Updates on the Road Investment Strategy 2 and lessons learned with Graham Richards from Office of Rail and Road

This month’s podcast features a bumper news update, including the recent reaction to the proposed London Resorts Theme Park planning application.
NCE’s editor Claire Smith, news editor Rob Horgan and reporter Catherine Kennedy go over the month’s most interesting stories: could the French ban on domestic short-haul flights be translated to the UK?
Also on the table is multipurpose infrastructure projects, with some industry figures asking if projects like Lower Thames Crossing could include a railway and if a ‘systems’ view for UK infrastructure would be a sensible approach.
Later, Nadine Buddoo, features editor at NCE joins the conversation introducing this month’s guest, Graham Richards.
Graham is the director of planning and performance at the Office of Rail and Road. He takes a few minutes to explain the purpose of the organisation, before being quizzed by the team on the second Road Investment Strategy (RIS).
What are its key focus areas and what progress has thus far been made by Highways England? What lessons have been learned from RIS1?
Will there be a third strategy, and how will that differ from what’s past given we’re coming up on the government-forced ban on specific types of vehicles?
Graham is also asked how RIS3 fits into the journey to net zero.
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