South Essex 'inconsiderate' roadworks to be stopped under proposed law

The Roadworks Bill could see councils granted stronger powers to refuse roadworks which cause disruption for residents and businesses as well as giving increased powers to fine forms for overrunning work.

South Essex Tory MPs Rebecca Harris and Mark Francois are backing the new law alongside Essex County Council highway bosses.

Mr Francois, MP for Rayleigh and Wickford, spoke at the House of Commons on Wednesday as the bill passed through its first reading.

He said: “One of the great frustrations of modern life is queueing for ages in a line of traffic, inching forwards to get through a set of contra-flow traffic lights at the scene of some roadworks, only to then crawl past a large hole in the ground, heavily coned off, with absolutely no one working on the site, as you finally drive past it.

“According to data highlighted by The Echo newspaper, recent Freedom of Information requests showed that, during the 2021-22 financial year, there were over 77,000 street and roadworks in my county of Essex, making it the most dug up county in Britain.”

The bill would grant highways authorities the power to refuse permission for utility companies to dig up roads on the grounds of causing unacceptable disruption. It would also strengthen the hand of councils to negotiate stricter time limits when granting permits for work.

It would also increase the levels of fines that highways authorities can issue for overrunning works, and would mandate highway authorities to take all practicable steps to “de-conflict” roadworks in their areas, to prevent multiple works in the same neighbourhood from leading to near gridlock, especially during peak periods.

Mrs Harris MP for Castle Point said: “Our residents’ lives are often blighted by inconsiderate roadworks. I spend a lot of time working on this matter for my constituents, chasing up companies who are digging up the roads in Castle Point.”