Skip to main content

ITS awards for highways technology company

Two projects which highways technology company Rennicks says could set the blueprint for a fresh approach to road safety have sparked a double celebration for the company. It has landed the title of Road Marking Project of the Year at the recent Highways Magazine Excellence Awards for a ground-breaking scheme in Scotland using solar-powered active road stud technology. And the company also clinched an ITS Ireland ITS Excellence award after providing the largest solar-powered variable message signs for t
October 31, 2014 Read time: 2 mins
Two projects which highways technology company Rennicks says could set the blueprint for a fresh approach to road safety have sparked a double celebration for the company.

It has landed the title of Road Marking Project of the Year at the recent Highways Magazine Excellence Awards for a ground-breaking scheme in Scotland using solar-powered active road stud technology.  And the company also clinched an 7075 ITS Ireland ITS Excellence award after providing the largest solar-powered variable message signs for the inter-urban motorway network in Ireland.

The company’s SR-15 units use LED and solar technology to create delineation shown to be far more effective than traditional retroreflective road studs.  The studs made a big impact in Scotland, where a local authority became the first in the country to install the technology on a major route. Incidents on a stretch of the A719 in East Ayrshire are said to have been reduced by 100 per cent.

Road safety expert Alan Vass, of the Ayrshire Roads Alliance, said such dramatic results could prompt a new approach to highway markings across the country.

Rennicks won the ITS Ireland award after supplying the National Roads Authority with three 5.1 x 3.6m fixed solar-powered full matrix signs capable of remote communication and control. Solar technology enables the signs to be installed in rural areas where there is limited access to electricity supplies.

The signs, which deliver VMS capability in almost any location, were installed as part of a pilot project at strategic locations on the M7, M8 and M11 in Ireland.

Group managing director Michael Flanagan says the prestigious industry prizes are rich reward for the company’s intelligent approach. He said: “We are looking to make big strides in the world of intelligent traffic solutions (ITS) so these awards are a great boost to everyone involved. Intelligent thinking is at the core of our business and this success is a clear illustration that we’re on the right track.”

Related Content

  • New Product of the Year award solar DMS
    September 1, 2014
    SolarSign, a solar powered dynamic messaging sign (DMS) developed by SES America, was awarded ITS Heartland New Product of the Year for 2014 at the recent National Rural Intelligent Transportation System conference in Missouri. SolarSign is a comprehensively integrated solar powered DMS system with full range capabilities for use on major highways as well as travel time, warning, and awareness signs used in solutions-oriented for both rural and urban transportation applications.
  • Active traffic management increases safety and capacity
    February 2, 2012
    WSDOT is deploying Active Traffic Management in order to increase safety and capacity on its strategic roads. WSDOT's Patricia Michaud elaborates
  • Australian company to supply VMS for London Olympics
    June 4, 2012
    Bartco, a traffic management company based in Melbourne, Australia, has won a US$1.92 million contract to supply portable variable message signs (VMS) to Transport for London (TfL) for use during the Olympic Games. Some 200 signs display both directional and security advice to motorists about road conditions during the Olympics, as well as the management of special Olympic Route Network traffic lanes.
  • Average speed cameras go live on Scotland’s motorway upgrade
    July 17, 2015
    Average speed cameras are due to go live across the US$780 million M8 M73 M74 Motorway Improvements Project in Scotland. It is hoped they will encourage a safe and steady traffic flow by monitoring the average speed of vehicles through the works to ensure the safety of both road users and road workers. The cameras are expected to go live on 20 July and will remain in place until the completion of the project in spring 2017.