At a time when Stone is gridlocked with multiple roadworks, Staffordshire County Council is proposing a new licensing scheme for roadworks that should save money and reduce disruption if approved.
Staffordshire County Council is planning to introduce a ‘Highway Permit Scheme’ to improve management of the thousands of roadworks dug each year by utility companies and the local authority.
Helen Fisher, Staffordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport, said:
“It’s vital to local communities, businesses and transport services that we keep Staffordshire moving.
“But at the same time we have to manage the maintenance and updating of our water, power, communications and road infrastructure so that essential work can be done, while minimising the disruption as much as possible.
“This new system will provide control over the works, allow better coordination and keep residents and drivers more informed when essential works have to be carried out.”
Utility companies, says a new report to be considered by the county council’s Cabinet next week, are responsible for more than 30,000 roadworks every year in Staffordshire.
The new licensing system offers more notification so the county council’s highways team can push utility providers to be more proactive in coordinating works between them, and to also consider undertaking more work outside peak travelling times.
Changes also mean that more roadworks will be publicised in advance on the one.network website.
Helen Fisher added:
“Under the current system water, power and communications companies can carry out work at some point within a certain period, but the new licensing system allows us to be more prescriptive and require them to absolutely start and finish by a certain time.”
