The Government's Ten Year Transport Plan Transport 2010 acknowledges the strong economic, environmental and social case for investment in infrastructure in all modes of travel. It also recognises the need to reduce the impact of transport on the environment, both locally and as part of wider international efforts.

The Guidelines on The Environmental Management of Highways outline the development of environmental policy in the UK and describe best practice on a range of key environmental topics relating to the management and maintenance of transport infrastructure.

The Guidelines are intended to be compatible with other official guidance from the Institution of Highways & Transportation (IHT), the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR) and the Highways Agency (HA).

The main purpose of these Guidelines is to describe best practice in managing and maintaining transport infrastructure, especially but not exclusively highways, in such a way as to minimise any potentially harmful environmental impacts and maximise environmental gains. It is a technical document to support the aims of the 1998 White Paper, A New Deal for Transport: Better for Everyone, which values the objective of environmental protection highly. Indeed the White Paper sets the framework "to minimise transport's demand for land, protect habitats and maintain the variety of wildlife" and to "limit the visual intrusion caused by transport".

The Guidelines are intended for use mainly by planners, architects, highway engineers, traffic engineers and maintenance engineers, in both the public and private sectors. They are also intended to assist councillors, voluntary groups and others who wish to pursue improvements to the highway environment, such as residents whose community is disrupted by heavy traffic. Finally, they are intended to help promote a consensus amongst the authorities, professionals and user groups on the best ways to improve conditions.

The emphasis of the Guidelines is on what to do and how to do it. Those involved in the planning and development process need to put a new emphasis on achieving good design. Good urban and rural design, a concern for the overall quality of the environment and the built environment in particular, is necessary for the creation of attractive living surroundings which work well for everyone. The policy and planning framework is outlined, but the focus is on the processes that will prevent or reduce environmental damage. The emphasis is on planning, management, layout and engineering, and on making the very best use of our existing road network by knowing what to do and when and how to do it.

The Guidelines are in two parts. Chapters 2 and 3 cover issues relating to policy and management. Chapters 4 to 9 provide advice on how to avoid or mitigate harmful consequences of highways management and how to provide environmental gain.

Chapter 2 provides the transport and environment policy context relevant to the design, management and maintenance of highways. Chapter 3 describes environmental management systems, best practice, legislation and regulation.

Chapter 4 covers drainage, runoff and groundwater management describing highway pollutant sources such as vehicle emissions and vehicle component wear, vehicle leakages, road surface erosion and accidental spillages.
Road traffic emissions are the largest single source of a variety of common air pollutants. Air quality management is addressed in Chapter 5.

Chapter 6 is concerned with noise management, in addition to issues relating to the calculation of road traffic noise.
Landscape management is covered in Chapter 7. This chapter provides a brief overview of the principal issues relating to the management of roadside landscapes, in terms of both management operations such as grass cutting and thinning of woodland planting, but also in the wider sense of managing and improving the road network. It sets out guidelines on current and potential future best practice.

In Chapter 8 the history of highway management and nature conservation is briefly reviewed and some recent and current initiatives are described. Finally, Chapter 9 considers the implications of current government policy and best practice for the management of highways within the context of the built heritage.

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