Image caption: Councillor Erika Woodhurst-Trueman, Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport
Release date: 3 August 2026
West Sussex County Council is investing more than £420,000 into three projects that will support active travel, help reduce disruption caused by roadworks and improve safety for highway workers.
The funding comes from money generated through the council's ‘lane rental scheme’, which promotes innovation and motivates contractors to carry out and complete roadworks in a less disruptive way when impacting traffic.
Any surplus income is reinvested into projects that help keep West Sussex moving and improve journeys for everyone who uses our road network.
Councillor Erika Woodhurst-Trueman, Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport at West Sussex County Council, said:
"The Lane Rental Scheme is all about keeping highway network disruption to a minimum. It encourages better planning and greater efficiency from contractors, reducing the length of time work sites are left unoccupied. More work is completed outside of peak periods and as quickly as possible to the required standard the first time.
"Money raised through the scheme is then reinvested into projects that make our communities safer and improve the highway network for everyone who uses it.”
One of the projects to receive the funding aims to address the growing issue of abuse directed at highway workers in West Sussex.
Highway operatives and contractors regularly face verbal abuse, threats and other unacceptable behaviour while carrying out essential work on the road network. The project will test a range of measures designed to improve safety, including site-wide CCTV, clear signage, and different types of screening and fencing to create greater separation between workers and the public.
The trial will help identify which approaches are most effective in improving the safety and wellbeing of staff. The results will help inform future policies, working practices and design standards to better protect highway workers.
Funding has also been awarded to the South Downs National Park Authority's Centurion Way extension.
The Centurion Way is a shared-use route for walkers, cyclists, wheelchair users and families with pushchairs, following the former Chichester to Midhurst railway line. The route currently runs from Chichester to West Dean, with plans to extend it to the South Downs Way at Cocking.
The funding will help complete a section of the extension, contributing to the final 16.9km route. Once finished, it will provide a safe and accessible connection between Chichester and Cocking, while also linking with the Salterns Way and routes to the Witterings, giving people more opportunities to travel sustainably.
The third project will give funding to Southern Gas Networks to introduce a new, less disruptive method to help engineers investigate underground utilities and locate gas leaks more quickly and accurately.
The technology uses small, targeted drill holes and captures dust as work takes place, helping to keep sites cleaner and safer. By reducing the amount of digging and repairs needed afterwards, it can also minimise disruption for road users.
Cllr Erika Woodhurst-Trueman added:
"Our highways staff work hard every day to keep West Sussex moving, and sadly some experience abuse and aggression while carrying out that essential work. We know the impact this can have on their wellbeing, so we're committed to doing all we can to keep them safe, and this funding will help us explore new ways of doing that.
"We appreciate that roadworks can be frustrating, especially when emergency repairs have to be carried out by utilities companies at short notice. By awarding funding to Southern Gas Networks, we are supporting investment in innovative tools and technology, so that problems can be detected earlier, repairs carried out more quickly and disruption minimised for the travelling public."
For more information about the county council’s Lane Rental Scheme please visit our website Lane rental scheme - West Sussex County Council
