The UK’s Department for Transport (DfT) has issued a radical set of guidelines for local authorities to follow as the nation looks to restart transportation services, post Covid-19 lockdown. This includes provisions implementing new, pop-up cycle lanes and increased coordination of road works.
The DfT, working with HAUC (UK) (the Highways Authority and Utilities Committee) and the Highways Sector Council, has shared guidance with local authorities setting out a set of “Golden Covid-19 Rules”, providing a playbook for safe and effective street works and traffic management during these unprecedented times.
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Now, the UK’s Joint Authorities Group (JAG(UK)) is extending its national advice to incorporate the new best practice and governance issued by the DfT, to help authorities adapt their planning and coordination process to ease pressures that come from fast changes to road networks.
Meanwhile Elgin’s one.network platform, a critical tool for many highway authorities for planning, coordinating and communicating works, is enabling the new features to help with the restart of local transport, such as providing a common operational view to ensure that activities as diverse as roadworks, newly embargoed pedestrian zones and even Covid testing facilities are visible to all.
New datasets are also being added to one.network to ensure that works coordinators can prevent clashes occurring on emergency and NHS (National Health Service) logistics routes or disrupting access to chemists or food retail outlets.
The Highways Sector Council guidance advocates rigorous programming and planning, including publishing all works on one.network. It also requires authorities to send real-time road closure updates to sat-navs which can be accomplished using the one.network Live Link app.
“These are extraordinary times and the transport network is a critical element to helping the economy restart,” says David Capon, CEO of JAG(UK). “The advice from the DfT will see a new set of pressures on highway authorities and JAG(UK) welcomes the opportunity to work in partnership with Elgin to help the sector rise to the challenge.”
“Elgin has long been at the centre of street works and we welcome the opportunity to support our customers through this period of urgent and systemic change,” says Elgin CEO James Harris. “Working with JAG(UK), we believe we can deliver the critical toolkit to enable highway authorities to coordinate and communicate effectively to avoid gridlock while they adapt their road networks to address an unprecedented set of new challenges.”
