A new type of contract that will reduce the cost of maintaining and improving motorways and major A roads in parts of Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire has been awarded by the Highways Agency.

Under a five year deal, with options to extend, Amey will carry out maintenance, renewal and improvement services on more than 500 miles of carriageway on major roads around towns and cities such as Milton Keynes, Luton and Stevenage – a road network that include sections of the M1, M11, the A5 and the A1(M).

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Asset Support Contracts are being pioneered by the Highways Agency and will help to reduce the cost of road maintenance by 25% by 2015. They work by specifying the outcomes required for a safe and well maintained road network, and giving suppliers greater freedom to innovate to achieve those outcomes.

This contract, valued at up to £200m over five years, is the fifth of its type to be let, and will go live from 1 April 2014.

David Brewer, the Highways Agency’s Asset Delivery Director said: "Our strategic roads play an essential role in enabling economic growth and connecting communities. We are committed to increasing investment to improve the capability and condition of the network and to delivering cost efficiencies in the way in which it is delivered. Effective collaboration with our supply chain partners is essential. I am delighted to be working with Amey and to be building on an established relationship to deliver a more effective and efficient network in the East of England."

(CD)