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

  • 3M invests US$1.3 million in tolling technology testing
    April 8, 2014
    3M is investing $1.3million to expand its research center to develop and test tolling and public safety products, and customers can use it too. When 3M opened its Transportation Safety Research Center (TSRC) in the 1970s it was as an extension of its research facilities. More than a showcase for innovation, the center was—and continues to be—a dynamic outdoor laboratory where new traffic materials, systems, vehicle safety and public safety products are tested in real-world conditions. Now, with 3M expanding
  • ITS (UK) confirms shortlists for awards
    November 3, 2021
    The event will also feature a tour of Cubic's facility
  • Mounting benefits of dynamic tolling project
    January 30, 2012
    Wisconsin's four-year HOT lanes pilot project, launched in May 2008, cost US$18.8 million to construct. Halfway into the project, which uses variably priced, or dynamic, tolling to improve highway efficiency, the benefits are mounting. The problem was obvious, and frustrating, to anyone who ever sat in bumper-to-bumper traffic on State Route 167 and watched a lone car whiz by every 20 seconds or so in the carpool lane. But for planners at the Washington State Department of Transportation, the conundrum was
  • International Road Safety Awards: the winners
    March 4, 2019
    Road accidents are a major blight on the world’s highways - but some companies are attempting to stem the tide. David Arminas reports on the annual Prince Michael International Road Safety Awards