Skip to main content

UK government plans to cut motorway red tape

The UK government has launched a six-week consultation in an effort to help reduce barriers around unnecessary regulations on England’s motorways and major A roads. It is hoped that the new Highways Agency (HA) developments will remove bureaucracy while putting more power in the hands of local communities and their representatives. The planned changes place greater emphasis on its role to promote economic growth and enable development. Key changes proposed include: easing restrictions for developers on new
February 13, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
The UK government has launched a six-week consultation in an effort to help reduce barriers around unnecessary regulations on England’s motorways and major A roads.

It is hoped that the new 503 Highways Agency (HA) developments will remove bureaucracy while putting more power in the hands of local communities and their representatives.

The planned changes place greater emphasis on its role to promote economic growth and enable development. Key changes proposed include: easing restrictions for developers on new access roads and junctions on motorways; removing requirements for developers to fund mitigation measures unless the impacts of their proposals are severe; simplifying the requirements for service areas; protecting the essential safety and comfort of motorists, while leaving other issues to be decided by local planning and market forces; removing minimum spacing restrictions for service areas, to create greater competition and customer choice.

Announcing the consultation, Roads Minister Stephen Hammond said, “We want to encourage economic growth, while reducing bureaucracy for businesses and local communities.  I hope that local authorities and private developers will take the time to give us their views on our proposals for cutting unnecessary red tape and make planning decisions easier and quicker for all involved.”

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Trump unveils U.S. infrastructure investment
    February 13, 2018
    U.S. president Donald Trump has announced that he wants Congress to approve $200bn (£144bn) bill, which he said will stimulate another $1.3tn (£9bn) in improvements as part of his plan to fix the country’s infrastructure. One intention of the proposal is to eliminate regulatory barriers and offer more flexibility to transportation projects that are currently required to seek Federal review and approval. $100bn (£72bn) of the proposed bill will create an Incentives Program to spur additional dedicated fund
  • Technology and finance shapes up to make MaaS happen
    June 7, 2017
    The technology and finance aspects needed for Mobility as a Service (MaaS) to become widely adopted are taking shape as Geoff Hadwick and Colin Sowman hear. Sampo Hietanen, CEO of MaaS Global and ‘father’ of MaaS, started his address to ITS International’s recent MaaS Market conference in London by saying: “All of the problems that can be solved by a company or group of companies have already been solved, and now we are left with the big ones such as housing, transport and health. He called MaaS the “Netfli
  • Abu Dhabi embraces 'diversity of choice'
    January 30, 2025
    The Integrated Transport Centre in Abu Dhabi has big plans. Adam Hill hears why choices in the Middle Eastern emirate's mobility ecosystem are crucial when it comes to economic development
  • UK councils win funding for local infrastructure projects
    March 25, 2015
    Councils across England will receive a share of US$410 million for major local roads maintenance, Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin has announced. The Challenge Fund will be used for one-off major infrastructure schemes by local authorities to improve life for local residents and businesses. The 31 schemes being awarded funding across the 28 local authorities include safety repairs, bridge renewal, carriageway and drainage improvements, as well as upgrading street lighting in a number of areas to bring