Observations

Rossendale Valley traffic

1. The petition of residents of the constituency of Rossendale and Darwen,
2. Declares that there are major traffic issues across the Rossendale Valley which are caused by temporary traffic lights, thus holding up traffic and causing congestion; further declares that this could be solved by using a Statutory Instrument to allow Lancashire County Council to adopt a “lane rental scheme”; furthermore, this would mean that utility companies would have to pay to close the road to carry out their work and repairs; notes that this scheme is already in place across London and has proven to reduce traffic significantly by incentivising companies to carry out work quickly and efficiently.
3. The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urge the Government to take into account the concerns of the petitions and take immediate action to give Lancashire County Council the power to charge companies who dig up roads.
4. And the petitioners remain, etc.—[Presented by Sir Jake Berry, Official Report, 13 June 2023; Vol. 734, c. 268.]
5. [P002838]
6. Observations from the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Mr Richard Holden):
7. Lane rental schemes are a great way for local authorities to control temporary roadworks and raise money for connected road repairs. Local councils need to apply to the Department to do so, and while we have not had an application from Lancashire County Council yet, we would look at one very carefully if we did.