'What if...?' Network Planner Luke explains how these two words help to keep the traffic flowing

His role covers 1,800 miles of motorways and A roads across the Midlands – and, as he tells us, it's about much more than tarmac and traffic cones.

How did you get into network planning?

My first experience of emergency planning was a university work placement with the NHS. When I graduated, I joined the ambulance service and worked as a paramedic throughout the pandemic. 

When my work placement boss called to offer me a job in emergency planning, I decided to accept the challenge. The NHS taught me how important it is to embed emergency planning in everything you do. The NHS is very good at asking ‘what if..?’ which is a vital question when you’re working in resilience.

From there, I moved to my current role at National Highways. It’s obviously a very different organisation but the core principle of asking ‘what if…?’ is just as central.

How varied is the job?

Very! One day, I might be working with the organisers of large public events like Download to make sure we have the right traffic arrangements in place; the next day, I could be at one of our regional operation centres testing our incident management plan.

The plan ensures we’re prepared to respond quickly to large scale incidents on the roads – that could mean over-running roadworks, a major road traffic collision, infrastructure issues or severe weather.

Like everyone at National Highways, my aim is to keep road users moving. 

What advice would you give to people travelling over the festive season?

Our ‘Have a safe TRIP’ campaign advises everyone to follow four key steps to stay safe while travelling this Xmas: Top up, Rest, Inspect, Prepare.

What skills are most important in the job you do?

The most important skill in this job is communication - and my most important asset is my phone book so I know who to call! I need to make sure we have all the right people and resources in place, when we need them: during Storm Claudia, for instance, we had teams clearing the gutters in advance to mitigate against flooding, tree surgeons on standby in case of fallen trees, and traffic officers ready to respond to any problems.

About 90% of this job is about building relationships.

After an incident, we also do a lot of debriefing to make sure we don’t just identify the lessons but truly learn them.

It’s about a lot more than tarmac and traffic cones, you know!