£2bn lost down holes in the road

Roadworks are one of the primary causes of traffic jams in the UK. Although they are essential to keep roads and the utilities beneath them in good repair, the congestion they cause is much worse than it might be, because of the uncoordinated, haphazard way they are organised.

Roadworks are one of the primary causes of traffic jams in the UK. Although they are essential to keep roads and the utilities beneath them in good repair, the congestion they cause is much worse than it might be, because of the uncoordinated, haphazard way they are organised.

Howard Jones, a chartered surveyor from Holywell in North Wales, is one of the millions who suffers daily frustration. Lengthy bridge- strengthening work on the M56 means a half-hour delay on his journey to Manchester. "The worst thing is that the workmen are hardly ever there," he said. "There aren't even any signs explaining what they're doing. The traffic is so bad that it virtually grinds to a standstill."

Reg Brooke, an architect's clerk, faces an extra hour's journey to work in Bradford thanks to a new development being built on the city ring road. "It's utterly horrendous. It's been going on for over four months now. I have to wait there for 25 minutes each morning and evening. The other night I tried to bypass it via Halifax, but there were just more roadworks there."

There are two kinds of disruption. First there are the urgent repairs to heavily used roads originally designed to carry far less traffic.

The second, more recent, phenomenon is the explosion of hi-tech companies desperate to lay cables. Then there is routine maintenance for gas, water and electricity. As many as eight companies can all be scheduled to work in the same street.

Road chaos caused by companies digging holes costs £2bn a year in delays, surface damage and accidents, thanks in part to a clear lack of co-operation. According to a Transport Research Laboratory report, the cost of disruption far exceeds the value of the work being carried out.

James Thompson, co-author of the report, said: "Companies carrying out such work are generally highly profitable growth companies operating in the new technologies and the disruption they cause is at the community's expense."

And there is no end in sight. Most local authorities have at least 20,000 requests from utility companies a year to undertake street works. Thames Water recently announced an additional 3,000 street works a week for the rest of the year. London's Camden council received 40,000 requests last year.

Often the cost of the clear-up operation is met by the council and road users. A spokesman for Camden council said: "We get frustrated because roadworks often aren't finished off and we have to clear up the mess or chase them through the courts."

Last week, much of central London was gridlocked along the Embankment towards Blackfriars - the sort of chaos which on Friday persuaded Mayor Ken Livingstone to approve plans for a road toll, charging motorists £5 a day to drive into the city centre. In the long term, this would raise £200m for public transport and reduce traffic by 12 per cent.

So disgraceful is the congestion plaguing the capital that The Independent on Sunday's Passenger Power campaign has written to Mr Livingstone calling on him to appoint a transport commissioner with a direct remit to end the misery.

The Government hopes to improve matters by introducing a system of fines for contractors who slip behind with work. In April, Keith Hill, the Transport minister, announced plans to fine firms up to £1,000 a day from October for over-running repairs.

A British Road Federation spokesman said: "It would be a big incentive for utility companies to talk to each other and dig up the same piece of road at the same time."

Lord Peyton of Yeovil has introduced a private member's Bill to Parliament which would form the basis of a lane rental system whereby all utilities would have to pay £1,000 a day to dig up a section of road. This system is supported by the RAC executive director Edmund King: "Utility firms could soon be brought into account making them indefinitely responsible for poor work. There are currently no regulations to stop operators from just leaving the road in a mess."