Oxfordshire County Council has asked the UK Government permission to introduce a new lane rental scheme (LRS) for companies closing roads.

The new policy will aim to discourage long term roadworks and avoid disruption for residents. The policy would apply to utilities and other companies that require road closures in order to carry out installations and repairs.

Charges for delayed or prolonged road closures could cost as much as £2,500 a day. It is hoped this would lead companies to carry out roadworks at off-peak times and ensure work is completed as quickly as possible.

The council currently operates a permit scheme for roadworks, however the permit scheme charges only allow council costs to be recovered and, unlike LRS, doesn’t allow the council to impose specific charges to discourage those requesting to work on the busiest roads at the busiest times.

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Current proposals for the new scheme include no charge for the first two days of a project, off-peak hours operating from 9.30am to 3pm, and the council's own roadworks would not be exempt from the charges. Roughly five per cent of the highway network would be liable for charges, based on factors such as traffic volume and bus frequency.

Any surplus fees arising from the scheme must be invested back into the highway network to help improve the operation and management of Oxfordshire's roads and streets.

Commenting on the plans, Councillor Andrew Gant, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Highway Management, said: "We know only too well that roadworks during peak hours can have a huge impact on Oxfordshire’s road network. LRS would put the onus on the organisation causing the disruption to plan their projects carefully and consider other road users or face financial penalties.

"Only a handful of other authorities around the country have adopted this, so Oxfordshire County Council would be at the forefront of this policy, which has already successfully led to behaviour change from those carrying out roadworks in other parts of the country."