£27bn roads strategy faces delivery complexity

The United Kingdom's Road Investment Strategy 3 (Ris3) allocates £27 billion towards renewals, maintenance, and enhancements of the strategic road network. While its focus may appear simpler than previous strategies dominated by major capital projects, its delivery is expected to be more complex. This complexity arises from the broad spectrum of interventions, their spread across different regions and asset types, and the unique objectives, stakeholders, and constraints associated with each project.

The challenges are further amplified by ageing infrastructure, increasing demands on the network, and the need to manage public and road user expectations while working in live operational environments. Coordinating the sheer volume and variety of work under Ris3 necessitates a programmatic approach. This approach requires enhanced visibility across the entire portfolio, better integration of risks and dependencies, and the flexibility to make timely decisions as the network's needs change.

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A Portfolio Perspective

Managing Ris3 effectively demands a holistic view that extends beyond individual projects, encompassing resources, materials, scheduling, and risks across the complete portfolio. A portfolio approach shifts the focus from treating each scheme as a standalone entity. Although every intervention has its local context, many share common characteristics, delivery methods, and operational requirements. This creates an opportunity to foster consistency and adopt repeatable processes that prioritise standardisation, simplification, and ongoing improvement.

Ris3 should employ programmatic thinking to group complementary interventions and geographically aligned delivery sections. By coordinating investments along specific routes, corridors, or localities, these sections can enhance network operation and resilience, and minimise disruption more effectively than isolated interventions. Identifying common intervention types and repeatable models also facilitates the transfer of lessons learned, delivery strategies, and commercial approaches across the portfolio, leading to improved predictability and efficiencies that individual projects cannot achieve alone.

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Supply Chain Integration and Oversight

This portfolio strategy will also support more consistent oversight and coordination of the supply chain, which is vital for a programme like Ris3, relying on a wide array of specialist and regional contractors. Achieving success requires a central programme control function capable of monitoring performance across common work types, delivery models, and supply chain partners. This oversight not only drives efficiency but also enhances operational coherence across the network, enabling earlier identification of emerging risks, dependencies, and opportunities. It also provides the agility to adapt to shifting network priorities, risks, and capacity, particularly relevant given the competition for resources from other major national programmes.

Leveraging Digital Tools for Data-Driven Decisions

As Ris3 moves towards iterative and repeatable interventions, the capture of comparable data, automation of controls, and development of predictive approaches to managing cost, risk, and delivery performance become paramount. Digital tools are essential for harnessing the vast quantities of data generated across the portfolio concerning cost, schedule, and risk. Consistent, connected records can improve forecasting, support faster and more informed decision-making, and drive efficiencies throughout the project lifecycle. Comparing performance with historical data and similar live programmes helps establish credible baselines, test assumptions, and flag early warning signs if work deviates from its planned course.

Ris3 also presents an opportunity to strengthen the evidence base for future investment periods. Consistent data from a repeatable portfolio can demonstrate which interventions offer the best whole-life value, how supplier performance varies, and where standardisation can boost productivity in design, procurement, or delivery. This intelligence will provide a stronger foundation for subsequent road programmes. Ultimately, digital investment should be evaluated by the quality and speed of the decisions it enables. Connected control environments with live data provide programme leaders with confidence in the baseline, visibility of current performance, and a clearer view of necessary actions, building the digital maturity required for future AI deployment.

Connections for Growth

More so than its predecessors, Ris3 acknowledges that the quality and capacity of the road network significantly influence decisions beyond the highways sector. Major investors and developers rely on dependable connections between sites, communities, and supply chains to build confidence in their returns. Therefore, certainty in road delivery must be a national priority, central to placemaking ambitions and a significant lever for unlocking wider economic growth. As devolution and local government reforms grant regional authorities greater control and funding over transport, the potential for benefits beyond the network increases, as does the pressure to deliver effectively.

With effective portfolio management, a flexible programmatic approach, and improved use of performance data, Ris3 can establish a more resilient foundation for regional investment and generate lasting value for the nation's economy and communities, according to Turner & Townsend director Prashant Jagdale.