Road lanes rented to utility firms

05 September 2007

Road lanes will be rented to utilities companies to limit the disruption caused on highways across Scotland, according to the new roadworks commissioner.

John Gooday said he would be using a charging system employed when he was network road manager at Transport Scotland that would see utility companies charged ‘rent’ for every day they take up a road lane beyond their stated date of completion.

However, they will also be paid extra for each day they finish early. ‘The current figure is £15,000 a day,’ said Gooday. ‘But this has been the case for some years now and could realistically be expected to rise if re-evaluated.’

He said that ‘lane renting’ provided the necessary incentive for utilities to get work completed as quickly as possible and limit disruption to motorists. The charging, already successful in getting work finished early on motorways and trunks roads, will now be used for works on any type of road, but only in the right circumstances.

‘It works best with well defined works, where there are less factors that can go wrong or prolong work,’ said Gooday.

A spokesman for Transport Scotland, which has seen work completed early on the M90 near Perth and the M8 by Glasgow thanks to lane renting, said: ‘Transport Scotland and its operating companies build in lane rental to the tendering process to minimise the disruption to traffic caused by the essential maintenance programme.

‘While it cannot guarantee that roadworks do not run over their specified duration, it does provide an incentive for the contractor to do everything possible to return the road to traffic in a timely manner.’ In another move to streamline the roadworks process, Gooday is introducing a register for local authorities and utilities, where anyone wanting to dig up the road would have to state what works are for and how long they are expected to take.

Motorist groups welcomed the moves, but a spokesman for the Joint Utilities Group warned that any extra costs would be passed on to consumers.

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