The ROADEX Project is a technical co-operation between roads organisations across northern Europe part funded by the EU Northern Periphery Programme that aims to share roads related information and research between the partners. The Project was started in 1998 as a 3 year pilot co-operation between the roads districts of Finnish Lapland, Troms County of Norway, the Northern Region of Sweden and the Highland Council of Scotland and was subsequently followed and extended by a second project, ROADEX II, from 2002 to 2005, a third project, ROADEX III, from 2006 to 2007, and a final project, “ROADEX Network Implementing Accessibility”, from 2009 to 2012.
The Partners in the current “ROADEX Network Implementing Accessibility” project comprise public road administrations and forestry organizations from across the European Northern Periphery. These are the Highland Council, Forestry Commission Scotland and Comhairle Nan Eilean Siar from Scotland, the Northern Region of the Norwegian Public Roads Administration, the Northern Region of the Swedish Transport Administration and the Swedish Forest Agency, the Lappi, Savo-Karjala and Keski-Suomi Regions of the Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment of Finland, The Icelandic Road Administration, The Department of Transport and The National Roads Authority from Ireland, and the Greenland Home Rule Government.
The project aims to change construction and maintenance of rural roads across the Northern Periphery by demonstrating what is possible when new ROADEX technologies are used. Demonstration projects of the ROADEX methods will be carried out in the local Partner areas supported by a new pan-regional “ROADEX Consultancy Service” and Knowledge Centre. Through these, roads administrations will be able to directly experience the benefits and cost savings that are available and so encourage their adoption through their organisations. Joint research and development will also continue in the areas of climate change, road widening and the health issues that can arise from poorly maintained roads.