West Sussex roadworks: New scheme means companies will be charged per day of disruption

The West Sussex Lane Rental Scheme (WSLRS) came into effect on December 1 after approval from the Secretary of State for Transport.

West Sussex County Council said it ‘not applicable on all roads within the county’ – only those where it is ‘felt the greatest disruption is caused by lanes being closed’. This equates to about 10 per cent of the network – 907 roads across West Sussex.

The initiative, which will work alongside the West Sussex Permit Scheme, allows the council to ‘require payment of charges’ by promoters of street and roadworks for the time their works occupy the highway network.

Joy Dennis, cabinet member for highways and transport, said: "I am delighted that we are the third local authority outside of London to have the go ahead for our lane rental scheme, which I expect to lead to fewer delays and queues on our roads.

"The lane rental scheme is focused on the most critical parts of our highway network, with charges applying only at the busiest times. Road works can still occur but will be incentivised to work quickly and efficiently. This means those who need to carry out essential works and supply public services can still do so but will be causing less disruption to our road network."

The council said different charges apply depending on the type of work being undertaken and how disruptive those works will be to the travelling public.

The WSRLS encourages those who need to carry out works on the county’s road network to ‘become more efficient’ with how they manage the works when a road or lane closure is needed.

The council said the scheme will help to minimise the disruption by encouraging more work to be completed outside of peak periods, highways to be reopened to traffic at the busiest times and by causing a reduction in the length of time works are being completed.

A spokesperson added: “The charges applied will promote investment in innovative road work practices and improved traffic signage, improvements in the planning, co-ordination and working methods used to maximise efficiency and completion of work to the required standard first time.

“The surplus revenue gained from lane rental fees will be used to further reduce the wider impacts of road works by supporting the industry to develop innovative measures and projects that reduce the disruption and adverse effects to local communities when essential works are undertaken.

"Funding will also be allocated to extra monitoring and council officer support for those undertaking road works in the county.”

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Scheme backed by MP

Tim Loughton, MP for East Worthing and Shoreham, has supported the scheme. It comes after motorists in Adur and Worthing told SussexWorld that they were reaching the end of their tether, as an array of roadworks continued to cause ‘total chaos' in Worthing, Lancing and Shoreham.

Mr Loughton said roadworks ‘should not be taking forever’, adding: “I get lots of people writing in to me about roadworks in Adur and Worthing taking far too long, causing build ups and delays. It is unacceptable and hopefully about to change.

"We are one of the first in the country to pilot the Highways Lane Rental Scheme — it means utility companies will be charged per day of disruption. It should speed things up and make a big difference.”

The MP told the Worthing Herald that the scheme ‘will deal with a good part of the disruption for all these roadworks’

He also called on the county council to do a ‘proper audit’ for traffic and parking across the whole of Shoreham-by-Sea.

"We need to see how we can better deal with the traffic we've got and free up more parking,” he said. “That's becoming a real nightmare in Shoreham.”

West Sussex County Council said it has recently agreed with Mr Dennis – the cabinet member for highways and transport – to bring forward the proposed controlled parking zone study for Shoreham to early 2023.

The feasibility works, including the defining of the study area, will ‘begin shortly’, the council confirmed.