UK A303 highway
The single carriageway section of the A303 between Sparkford and Ilchester. Credit: Highways England/GOV.UK.

UK Government-owned Highways England has awarded two road upgrade contracts totalling £435m to British construction company Galliford Try.

The first £300m contract will deliver improvements to the A47 corridor around Norwich and Peterborough.

The second contract, worth £135m, is the A303 Sparkford to Ilchester dualling scheme in Somerset.

Both contracts were signed under the £8.7bn Regional Delivery Partnerships framework, which is divided into Band A (less than £100m) and Band B (more than £100m) categories.

Under the Routes to Market Regional Delivery Partnership, 13 companies known as Delivery Integration Partners (DIPs) were chosen to deliver work on 18 packages of schemes.

Highways England major projects executive director Peter Mumford said: “I am absolutely delighted to announce the signing of these latest contracts as part of the Regional Delivery Partnerships.

“These are among 13 companies that will be working with us to deliver these important road projects, safely, and with our customers in mind. To achieve this we have worked hard to create alignment between ourselves and our supply chain, focusing on the behaviours that support us to achieve our shared goals.

“This is clear evidence that new ways of working are being embraced by the market, which is now seizing the opportunity to work in a more integrated way with us, representing a fundamental change in the way we deliver our road projects.

“We will continue to work with the supply chain and look forward to completing and announcing more contracts in due course.”

As part of the A47 improvement programme, three sections will be upgraded to dual carriageway and the A47/ A141 junction in Guyhirn and the A47/A11 Thickthorn junction will be improved.

The Sparkford to Ilchester scheme will upgrade a three-mile single carriageway section of the A303 to dual carriageway.