Why charging £2,500 a day for roadworks could help get Scotland moving again

In the last two years, the number of roadworks across the UK has doubled with more than 425,000 miles of closures, diversions and temporary traffic light delays in the past 12 months alone.

Some of this is down to an ageing road network requiring repair but around 70 per cent of it is caused by utility companies and broadband providers in their endless march to upgrade services and compete for more business. Ironically, superfast broadband connectivity still requires a man with a pickaxe to dig the hole to deliver it.

Kevin’s job is to make sure that happens as quickly as possible and it’s not followed a week later by someone from Scottish Gas Networks digging another hole in the same place. Given the scale of the task, that’s quite a challenge.

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Delays and congestion

You only have to take a look at the Scottish Road Works Commissioner’s website to see the issue. It offers a dizzying map of Scotland with a whack-a-mole approach to identifying what is going on. Zoom in on one street with roadworks and watch it disappear, to be swiftly replaced by another set just around the corner.

Now is the peak time for this with the festive lull followed by a spike in works in the New Year. From January to March last year, there was a 61 per cent rise in the number of notified works, causing delays and congestion.

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In 2024/25 Edinburgh had 11,536 sets of roadworks. How many of them were absolutely necessary and delivered strictly on time? Amidst all the facts and figures, what can’t be calculated is the wasted time and productivity for all those stuck in a car or bus caught up in roadwork delays and diversions.

Craighall Road in north Edinburgh is currently closed for three years due to work taking place on a nearby school. As an arterial route, the social and economic impact of that on people and businesses should be taken into account but it never is.

The Road Works Commissioner has the power to inspect roadworks and issue fines for delays and poor delivery. In 2023, seven utility organisations were hit with penalty notices totalling £138,000 for failing to comply with their statutory obligations when placing cables and pipes in roads.

Lane rental scheme

In the grand scheme of things, the utility companies are likely to view that as just a small inconvenience and the cost of doing business.

A more radical approach is being trialled down south with lane rental schemes, where councils can charge utility companies up to £2,500 a day for works on the busiest road at peak times. The idea is for this to act as an incentive to get the job done quickly and properly.

We all want to see our roads and infrastructure being improved. Nobody likes potholes or slow internet. But there is a balance to be achieved with keeping the country moving and avoiding congestion and delays.

With a doubling of roadworks in just two years, Scotland’s Road Works Commissioner has his work cut out regulating what is going on. And that is something that simply cannot be delayed.