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What is a Highways Communication Strategy?

The need to effectively manage communications is of growing importance in the highways sector. It’s a particular challenge for local authorities who have a duty to keep people informed about what’s happening on the roads. In the past, the difficulty facing councils was how to get messages out in a time before digital communications. It meant…

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The need to effectively manage communications is of growing importance in the highways sector. It’s a particular challenge for local authorities who have a duty to keep people informed about what’s happening on the roads.

In the past, the difficulty facing councils was how to get messages out in a time before digital communications. It meant relying on statutory notices, letters to households and stories in the local press.

Now, in the age of social, authorities face the opposite problem. It’s how do they manage the multitude of different methods we have to share information; how to coordinate them to create a clear and coherent message.

Achieving this requires finding effective ways to communicate with all stakeholders – whether it’s the public, local businesses or maintenance service providers. The way a council plans to achieve this is set out in their Highways Communication Strategy.

But what is a highways communication strategy?

A highways communication strategy will typically cover, not just how communications are handled, but also what the overall messages of the council should be. This could be promoting public engagement or demonstrating better value-for-money.

The need to create these kinds of strategies was one of the recommendations made in the HMEP Highways Infrastructure Asset Management Guidance Document, which was commissioned by the Department for Transport (DfT).

With tightening budgets and an increasing workload, councils are under pressure to improve their efficiency and to ensure that the public understands the challenges faced when maintaining highway assets.

An example of a highways communication strategy: Dorset Council

One of the key tools local authorities are using to achieve this is with digital technology. Dorset Council’s communication strategy provides a typical example of how digital tools, particularly social media, are changing the way authorities keep people informed.

The authority has a dedicated Twitter account which sends out around 4,000 tweets each year, providing highways information and updates. They also have a Facebook page, a blog and an email newsletter which is sent out to more than 13,000 subscribers.

All of this is in addition to the traditional forms of communications they still use, such as working with the local press and broadcast media.

What do highways communication strategies mean for contractors?

With highway communications playing such an important role, local authorities need to ensure they have access to fast and accurate information on every aspect of highways operations. It means working with service providers who can meet these needs.

Having access to this kind of information allows local authorities to supply the public with accurate and reliable updates on maintenance work, as laid out in their highways communication strategies.

Better communications are playing a vital role in improving management efficiency, minimising safety risks and finding more open and transparent ways for clients and contract providers to work to

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