This week we were thrilled to see that the Local Council Roads Innovation Group (LCRIG) was mentioned in a response to tabled questions to the Ministerial Team at the Department for Transport (DfT).
Jim Shannon DUP asked the Secretary of State for Transport about what information the Department holds on advances in technology to improve current pothole patching techniques. You can read his full question below. We know this is an area that many councils are also interested in, Blackpool Council’s Project Amber provoked interest across many councils particularly with approaches to repairs by SMEs and others. But we also know our supply chain members involved in road maintenance, “pothole” repairs are also raising standards in training, repairs, machinery, innovations and processes demonstrated by some of our exhibitors such as Multevo and JCB at the Innovation Festival and other LCRIG events.
One of the reasons we were passionate about introducing an Innovation Festival this year was so that councils could see the many innovations and technology that suppliers are doing. We are keen to bring councils together in a way that allows them to see a number of different techniques and approaches, so we already know that next year’s Innovation Festival will be bigger and better. This is why we were excited to see Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Roads and Local Transport) Richard Holden MP reference LCRIG in his written response “The Department works closely with highways stakeholders such as the Association of Directors of Environment, Economy, Planning and Transport and the Local Council Roads Innovation Group who regularly showcase innovative ways to fix potholes and ensure we have well maintained roads. We fund innovative new ideas including road technologies through our well-established Transport Research Innovation Grant (T-TRIG) programme, and the ADEPT Live Labs programme.”
You can be sure we will continue to be ambitious about sharing, helping others and facilitating collaboration in innovations and advances, in fact it’s part of our DNA.
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2022-10-31/75009