The management of street works in the ‘Square Mile’
There are two bodies responsible for managing the public
highways in the City of London. Transport for London (TfL) manage
what are termed ‘Red Routes’ ( ie the main roads, or Transport for
London Road Network [TLRN] ). The ‘Red Routes’ comprise
around 15% of the streets in the City. The second body is the City
of London Corporation, which is the Highway Authority for the
remainder of the streets in the ‘Square Mile’. Both bodies have
responsibility for planning street works on their respective
streets.
The Square Mile dates back to over a 1000 years and retains much
of the historic character of centuries past particularly in
relation to street layout. Today the Square Mile is a world-leading
business centre with around 6000 businesses employing over 300,000
people.
The demands of these businesses along with the requirements of
new business developments in the City mean that typically we
receive 4-6,000 requests each year for our roads to be dug up
in relation to the provision of information technology,
electricity, water and gas. We aim to manage these works with the
minimum of disruption to pedestrian and vehicular traffic. This is
quite a challenge, especially when we have also to deal with road
repairs, new developments (such as 1 New Change) and the
considerable number of special events (such as the London Marathon)
that the City attracts.
We recognise that minimising the impact that street works have
on pedestrian and vehicular movement within the City is extremely
important. We therefore have a dedicated team working to coordinate
work as far as is practicable and in particular we are doing the
following:
- We are one of the first local authorities to introduce a
‘Permit Scheme’ enabling us to better regulate street works and
issue ‘Fixed Penalty Notices’ (FPNs) to any contractors that breach
our conditions or who take unreasonably long to complete their
works.
- We are working closely with the senior management of utility
companies to improve coordination of their works and in particular
to increase the sharing of planned road closures to ensure all
utilities complete necessary works simultaneously wherever
practicable.
- We aim to improve how we and the utility companies communicate.
We want to let you know why works are necessary, how long they will
take and, in the case of longer works, how they are progressing
against the planned timetable. We will be doing this through an
improved website and better signage on all schemes. We expect to
have these measures in place over the next couple of months.
- We are looking at all our own major schemes to see how we might
reduce the length of the works programme. In the main this will be
done through working double shifts and weekend working, although a
major limitation to this approach is the importance we place on
ensuring residents and businesses benefit from tight controls on
noise. We will also be looking at scheme design and materials to
ensure there is not a quicker and equally acceptable works
methodology.
We recognise that a high number of street works is inevitable in
a rapidly developing and dynamic world business hub such as the
Square Mile. However we also recognise the importance of minimising
disruption so as to keep the City moving, as well as controlling
the environmental impact of works such as noise and dust. It’s
hoped the above demonstrates our commitment to do all we can to
effectively manage what is a considerable demand for works on our
road network.
For more information please visit our website
www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/streetworks or
visit the most
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) page.