Highways England pipeline of possible future schemes

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jackal
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Highways England pipeline of possible future schemes

Post by jackal »

RIS2 named 32 schemes to be developed in 2020-25, for delivery post-2025. There is now a page on the HE site for these schemes, with around half of them listed so far. There is very little detail, but as for some of them we previously only had scheme names, often opaque (e.g., 'Severn resilience package'), there is still some new information (in bold):

A11 Fiveways junction
Upgrading the A11 Fiveways junction, a roundabout where the A11 meets the A1065 and the A1101 near Barton Mills in Suffolk.

A14 Copdock Interchange
Upgrading the A14 junction 55, located to the south-west of Ipswich in Suffolk.

A120 Braintree to A12
Providing a newly improved route which would create a modern dual carriageway link connecting Braintree and the A12 in Essex.

A2 Brenley Corner
Upgrading the A2 Brenley Corner junction near Faversham in Kent.

A2 Dover access
Upgrading sections of the A2 to improve traffic flow and resilience between Lydden Hill and Dover in Kent.

[So this is maybe more substantial than expected, possibly even completing the dualling between the M2 and Dover. The Jubilee Way viaduct seems difficult to upgrade - though complex, maybe they could dig out an offslip to go directly into the port, bypassing the viaduct entirely?]

A21 safety package
Delivering a suite of safety improvements along the A21 route corridor from Sevenoaks in Kent, to Hastings in East Sussex. This scheme has been taken out of the RIS3 Pipeline and is funded for delivery between now and 2025.

[It's just minor changes to signs, markings, speed limits, etc: https://highwaysengland.co.uk/our-work/ ... y-package/]

A27 Chichester
Upgrading the A27 Chichester bypass in West Sussex, which provides access to the city from the south for local traffic as well a bypass for long distance traffic.

M27 Southampton access
Upgrading the M27 junction 3, near Southampton in Hampshire.

[There was a freeflow left turn towards the port prior to 2006 - restoring that would be a start. Bizarrely this was previously referred to as "M27 south and Westhampton access".]

A38 Trerulefoot to Carkeel safety package
Developing safety improvements along the A38 between Carkeel and Trerulefoot in Cornwall.

Severn resilience package
Developing a package of possible improvements to sections of the M4, M5 and M32 motorways on the eastern side of the Severn Crossings near Bristol to tackle current and future congestion levels following the 2018 removal of the tolls to cross the Severn bridges.

["M4 junctions 19 to 20 and M5 junctions 16 to 17 upgrade dynamic hard shoulder running to all lane running" is separately committed for delivery by 2023-24, so this is presumably a more substantial improvement - most likely further ALR sections.]

A1 Doncaster to Darrington
Upgrading the A1 between Doncaster and Darrington in Yorkshire.

A64 Hopgrove
Upgrading the A64 Hopgrove junction near York.
[Interesting that it's phrased like that as the feasibility study said the problem was the single carriageway more than the junction.]

M1/M62 Lofthouse Interchange
Upgrading the M1/M62 Lofthouse Interchange near Wakefield in Yorkshire.

https://highwaysengland.co.uk/our-work/ ... e-schemes/
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Re: Highways England pipeline of possible future schemes

Post by KeithW »

I am pretty sure Redhouse to Darrington got pushed back into RIS3
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Re: Highways England pipeline of possible future schemes

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KeithW wrote: Wed Jun 16, 2021 15:06 I am pretty sure Redhouse to Darrington got pushed back into RIS3
As per OP, this is a list of post-2025 (i.e., RIS3 and later) schemes being developed in 2020-25. (Except the A21 which was brought forward.)
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Re: Highways England pipeline of possible future schemes

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jackal wrote: Wed Jun 16, 2021 10:43 RIS2 named 32 schemes to be developed in 2020-25, for delivery post-2025. There is now a page on the HE site for these schemes, with around half of them listed so far. There is very little detail, but as for some of them we previously only had scheme names, often opaque (e.g., 'Severn resilience package'), there is still some new information (in bold):

A11 Fiveways junction
Upgrading the A11 Fiveways junction, a roundabout where the A11 meets the A1065 and the A1101 near Barton Mills in Suffolk.

