surrounding road conditions beamed directly into vehicles.

The technology will at first be used to help drivers react faster to situations, but it is hoped it will eventually be used to help selfdriving cars respond automatically to road conditions.

Costain is due to start trialling the technology on main roads between London and Kent in October. Roads will be kept open during the tests. Highways England, Kent County Council, Department for Transport and Transport for London are involved in the project.

Costain’s chief executive Andy Wyllie said: ‘This is an important step in making our roads safer and improving journey time reliability.’

Mike Wilson, chief highways engineer of Highways England, said: ‘Having the technology in place to allow vehicles to connect to each other and the road around them has the potential to improve journeys. It could also help us manage traffic and respond to incidents.’