Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM), in partnership with 10 local authorities, have proposed a new lane rental scheme to tackle street works disruption on the busiest streets in Greater Manchester.
Join other savvy professionals just like you at CIHT. We are committed to fulfilling your professional development needs throughout your career
Proposals for a new lane rental scheme in Greater Manchester have been announced today (17 July). The Scheme has been proposed by Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) in partnership with the ten local highway authorities.
The proposed scheme in Greater Manchester would place charges - ranging from £1,500 per day for lane closures to £2,500 per day for full road closures with a £350 daily charge for work on areas that affect pedestrians – on organisations carrying out works. The scheme is proposed for just under 10% of Greater Manchester’s highways – 787 streets covering 855 kilometres.
TfGM and the ten local authorities have proposed the scheme with the aim to better incentivise organisations to collaborate and coordinate roadworks, as well as work outside the peak times.
Research being carried out by CIHT has found that while lane rental schemes should not be used as an income generating tool, they do provide a major opportunity for highway authorities to foster innovation support highway maintenance with surplus funding. CIHT will publish a report on the findings of this research in Autumn. For more information on the CIHT report on this topic, please email technical@ciht.org.uk
Background
Lane rental allows local highway authorities in England to charge organisations, including both utility companies and the highway authorities themselves, for carrying out highway works on traffic sensitive streets.
Lane rental charges are designed to be used on the busiest streets at the busiest hours to encourage organisations to carry out works during less busy hours to avoid charges, or deliver them more quickly to minimise the charge.
Lane rental schemes must be approved by the Secretary of State for Transport. However, the government recently consulted on whether powers to approve lane rental schemes should be devolved to Mayors of Strategic Authorities and announced that highways authorities would be required to invest 50% of surplus lane rental funds into highway maintenance.
There are currently four lane rental schemes in operation. Transport for London and Kent County Council have been operating lane rental schemes since 2012/2013, while Surrey County Council and West Sussex County Council have been operating lane rental schemes since 2021/2022.
Following an inquiry that CIHT provided both written and oral evidence submissions for, the UK house of Commons Transport Committee has published a report recommending that The Department for Transport should go further to encourage and support more local authorities to set up lane rental schemes by allowing all relevant authorities to do so without the need for approval from the Secretary of State.
Join other savvy professionals just like you at CIHT. We are committed to fulfilling your professional development needs throughout your career
{{item.AuthorName}} {{item.AuthorName}} says on {{item.DateFormattedString}}: