Policy instruments (3) - Transport Policy and Planning in Great Britain - page 224

in conjunction with a 'Park and Share' site on the M606 on the outskirts of Bradford
(LTT 403).
14.4 Network management
A combination of growing technological capability, worsening congestion and a
changing policy context have expanded the role of management applied to inter-urban
as well as urban networks. The arguments were articulated in Managing our Road s
(DfT 2003a). As both current and prospective conditions deteriorate, especially on
the purpose-built motorway and trunk road network, so it becomes more critical to
examine ways in which its physical capacity can be maximised. Likewise, because any
out-of-course event such as roadworks, collision or vehicle breakdown can rapidly
provoke 'gridlock' conditions, it becomes essential to monitor conditions on a minute-
by-minute basis and to plan and initiate response measures to minimise the resulting
inconvenience and costs incurred.
In relation to the strategic road network the Highways Agency has been charged
with developing its role as the 'network operator'. Following a collaborative review
with the Association of Chief Police Officers, a series of Regional Control Centres
has been established staffed by both police and Agency personnel. These monitor
and manage traffic on the network and deploy response teams on the ground. An
agreement also provides for the transfer of some traffic management tasks from the
police. In support of this the Traffic Management Act 2004 provides for the Agency
to establish a uniformed force of 'traffic officers' with powers to stop and direct traffic
(currently exercised by the police) in order to assist traffic movement, avoid danger or
prevent damage.
The 2004 Act also places a duty on every local traffic authority in England and
Wales to manage its road network to secure 'the expeditious movement of traffic'
insofar as this is practicable, and having regard to its other obligations and objectives.
New powers to regulate streetworks through a permit system are introduced in support
of this although, perhaps unsurprisingly, this has been criticised by a representative of
the utilities' industries as 'a sledgehammer to crack a nut' (LTT 420).
In fulfilling its duty an authority must, amongst other things, appoint a 'Traffic
Manager'. The Secretary of State and the National Assembly for Wales are empowered
to issue guidance on the exercise of this duty and to require an authority to provide
information in connection with its performance. The Act also goes as far as providing
for an Intervention Order enabling the imposition of a 'Traffic Director' in the event
of an authority failing to perform its duty satisfactorily.
The strategy to be adopted by an authority was to be spelt out within its second
Local Transport Plan (20.5). However a review of these plans revealed a mixed picture:
there is a variance between those authorities who simply acknowledge the duty
and those who have committed themselves and formed strategies to address the
duty requirements.
(Halcrow Group 2007)
The respective duties of the Highways Agency and local authorities raises difficult
questions about the relationship between the management of 'strategic' and 'local'
networks given that in practice motorists use both and can move between either at
will. For example the Agency is able to inform motorists that congestion lies ahead