PLC Public Sector reports:
This week the Department for Transport (DfT) has issued a consultation and draft guidance to local highway authorities in England on how they could implement lane rental schemes to cut disruption on roads. Views are invited on the proposals that would entitle authorities to charge a daily fee for the duration of roadworks carried out on roads, in order to reduce the adverse impact that such works inevitably have on local traffic. One estimate puts the loss to the economy of such works at £4.3 billion a year.
The government’s strategy is based around:
- Imposing statutory duties on those undertaking the work in relation to safety, training and the quality of highway work.
- • Statutory powers for highway authorities to enable them to co-ordinate works in their areas, including stronger powers to regulate works on the most critical streets, and more generally to manage highway networks to secure the smooth flow of traffic.
- Financial incentives for companies carrying out the works, to reduce the length of time the works take and to carry these out at less disruptive times.
- Non-regulatory measures, that would encourage wider adoption of good working practices with the aim of achieving consistent benchmarking of performance.
Under section 74A of the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991 (NRSWA 1991), local highway authorities already have the necessary powers to put in place lane rental schemes, subject (in England) to the approval of the Secretary of State. Although the primary legislation relates specifically to street works (that is, those works undertaken by utility companies and others with apparatus in the highway), the works that highway authorities undertake themselves can also cause substantial disruption and the government is encouraging authorities to come up with lane rental schemes which can be applied to their works and which fit the needs of their local area.
Because of changes to various aspects of the street works legislation, the existing lane rental regulations (the Street Works (Charges for Occupation of the Highway) (England) Regulations 2001 (SI 2001/4060) are now out of date and inoperable. Although the government considers that highway authorities should have discretion to determine which streets and works should be covered by lane rental charges, some constraints should be set out in regulations. Therefore, the consultation invites views upon proposed new draft regulations which:
- Provide for the payment of charges by reference to the duration of works at a daily rate of £2,500.
- Include proposed statutory exemptions from lane rental charges. Chapter 3 of the draft guidance emphasises that such charges should be applicable only on the most critical streets at the busiest times. In summary, it is proposed that:
- categories of works that are exempt from overrun charges (under section 74 of the NRSWA 1991) would also be exempt from lane rental charges; and
- charges would be permitted only on streets that have been designated as traffic-sensitive by the highway authority and should apply only if works occupy the highway at the busiest times.
- Propose a “sunset” clause, so that such measures will be reviewed within a specified time period and will only continue if the measures are found to be still necessary and effective.
Although the guidance will not have direct statutory force, proposed schemes that are inconsistent with the guidance will need to demonstrate genuinely exceptional reasons for those inconsistencies in order to secure the approval of the Secretary of the State.
Although lane rental pilot schemes were originally operated in the London Borough of Camden and Middlesbrough between 2002 and 2004, no further schemes were implemented after this period. Since lane rental has yet to be proved as a successful model for tackling disruption caused by works, the government at this stage is contemplating lane rental schemes in just one or two places, one major urban area (probably London) and one non-metropolitan area. Early evidence from such pilot schemes are hoped to inform decisions on whether lane rental could be applied more widely.
Undoubtedly, local highway authorities and local businesses will welcome the introduction of lane rental schemes to ease road congestion. However, critics argue that requiring each scheme to obtain the approval of Whitehall smacks of needless red tape and bureaucracy, given that the particular local highway authority is more likely to know the pressure of their local roads. Given that any revenue raised from lane rental charges would be used by local authorities to fund measures that could help to reduce future road works disruption, such as infrastructure work, research or measures to improve the management of works, most local highway authorities are keen to get on with the scheme, rather than trialling the initiative.
The consultation closes on 31 October 2011, giving plenty of time for the lane rental scheme to be in place in London in time for the 2012 Olympics which will help ensure the Olympic Route Network runs smoothly without disruption.