The Scottish Road Works Commissioner has described Chris Grayling’s proposal to make the footway the default location for new utilities as 'wholly impractical' and 'politically driven'.
Speaking at the Highway Authority Utilities Committee (HAUC) (UK) national convention, Angus Carmichael (pictured) also said that he was unconvinced by the methods used to manage disruption from road works that are currently being rolled out in England.
Last month, the transport secretary floated a plan to make pavements the default location for new utility infrastructure to cut down on roadworks and potholes.
However, Mr Carmichael told delegates: ‘To me this is wholly impractical [and] politically driven.
‘There’s so much apparatus in there – there’s no space. There’s basements, there’s pedestrian to deal with. There’s disabled people to deal with. There simply isn’t room there.’
Mr Carmichael also told HAUC(UK) delegates, who represent both local authorities and utility companies: ‘My personal view is that permit schemes have yet to prove that they are effective. And the recent extension of lane rental beyond TfL [Transport for London] and Kent – I don’t think it’s appropriate.’
Mr Carmichael said that in his view much of the perceived benefit of permit schemes could be achieved by a robust national register of works, of the kind in place in Scotland and like the Street Manager scheme that the Department for Transport is currently developing.
He said that he fully understood TfL’s position, given the frequency of roadworks on its network, but that measures such as permit schemes and lane rental were not appropriate for large rural authorities, citing the Highlands Council, which has one road work scheme a year per 10km on its 6,700km of road network.
In a question and answer session, Mr Carmichael drew applause when he said that although lane rental schemes may have a place on the TfL network or in Kent where they have big challenges, ‘Perhaps they should be left down there.’
