Commentary on Sections Miscellaneous Section 23 Duty of road works authority to co-ordinate road works etc.
73.Section 23 of the Act amends section 118 of the 1991 Act to strengthen the general duty of road works authorities to co-ordinate road works. New subsection (2A) requires the road works authority to have regard to all information in the SRWR which relates to their functions. Subsection (2B) requires them to assist the Commissioner in meeting the duty under section 112A (the keeping of the SRWR), by making best use of the information in fulfilling their functions, and keeping this information ‘under surveillance’. In practice, this means that the road works authority should update and use the SRWR as its daily planning tool for co-ordinating road works and fulfilling its traffic management functions. The Commissioner can issue a direction to the road works authority on how the authority should discharge its duty. The Commissioner may also require the road works authority to provide information on how it is discharging its duty. If it appears that the road works authority are not discharging their duty a further direction can be issued telling them how to comply with their statutory duty.