Oxford to Cambridge expressway

[wrinkly]

Consultation about to start on Black Cat remodelling and Black Cat to Caxton Gibbet:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/have ... ridgeshire

[roadtester]

Local newspaper report here (although it doesn't really add much)

http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/ca ... d-12689348

[jackal]

Jacobs have been appointed as the lead for option identification:

http://highwaysmagazine.co.uk/jacobs-wi ... -contract/

[jackal]

There's a timeline for this scheme in a recent ppt presentation:

Corridor decision - summer 2018
Route options shortlist for consultation - autumn 2019
Preferred route announcement - autumn 2020

From this it seems there may be no consultation on the corridor selection, but only on the options within the chosen corridor.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... ence-group

[fras]

Is there anywhere I can see a set of standards for an Expressway ? Are they all to be dual-carriageway, for instance, and any vehicle class limits ? Surely we don't want Farmer Giles chugging along them with his muckspreading tractor and trailer.

[RichardA35]

Is there anywhere I can see a set of standards for an Expressway ? Are they all to be dual-carriageway, for instance, and any vehicle class limits ? Surely we don't want Farmer Giles chugging along them with his muckspreading tractor and trailer.

Hmm, introduced as a concept by politicians in 2013, no requirements standards published by Nov 2017, does the concept still exist or is it really just D2AP (category 7A in TD9) with minor accesses removed?

[booshank]

Given that there is no free-flow requirement for motorways, and "expressways" seem to be of a lower standard, I presume pretty much anything will go.

[wrinkly]

I think something has been said to the effect that junctions should normally be grade separated and it should be possible to drive at a sustained 60mph.

In the draft design for A30 Carland Cross to Chiverton Cross, the expressway concept appears to have been taken as a reason to bypass the previous Zelah bypass, rather than dualling it online as it was designed for.

[jedikiah]

Government announcement in the Budget:

The government commits to developing an Expressway of high-quality east-west roads between Oxford and Cambridge, key elements of which will be built in the second Roads Investment Strategy period, from 2020 to 2025. In addition, and in line with the NIC’s recommendations, the government will accelerate development work, completing option selection and detailed design work on the ‘missing link’ elements of the Expressway between the M1 and Oxford so that it is ready to open by 2030. A decision on corridor choice will be made by summer 2018. The government will commission England’s Economic Heartland to study how communities not on the Expressway itself can still benefit from it.

[fras]

Government announcement in the Budget:

The government commits to developing an Expressway of high-quality east-west roads between Oxford and Cambridge, key elements of which will be built in the second Roads Investment Strategy period, from 2020 to 2025. In addition, and in line with the NIC’s recommendations, the government will accelerate development work, completing option selection and detailed design work on the ‘missing link’ elements of the Expressway between the M1 and Oxford so that it is ready to open by 2030. A decision on corridor choice will be made by summer 2018. The government will commission England’s Economic Heartland to study how communities not on the Expressway itself can still benefit from it.

So make a decision in 2018, then do nothing for at least eight or nine years, or in other words "we're kicking it into touch for 12 years" (I have allowed some time for actual construction work)

[jackal]

'A decision on corridor choice' means very high level stuff, e. g. via Bicester or Aylesbury? West of Oxford or south of it? There will still be years of options work, scheme development and statutory processes ahead of it, though I agree eight years seems a bit much.

[jedikiah]

At present Vale of the White Horse DC is lobbying for a route through South Oxfordshire, whilst South Oxfordshire DC is lobbying for a northern route. Bit tricky since the two councils have entirely shared services / officials etc. I imagine they are sitting in two divided teams on different sides of an open plan office ...

[Fenlander]

At present Vale of the White Horse DC is lobbying for a route through South Oxfordshire, whilst South Oxfordshire DC is lobbying for a northern route. Bit tricky since the two councils have entirely shared services / officials etc. I imagine they are sitting in two divided teams on different sides of an open plan office ...

Or the same 'officer' doing 2.5 days lobbying for 1 body and the other 2.5 days of his jobshare lobbying for the other.

