Highway authorities which fail to manage their road networks effectively will be given time to get their act together before ministers impose a traffic director, councils have been assured.
Guidance issued under the Traffic Management Act promises low-key informal contacts, followed by advice and support from civil servants, before ministers wield their powers of intervention.
‘Making an intervention order to appoint a traffic director will be a situation reached only after serious efforts have been made to raise the standard of an authority that may not be properly managing its road network,’ the long-awaited draft guidance states.
The Department for Transport will be looking for evidence that each council’s approach to keeping local traffic moving is ‘challenging but realistic’. Although ‘regular reporting’ is expected, its form is not prescribed, and no performance indicators are included in the guidance. Authorities are expected to set their own parameters for congestion and adopt any national indicators that materialise.
The DfT will consider other evidence beside council reports, indicating its willingness to respond to media reports or public complaints.
Local transport minister Gillian Merron hoped ‘not to have to intervene’. Brian Smith, chair of the County Surveyors’ Society transportation committee, welcomed the ‘sensible and pragmatic approach’.
The consultation runs until 27 September.