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HOLES in the road that are not being worked on will be covered with steel plates so traffic can drive over them, Boris Johnson announced today.
The move, agreed with Thames Water, aims to reduce delays for motorists and buses. It is part of a voluntary "code of conduct" between the Mayor and five utility firms who together dig up to 300,000 holes in London's roads each year.
Thames Water, BT, EDF Energy, Virgin Media and NLG Alliance, which represents gas firms and contractors, have agreed to:
●Work off-peak where possible.
●Provide information boards at every site explaining when the work will be finished.
●Avoid temporary reinstatements of road surfaces which are to be dug up again.
●Prepare the software and computer systems needed for a compulsory "permit scheme" which will regulate roadworks when the Government gives the go-ahead.
Thames, which is responsible for the largest number of roadworks as part of its sewer replacement programme, has also agreed to cover trenches with high-strength plates when they are not being worked on.
Mr Johnson said: "By making these pledges the utility companies have agreed that the simply incredible situation of their being allowed to dig up any road in the capital with little notice and even less co-ordination must end.
"None of us can escape the frustration of sitting at roadworks manned by an invisible army of workers. But possibly the most significant development is Thames Water's agreement to cover trenches that are not in use with plates that will allow these roads to be used as normal. If others follow suit we can keep people moving, not fuming."
Companies often dig holes and leave them - either for genuine engineering reasons or to maximise the use of staff and subcontractors. It is estimated that a third of holes in the road are not being worked on on any given day. It is not clear how many holes would be covered under City Hall's scheme.
Utility companies do not have to seek permission from TfL or local councils to dig up roads and no-one can stop them from doing so. The number of roadworks in London has soared with the growth of the telecommunications industry and Thames Water's sewer replacements.
TfL says roadworks - by councils and utility companies - account for 46 per cent of severe disruptions managed by its London Traffic Control Centre.
The Government passed a law almost five years ago allowing TfL and councils to impose roadwork "permit schemes". Councils would be able to charge utilities for the use of road space, refuse them permission to carry out work under certain circumstances, and force them to co-ordinate their diggings.
However, implementation of the law - originally promised for 2005 - has been delayed following fierce lobbying by utility companies. It is not expected until the end of the year or later.
Reader views (12)
Plates are a necessary evil. I have found a way to mark, identify and secure them, as well as help with some of the noise issues. I am the inventor of a product called Plate Lock www.platelocks.com that is starting to make its way around the USA. Take a look at the web site. Maybe this would be a good, fast and permanent fix to the issues you have been having and I’m sure the utility companies would be up for it.
- Christopher Lane, Oregon, USA, 13/07/2009 05:06
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Paul:
Richard is right. They can become dangerously slippery and to suggest that you simply cycle to the side of them is naive and ignorant to the reality of London's roads. Having a non-slip surface on the steel would not be difficult and would improve the safety for two-wheelers riding over them.
- Ross, London, UK, 20/04/2009 15:44
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Richard, if the plates are so slippery, why not cycle to the side of them? Anyone else need the bleedin' obvious pointed out?
- Paul, London, 20/04/2009 13:20
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In the late 1980s I was interviewed for a technical job, supporting software for what was euphemistically called Trench Reinstatement Management. The company went bust.
- Martin H. Watson, Teddington, 17/04/2009 08:53
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At first sight a good idea, but not so great for cyclists and motorcyclists. These plates when wet are incredibly slippery and a real hazard. Any chance of coating them with a non-slip surface?
- Richard, London, 16/04/2009 17:47
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Well I'd love to know what's going on with the roads from Sydney Street...Fulham Road ...Dawes Road and Fulham Palace Road as there's been permenent digging on those roads for the past 3 yrs....oh yes and in the same spots...at present when you turn right into Fulham Road from Sydney Street you're met with a 4 way traffic lighting system at the first set of traffic lights...coming up to a month now I think if not longer...what a joke plus the never ending potwholes which are conveniently in the same places each time....which is telling me the roads are not being tarmaced right...needs looking into don't you think
- Sarah, London, 16/04/2009 16:33
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A certain person, whose name most of us would care to forget, coined the phrase some years ago about Princess Di, calling her "The People's Princess". I would like to nominate Boris as "The People's Mayor".
Keep it up Boris, you could end up as "The People's Prime Minister".
- Peter Thurgood, London SE13, 16/04/2009 16:12
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I stayed with one of my Aunts at Christmas and was constantly disturbed by the noise of traffic hitting a metal plate in the road so this will turn out to be another daft idea.
No doubt the Noise Abatement Society will have something to say about this.
Far better if we were to copy the Victorians and expand the utillity subway network that was built when roads like Rosebery and Shaftsbury Avenue were built. (Pity Gilligan can't investigate these subways and produce an article that might have a use for a change.)
- Melvyn Windebank, Canvey Island, Essex, 16/04/2009 14:45
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This is excellent news and will probably affect the lives of more Londoners than any other = story in the Evening Standard today.
Superb effort, Boris, you are delivering on your promises and I am sure I am not alone in being extremely happy that I voted for you after previously supporting Livingstone.
- St, London, 16/04/2009 13:14
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I hope the new metal plates are fixed down tightly, as given the rise in scrap metal prices these will just be stolen.
- Billy, London, 16/04/2009 12:23
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All that will happen is that the road works will take longer than they all ready do. The utility companies will take even more liberties on the roads.
The A2 going out of southeast London yesterday closed as it has been for many weeks, has had the road dug up all over the place, traffic was gridlocked for miles around, not a single workman in sight, no police no traffic wardens no community support officers to help with improving the flow of cars, all this at 2.30 in the afternoon. Who is paying for all the pollution caused,the delays, the inconvenience and the sheer frustration of it all, and this is just one road in hundreds that has been dug up in London.
- Mr S.Port, London, 16/04/2009 12:18
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"Prepare the software and computer systems needed for a compulsory "permit scheme" which will regulate roadworks when the Government gives the go-ahead"
I have been working in IT since 1988 and this much-heralded system has been announced more times than I can remember.
The current government is too busy with its expenses and defamatory emails to even contemplate the scheme, and even if it did, it would cost 5 times the original budget and not work.
- Nobby Clark, Perth, Scotland, 16/04/2009 11:49
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