Ten of the county’s largest companies have come together with Lincolnshire County Council and it’s contractors to sign-up to a new Street Works Charter designed to cut the amount of disruption roadworks cause across Lincolnshire.
The Charter is the work of the county council and has been put together in a bid to cut down both the amount of time a road is closed, and the number of times different utility companies carry out work in the same spot.
Leader of Lincolnshire County Council, Martin Hill said: “The Street Works Charter has been designed so that we all carry out a more joined-up way of planning and working together.
“For too long the people of Lincolnshire have seen road closures where perhaps the road didn’t need to be closed, or traffic restrictions left up when they could have been removed between working shifts to free up traffic flow.
“How many times have we all seen a road dug up for some reason only to have it dug up again in the same area weeks later when another company has other parts of its works programme to carry out?
“We’ve been working at smarter planning and improved relationships with utility companies for some time and things have been improving. The Charter is the next step in bringing us all together to better that improvement even further and this is something I am delighted that we, as the highways authority, have now been able to do.”
LCC’s Head of Client and Contractual Management, Jonathan Evans added: “I think that the Charter will mean that we will see less disruption. Working collaboratively between these partners will mean that the travelling public will see less of us, and that’s ultimately what we’re trying to do here.”
Ashley Behan, Street works and permitting manager for the authority concluded: “On the ground, people will see a commitment from the county council and all the organisations that carry out roadworks in Lincolnshire to focus on completing roadworks in a quicker timeframe.
“Making sure they’re safe, making sure they’re compliant and that people understand what they need to do is a key part of the charter, as is making sure that works are completed as quickly as possible to reduce traffic disruption.”
The Street Works Charter launches on September 1, 2023
