Locally, roadworks are the bane of our lives. In particular, the A25 remains a nightmare, with another complete road closure in Sundridge last week. The amount of disruption in recent times on the A25 is unacceptable. It is an incredibly important through route, and I’m sure like me, many residents hold their breathe when travelling to and from work, or on the school run, fearing their journey will suffer from the seemingly ubiquitous roadworks.
Whilst (as was the case last week in Sundridge) I am able to put pressure on works to be sped up, I cannot prevent works from taking place. Around one third of all works that take place on the highway are due to self-declared emergencies by utility companies. However, I am concerned, with so many works being deemed an emergency, whether in all instances if they are indeed emergencies.
Quite clearly, such as case recently on Bradbourne Vale Road where gas leaks were detected, it is imperative to maintain safety for residents and do what is necessary to keep us safe. But, we need to make sure the power is not overused, because emergency works have a major impact as this means utility companies can close roads provided they tell Kent County Council (KCC) within two hours of doing so, which means any planning of works by KCC goes out the window.
I am also concerned about the incentives to carry out works in a timely manner and in a way that causes the least disruption. For instance, asking for temporary lights to be staffed, helps ensure that traffic flow is as smooth as possible, however, it is cheaper for the utility company to pay the fine for non-compliance rather than actually staff the traffic lights.
Kent County Council (KCC) have been working on a report looking into the issue of roadworks, but additionally there may need to be changes of national legislation. Prior to the election being called, I was planning to meet with the Roads Minister is discuss my concerns, and I have already sought a meeting with the new Minister to raise this again.
In the meanwhile, I have also written to KCC asking for the Kent Lane Rental Scheme to be put in place on the A25. This scheme only applies to selected roads within Kent and provides companies who need to close the road or lane to complete highway works a financial incentive to make sure it is carried out in a less disruptive way. A daily rate is charged to companies working on specific roads and if it is during busy periods such as rush hour.
If implemented the scheme would hopefully reduce the length of time that sites are unoccupied, which reduces the time taken to complete the work, improves planning, coordination and working methods to maximise efficiency, means more work is completed outside of peak periods, enables work to be completed as quickly as possible and to the required standard first time.
We must lessen the amount of disruption suffered locally. I will keep you updated.
