Oxfordshire County Council has proposed a lane rental scheme (LRS), which could generate a surplus income of between £2m and £11m a year.
A budget document published by the authority shows that it anticipates a surplus of £2.15m from the scheme during 2024-25.
Although it estimates annual income from the scheme of between £3m and £12.5m, depending on the potential behaviour change of the industry, with annual running costs of around £1m.
The highway authority will ask for ministerial approval on the scheme, which would see organisations working on its busiest roads at the busiest times face extra charges of up to £2,500 a day.
The aim is to encourage undertakers such as utility firms to prioritise off-peak hours and complete the work as quickly as possible.
The council said that any surplus money raised would be used to help manage and improve the highway network.
Cllr Andrew Gant, 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.’
The council said it has been operating a permit scheme for road and street works since 2020 and receives about 30,000 requests a year. These requests are co-ordinated, inspected, and enforced to reduce the impact on the travelling public, it said.
However, the permit scheme charges only allow council costs to be recovered and do not allow the authority to impose specific charges to discourage those requesting to work on the busiest roads at the busiest times.
The council said that although details of the scheme would need to be developed if approval is given, core principles could 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.
It added that roughly 5% of the highway network would be liable for charges, based on factors such as traffic volume and bus frequency.
