Question
Can the Executive Member for Highways provide me with a status update on the Council’s plans to ease congestion?
Minutes:
Question
Can the Executive Member for Highways provide me with a status update on the Council’s plans to ease congestion?
Answer
We are very concerned about congestion and we are doing as much as we can to try and alleviate it. The Council has for a number of years worked hard to alleviate congestion across the Borough through the development of a number of new strategic roads and junctions, collaborative planning and sensitive co-ordination of street works, and effective communication with residents through the use of social media and promotion of the roadworks.org map. As part of our proactive approach, we have secured £24m for the funding of the Arborfield Relief Road. In recent months the Council has established a dedicated congestion project team which has identified four key areas of work to further reduce the impact of congestion;
1. a review of our approach to Streetworks (including a review of sensitive streets network). Sensitive streets allow us to move road works where possible into time where they are not inconveniencing passengers or travellers on the road;
2. the development of an Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Strategy (including the use of variable messaging signs to bring drivers the latest information);
3. an improved focus on communications (including a market research survey, and improved social media interaction via the traffic team, and much better use of press releases);
4. in the longer term the use of real time traffic monitoring to help the Council to manage the local highway network.
The Council is making good progress on these work streams and has already instructed consultants to assist in the production of the ITS Strategy and the market research survey. There is lots more to d, but we are very committed to making sure that people have the right information available to be able to plan their routes; avoiding road works where possible.
To make the point, most of the roadworks within the Borough are not run by the Borough Council, they are run by utilities companies such as South West Water and Thames Water. We need to work around these utilities and provide people with the right information to plan their journeys. That’s what we intend to do.
Supplementary Question
In my ward, Sonning, a couple of Thursdays back, Thames Water were digging up Thames Street, causing a long traffic jam. I was stuck in it for an hour or so just to try to get over the river. I wonder what sort of penalties we can apply to these utility companies, because they really do take liberties with our roads and our residents.
Answer
There are two things to consider here. If we have emergency roadworks relating, for example, to burst water mains or gas leaks, we cannot insist that the utilities wait for a couple of weeks to do the works when it is convenient for us. Otherwise we would all be afloat. We do have to let utility companies repair roads due to emergencies. Nevertheless, they need to communicate properly. They do need to put signage on their roadworks so we know what is going on. If they do leave signs out after roadworks, there is a small penalty. It is probably insignificant to a utility company, but the amount is set statutorily. So, we can fine people for leaving roadworks in place longer than they should but, in essence, it is probably not a lot.