The Streets of London: Safe, Reliable and Cared For
Dana Skelley OBE, the Asset Management Director at Transport for London, presented the 2017 Paviors’ Lecture. Her subject was The Streets of London: safe, reliable and cared for. The Worshipful Company of Paviors organized the Lecture with the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Imperial College, and the Institution of Civil Engineers. A large audience of professionals, academics and students, including many Paviors again attended the event.
Dana joined TfL in 2000 after working at London boroughs following an engineering degree and an MBA. In addition to her professional duties, she has put considerable effort into encouraging and supporting women in engineering. She was awarded an OBE in 2015 for her services to transport in the UK and the Paviors’ Medal for Excellence in 2016.
The Lecture took the audience back to the roots of the Paviors Company, as it focused on the maintenance and management of London’s roads and streets. Dana Skelley has responsibilities for which the Paviors Company was constituted in the 13th Century. Today’s work is on a far larger scale, involving not only roads but footpaths, tunnels, bridges and traffic lights. She leads a team of about 450 engineers. Dana traced the history of London’s streets in the context of the overall city infrastructure and reflected on changing attitudes to safety, care and reliability. She also addressed the management of London’s streets today and into the future. A lively discussion session followed the informative Lecture.