[jedikiah]

If you talk with one of them - as I did at a local plan consultation display - they are very circumspect ...

[jackal]

From the recent NIC report:

Whilst all the options for the western section of the Expressway would provide increased road capacity, aligning the route of the Expressway with East West Rail will unlock the greatest potential for sustainable new places at scale. Access to both rail and road connections will be essential in supporting the growth and sustainability of major new settlements, collectively providing greater access to employment opportunities than either the road or railway alone. The railway provides convenient connections to city centres, and the road enables greater access to the fringes of cities where, particularly in Cambridge and Oxford, there are expanding employment sites and science parks.
Aligning the Expressway and East West Rail on the same broad corridor is also likely to be less costly
and to have fewest environmental impacts compared to other options of a wholly new road, containing
the impacts of severance in a single broad corridor.

This seems to be a firm recommendation for route B (the central route co-located with EWR):



When they talk about scale, they mean it:

- the re-establishment of Milton Keynes as a development location of national significance,
through the intensification and expansion of the town to a population of at least 500,000, in
line with local aspirations. This presents an immediate opportunity for growth;
- development between Bicester and Bletchley, unlocked through the combination of East
West Rail and the Expressway, with the potential to grow to city-scale, ultimately supporting
a population in the hundreds of thousands. This could be the first new town in over a
generation

[jedikiah]

B has always looked the favourite for the main route of the central part, although there can always be a surprise. The Oxford end is trickier to call for me.

[c2R]

B has always looked the favourite for the main route of the central part, although there can always be a surprise. The Oxford end is trickier to call for me.

At the Oxford end, a western route has to be better from a strategic point of view, as the A34 is used by large amounts of freight coming from the Midlands, down the M40, and then south to Southampton and the south coast - it doesn't make as much sense to send the traffic further towards London and then back around the eastern side of Oxford to meet Abingdon.

[andrewwoods]

B has always looked the favourite for the main route of the central part, although there can always be a surprise. The Oxford end is trickier to call for me.

At the Oxford end, a western route has to be better from a strategic point of view, as the A34 is used by large amounts of freight coming from the Midlands, down the M40, and then south to Southampton and the south coast - it doesn't make as much sense to send the traffic further towards London and then back around the eastern side of Oxford to meet Abingdon.

But there’s no space round the Western side of Oxford. The Abingdon route would be better, as well as helping the traffic from Thame, Aylesbury etc

Andrew

[6637]

B has always looked the favourite for the main route of the central part, although there can always be a surprise. The Oxford end is trickier to call for me.

At the Oxford end, a western route has to be better from a strategic point of view, as the A34 is used by large amounts of freight coming from the Midlands, down the M40, and then south to Southampton and the south coast - it doesn't make as much sense to send the traffic further towards London and then back around the eastern side of Oxford to meet Abingdon.

Way I see it, the eastern route around Oxford makes more sense as:

1) The existing A34 past Oxford doesn't have enough capacity, and the section through Botley is restricted to only 50 mph. There's no obvious way to bypass that section.

2) For through traffic, a route that goes west of Oxford would be significantly longer than one east of Oxford.

3) If you use the route east of Oxford, the new road will probably have a fully-freeflow junction with the M40. I expect the new road would multiplex with the M40 for a few miles just north of J8.

4) The eastern route better serves eastern Oxford, as well as Aylesbury and the A41.

[owen b]

Assuming they go for the middle route B, and east of Oxford, the three particular difficulties I see are :
i) getting from M1 J13 past Woburn Sands towards Bletchley, it looks like there's not much of a corridor between Woburn Sands and Wavendon, and it's hilly and I suspect environmentally sensitive south of Woburn Sands.
ii) will the route go east or west of Ot Moor? This was a major controversy when M40 J8-9 was being planned and resulted in the indirect line eventually chosen. An easterly route looks more direct.
iii) what will the route be east of Oxford? It looks quite tricky to find an acceptable line between Horspath, Wheatley and Shotover Park. Sub-option S3 seems to imply a route east of Wheatley and parallel with the M40 towards Bicester.