Anyone carrying out roadworks during peak times could get charged £2,500 a day under new county council proposals.
The scheme would apply to utility companies, developers and councils who use the busiest parts of the road network during rush hours, writes Local Democracy Reporter Jamie Waller.
Lincolnshire County Council say this would encourage companies to reduce disruption on the roads, avoid the busiest times, and get work done quicker.
The Highways committee will discuss the idea next week, and public consultation will be carried out before a decision is made whether to implement it.
It is estimated that the charges would bring in an extra £2 million per year, but a council report says it aims to “influence behaviour and reduce disruption”, not generate income.
The report says that companies would be incentivised to work together or choose less disruptive methods in order to avoid the charges.
‘Lane rental’ schemes were first used in London in 2012, and have been rolled out across other parts of the country since then.
The council says it received 74,000 applications for permits to carry out work on the roads in 2025/26 alone, with at least 2,000 of them clashing with other works.
The report says lane rental would “encourage promoters to minimise the duration of works, undertake activities outside peak traffic periods, collaborate more effectively, adopt innovative construction methods and traffic management arrangements, and, wherever practicable, avoid incurring lane rental charges”.
It adds: “The intended outcome is a reduction in congestion and network disruption, resulting in a more efficiently managed highway network for residents, businesses and travelling public.”
Guidance says that lane rental schemes could cover up to ten per cent of the county’s busiest roads.
It will be discussed at the Highways and Transport committee on November 2.
