1-910 Highway Link Design - Revisions to Relaxations and Rural / Urban Classifications

Highways England is seeking the provision of services to undertake an analysis of recommendations for changes to specific design parameters that have arisen through research previously undertaken on behalf of Transport Scotland and to also undertake research into urban and rural classifications as applied to highway design parameters. Specifically, this task will look at: - Developing an empirical evidence base to determine whether there is a robust case to adopt a recommendation to limit the maximum level of permitted relaxations for horizontal radius on all-purpose roads to two-steps below desirable minimum for design speeds of 85kph and above and three-steps below desirable minimum for design speeds of 70kph and below, - Developing an observational evidence base to determine whether there is a robust case to adopt a recommendation to increase the upper bound driver eye height of the visibility envelope to a level significantly above the 2.0m currently adopted in the Design Manual for Roads and Bridges (DMRB) to reflect the needs of the drivers of higher vehicles (the 85%ile HGV driver eye height recorded by the Transport Scotland research was 2.774m), - The ongoing suitability of current definitions of rural and urban classifications as they apply to highway design.