That will enable him to maintain an oversight of the conduct of roadworks affecting the performance of priority routes.
Local highway authorities already have the power to introduce mandatory speed limits at roadworks where they consider it appropriate.
It had allowed gipsies on to a site that it had used for roadworks.
Traffic management at roadworks is provided under contract and it is the contractor's responsibility to take action to prevent theft of his equipment.
It is now estimated to cost about £800,000 for just over three-quarters of a mile of roadworks.
This is most serious, because schools and schoolchildren are adjacent to each of the roadworks concerned.
The remaining roadworks will follow by stages thereafter.
Major roadworks have a poorer safety record than unrestricted sections of road.
