This part sets out the background to the procurement of the contract for the National Roads Telecommunications Services, which we assess in Parts 2 to 4. Following a change in the Agency's strategic aims, its existing plans to replace ageing telecommunications systems assumed greater importance. Following a review, the Agency opted for a PPP because there were good value for money grounds for transferring the risks of major cost and time overruns inherent in such a large telecommunications project.
1.1 The strategic road network in England comprises some 4,800 miles (7,700 km) of trunk roads and motorways (Figure 3) carrying a third of all road traffic, including two thirds of all heavy freight traffic. The Highways Agency (the Agency), an executive agency of the Department for Transport, is responsible for the construction, maintenance, operation and improvement of the network.