The £35m-a-year highway works contract could be worth up to £420m to Ringway over the seven-to-twelve year duration of the deal.

The Ringway contract is one of a series being let by the council to replace its long-term highways partnership contracts with Amey Lafarge JV and Mouchel, which expire at the end of September.

Stuart Pile, Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport, said: “The end of the existing contracts has given us an opportunity to rethink how we structure the highways service and we’re making some significant changes.

“The Hertfordshire Highways contracts were recognised as innovative when they were set up ten years ago. However, the industry has moved on and – if we’re going to provide the best service possible for our residents – so must we.”

The contract covers the delivery of routine, planned, cyclical and reactive maintenance and improvement work.

It also includes performance management mechanisms under which Ringway may be awarded other work – including road, pavement and drainage programmes and transport and safety schemes – depending on their performance.

Pile said: “We will also be developing a framework of contractors who can bid for maintenance and improvement works, so the amount of work we give to Ringway will depend on how well they perform.

“This ongoing competitive pressure will help make sure that we get a good deal throughout the life of the contract and continue to provide a high quality local service.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank our current partners – Amey, Lafarge and Mouchel – for all their work over the last ten years.

“With our 3,000 miles of roads and pavements, 1,700 bridges, 100,000 street lights, 154,000 drains and 118,000 signs, highways work in Hertfordshire is no easy task.

“I really appreciate their commitment to delivering our service. We have a major programme of maintenance work to deliver in the coming months and I look forward to continuing to work with our partners during this time to deliver these schemes.”

Ringway fought off competition from Amey and May Gurney to land the deal.

Jerry Pert, Regional Director at Ringway, said: “The tender included a very professionally managed competitive dialogue process, which allowed Ringway to engage with the council to truly understand their objectives and shape our service provision and offer.

“We look forward to implementing the agreed working arrangements and processes, along with working with the council to successfully deliver their highways service objectives and a very high level of customer service.”

Hertfordshire County Council is also procuring a client support contract to provide professional support, specialist contracts for structures and transport planning, and a framework for structural maintenance.