New council powers to tackle congestion

Councils in England have been granted new powers to control road works in a bid to help ease chronic congestion.

Following a consultation, the Department for Transport (DfT) has published guidance for councils that wish to implement lane rental schemes.

Lane rental allows councils to charge utility companies up to £2,500 a day to dig up roads at peak times. The intention is to influence utility companies to carry out work at quieter times and complete them quickly.

Before rolling the scheme out nationally the DfT plans to conduct three pilots, at least one of which will be in a metropolitan area.

Transport Minister Norman Baker says: “This disruption is not only inconvenient but very expensive, with road works-related congestion costing the economy an estimated 4 billion a year, which is why we are taking firm action.”

However a Labour statement says: “The proposals are so limited in their scope that they will only apply to a very small proportion of roads. By setting the maximum daily rental charge at £2,500 – the same level as the current maximum fine for over-running roadworks – ministers are not providing any real incentive for disruptive roadworks to be speeded up.”

Revenue raised from the scheme must be used to fund measures to reduce future road works disruption.

In December the Automotive Council and the Department for Business Innovation and Skills published a report claiming the UK's existing road network could be used and managed more effectively to reduce congestion.