Skip to main content

New Highways England chief executive announced

Jim O’Sullivan has been appointed as the new chief executive of Highways England and will lead the government-owned company which is responsible for delivering US$17 billion of improvements to England’s motorways and major A roads by 2020. O’Sullivan is an experienced engineer who is expected bring significant leadership experience the role. He has a broad range of experience working on safety critical transport projects, in the utilities industries and in world renowned businesses including British Airw
June 22, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
Jim O’Sullivan has been appointed as the new chief executive of 8101 Highways England and will lead the government-owned company which is responsible for delivering US$17 billion of improvements to England’s motorways and major A roads by 2020.

O’Sullivan is an experienced engineer who is expected bring significant leadership experience the role. He has a broad range of experience working on safety critical transport projects, in the utilities industries and in world renowned businesses including British Airways and Heathrow Airport Holdings.

He will take over the post from Graham Dalton who announced his departure in January after seven years leading Highways England predecessor the 503 Highways Agency.

Highways England chairman Colin Matthews said: “I am delighted to announce Jim’s appointment to lead Highways England in a new, challenging era. The government has committed to the biggest investment in roads in a generation: there are more than 100 roads schemes in its Road Investment Strategy which Highways England will be responsible for delivering to provide safer, more reliable and much improved journeys on our busiest roads.

“I would like to thank Graham Dalton for his leadership over the past 7 years. He has been responsible for significant improvement schemes, as well as meeting the needs of the nation during severe weather and events of international interest such as the 2012 Olympics, all culminating in the successful transition from the Highways Agency to Highways England.”

Related Content

  • May 19, 2015
    Key transport bodies join forces on Greater Manchester road network
    Highways England and Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding which will see the two bodies work in partnership to develop shared priorities and a long-term vision for motorways and key roads across the city region. The move follows the formation of Highways England earlier this year, a government-owned company with a five-year budget of over US$17 billion to invest in England’s motorways and major A roads. The new joint document aims to support economic growth in
  • March 27, 2015
    ORR launches consultation on monitoring strategic roads network
    The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) has launched a public consultation setting out its proposed approach to a new monitoring regime to track Highways England’s performance in delivering its major roads investment programme. The consultation also sets out ORR’s strategic objective on securing improved performance and value for money from the strategic road network, and explains how ORR will hold Highways England to account. ORR is seeking comments from all interested parties by 19 June 2015. Last year th
  • August 27, 2014
    Roads revolution adds 900 miles of extra capacity
    Road users in the UK will see around 900 extra lane miles of road capacity added to England’s strategic highway network by 2021, a third more than was provided in the previous decade. The boost is thanks to a huge US£39.7 billion investment, the biggest since the 1970s, which will see annual funding for enhancements to motorways and major A roads triple over the next six years. Investment includes more than US$15 billion on maintenance, US$10 billion of which will be spent on resurfacing 3,000 miles of t
  • March 3, 2020
    How safe are smart motorways?
    A valiant attempt to ease the UK’s congested strategic road system? Or an idea that should never have seen the light of day? Alan Dron reports on the controversy over smart motorways...