Improvements made last year to the C&G and Walls roundabouts in Gloucestershire have won the Large Project of the Year award at the Institute of Highway Engineers (IHE) West Mercia Awards.
The roundabouts were a known pinch point in the county and often caused traffic congestion. Amey’s highways account in Gloucestershire worked with the County Council and subcontractor, Hewlett Construction, to design changes to the roundabout which would improve traffic flow. This included widening the lanes and approach roads on both C&G and Walls roundabouts, installing an intelligent traffic light system and improving the drainage and street lighting.
To minimise disruption, the team looked carefully at how traffic would flow while the work was carried out in order to put a plan in place before construction started. This included restricted working hours to significantly reduce the impact on businesses and commuters, which resulted in an unprecedented level of positive feedback.
Ruth Kinsella, Account Director at Amey said, “To be part of the winning team for this award is an amazing achievement and one we’re incredibly proud of.
“We’re delighted that the judges recognised the collaborative approach adopted by all the organisations involved to work together seamlessly to deliver all aspects of the project, whilst minimising disruption to residents and local businesses and deliver an end-result which is improving traffic flow in the area – a key priority for Gloucestershire.”
This is the second award won for the roundabout improvement scheme. Back in February the scheme won the Major Project of the Year Award at The Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation South West Awards.
Cllr Vernon Smith, cabinet member for highways said, "This is the second national award we’ve won for the work at C&G and Walls roundabouts, demonstrating how hard we all worked to get it right, delivering it on time, on budget and with minimum disruption to road users. The improvements have been hugely important for Gloucester and the surrounding areas and I’d like to thank everyone involved again for their hard work, and of course to the travelling public who were patient while we got the work done.”
Gloucestershire County Council had a strong working relationship with partner Amey and contractor Hewlett Construction with strong project management and regular progress meetings to pick up any issues and address them early.
Good communication was a key priority throughout, with regular media releases, radio interviews, public information events and weekly bulletins sent to over 200 stakeholders until the end of the project.
The attendance at monthly Barnwood Business forum meetings, which represented a large number of local employers, meant active engagement throughout, and after completion the county council was inundated with compliments about the work.
Graham McGuire, Site Manager at Hewlett said, “For this project to win a second accolade coming so soon on the heels of its first, is fantastic and serves, once again, as testament to the entire team involved in delivering another successful scheme which is making a real difference to the road-users in Gloucestershire.”