Plans to introduce lane rental schemes for utility companies to reduce roadworks during peak traffic hours have been published by the Department for Transport.

The consultation invites views on proposals to allow local highways authorities in England to implement “lane rental” schemes, under which they would charge a daily fee for the duration of works carried out in a street at the busiest times.

Any council wanting to put in place a lane rental scheme would need to gain approval from the DfT and revenue raised should ideally be used by councils to fund measures that could help to reduce future road works disruption.

Click here to view the consultation document

The CIHT will be submitting a response to the consultation. If you would like to contribute, please send us your comments by Friday 14 October 2011 to: technical@ciht.org.uk