New Street Works Charter from LCC commits contractors and ten utility companies to make life better for the county’s road users.
Ten of the county’s largest companies have come together with Lincolnshire County Council and it’s contractors to sign-up to a new Street Works Charter designed to cut the amount of disruption roadworks cause across Lincolnshire.
The Charter is the work of the county council and has been put together in a bid to cut down both the amount of time a road is closed, and the number of times different utility companies carry out work in the same spot.
Leader of Lincolnshire County Council, Martin Hill said: “The Street Works Charter has been designed so that we all carry out a more joined-up way of planning and working together.
“For too long the people of Lincolnshire have seen road closures where perhaps the road didn’t need to be closed, or traffic restrictions left up when they could have been removed between working shifts to free up traffic flow.
“How many times have we all seen a road dug up for some reason only to have it dug up again in the same area weeks later when another company has other parts of its works programme to carry out?
“We’ve been working at smarter planning and improved relationships with utility companies for some time and things have been improving. The Charter is the next step in bringing us all together to better that improvement even further and this is something I am delighted that we, as the highways authority, have now been able to do.”
LCC’s Head of Client and Contractual Management, Jonathan Evans added: “I think that the Charter will mean that we will see less disruption. Working collaboratively between these partners will mean that the travelling public will see less of us, and that’s ultimately what we’re trying to do here.”
Ashley Behan, Street works and permitting manager for the authority concluded: “On the ground, people will see a commitment from the county council and all the organisations that carry out roadworks in Lincolnshire to focus on completing roadworks in a quicker timeframe.
“Making sure they’re safe, making sure they’re compliant and that people understand what they need to do is a key part of the charter, as is making sure that works are completed as quickly as possible to reduce traffic disruption.”
The Street Works Charter launches on September 1, 2023
You can read the Charter in full here. Each of the ten companies attended a signing ceremony.
Anglian Water
Andrew Skelhorn, Head of Reinstatement Operations: “We are confident that the public will see is fewer roadworks, less disruption, and more people working within the same road closures or within the same temporary traffic management system.”
Balfour Beatty
Alistair McBeath, Contract Director: “The innovation that we’ll be able to pull through this charter and the working groups going forward will benefit the public in terms of the traffic management that’s out there.”
Cadent Gas
Andy Jones, Delivery Support Manager: “Cadent is committed to working closely with LCC and other utilities so that we can minimise disruption on any of our sites and do what’s best for our customers and the general public.”
National Grid
Mick Nuttley, Distribution Manager (North Lincolnshire): “This is a good opportunity for all the providers in Lincolnshire to come together for the community and make sure that all the street works happen in the best interests of the county – we’re a big part of that.
“It should mean that we get our roadworks done in less time and that we work collaboratively where possible to try and avoid multiple excavations in the same piece of highway.”
Quickline Communications
Lee Allison, Chief Operating Officer at Quickline: “We are committed to working collaboratively with Lincolnshire County Council to minimise disruption to local communities and will continue to strive to support every area of the Lincolnshire Street Works Charter.
“We have forged a strong relationship with the authority which is very important to us, and we were delighted to be the first telecommunications company to endorse and commit to the principles laid out in the charter.”
CityFibre
Scott Raine, Regional Build Director (Midlands): “Our full fibre rollout is continuing to gain momentum across Lincoln. Making sure that homes and businesses have reliable broadband across the area is a huge undertaking.
“By signing up to the principles and ways of working contained in the Charter we are committing to better collaboration on street works on the highways network, improving the communications about when the work will happen and working more efficiently to minimise the impact of necessary street works on residents and business across Lincolnshire.”
Harlaxton
Robert Martin, Operations Manager: “For Harlaxton it’ll be about driving efficiencies, cost savings and if we can work together then that can share costs, speed up processes, keep the street works safe and effectively make sure that we’re working to the same standards.
“What it will mean is that there will be minimal traffic management so it will speed up the process and, hopefully, it’ll mean that street works won’t be in place for weeks on end and we can get the roads back open again as quickly as possible.”
Upp
Josh Harmon, Build Assurance Manager: “This is very important to us, most of the onsite work that we do need permits and we, all of us who have signed up to the charter, are working on the same road network. A big collaboration between us, the other companies and LCC is important for us to continue building that network.”