A14 Copdock Interchange
Upgrading the A14 junction 55, located to the south-west of Ipswich in Suffolk.

A120 Braintree to A12
Providing a newly improved route which would create a modern dual carriageway link connecting Braintree and the A12 in Essex.

A2 Brenley Corner
Upgrading the A2 Brenley Corner junction near Faversham in Kent.

A2 Dover access
Upgrading sections of the A2 to improve traffic flow and resilience between Lydden Hill and Dover in Kent.

[So this is maybe more substantial than expected, possibly even completing the dualling between the M2 and Dover. The Jubilee Way viaduct seems difficult to upgrade - though complex, maybe they could dig out an offslip to go directly into the port, bypassing the viaduct entirely?]

A21 safety package
Delivering a suite of safety improvements along the A21 route corridor from Sevenoaks in Kent, to Hastings in East Sussex. This scheme has been taken out of the RIS3 Pipeline and is funded for delivery between now and 2025.

[It's just minor changes to signs, markings, speed limits, etc: https://highwaysengland.co.uk/our-work/ ... y-package/]

A27 Chichester
Upgrading the A27 Chichester bypass in West Sussex, which provides access to the city from the south for local traffic as well a bypass for long distance traffic.

M27 Southampton access
Upgrading the M27 junction 3, near Southampton in Hampshire.

[There was a freeflow left turn towards the port prior to 2006 - restoring that would be a start. Bizarrely this was previously referred to as "M27 south and Westhampton access".]

A38 Trerulefoot to Carkeel safety package
Developing safety improvements along the A38 between Carkeel and Trerulefoot in Cornwall.

Severn resilience package
Developing a package of possible improvements to sections of the M4, M5 and M32 motorways on the eastern side of the Severn Crossings near Bristol to tackle current and future congestion levels following the 2018 removal of the tolls to cross the Severn bridges.

["M4 junctions 19 to 20 and M5 junctions 16 to 17 upgrade dynamic hard shoulder running to all lane running" is separately committed for delivery by 2023-24, so this is presumably a more substantial improvement - most likely further ALR sections.]

A1 Doncaster to Darrington
Upgrading the A1 between Doncaster and Darrington in Yorkshire.

A64 Hopgrove
Upgrading the A64 Hopgrove junction near York.
[Interesting that it's phrased like that as the feasibility study said the problem was the single carriageway more than the junction.]

M1/M62 Lofthouse Interchange
Upgrading the M1/M62 Lofthouse Interchange near Wakefield in Yorkshire.

https://highwaysengland.co.uk/our-work/ ... e-schemes/
A2 Brenley Corner
Hopefully this is a realignment making the M2 / A2 the through traffic here, maybe a semi-directional T? Would be disappointing if it just improved the current junction at its current location, even if added freeflow.
And of course in an ideal world the M2 would be extended...

A1 Doncaster to Darrington
Would a D4M even be excessive? With a single lane drop before Knottingley and a double-lane drop southbound at the M18 junction?
In reality I have a bad feeling they will look at what they did / are doing around Newcastle, and figure, regarding the existing A1(M) Doncaster section, "if we can fit a D3 in the space formerly occupied by a D2, then fitting one through the space occupied by a D2M with narrow hard shoulders will be a piece of cake".
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Re: Highways England pipeline of possible future schemes

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JRN wrote: Wed Jun 16, 2021 22:55A2 Brenley Corner
Hopefully this is a realignment making the M2 / A2 the through traffic here, maybe a semi-directional T? Would be disappointing if it just improved the current junction at its current location, even if added freeflow.
And of course in an ideal world the M2 would be extended...
You should probably adjust your expectations to something more like signalisation and small scale widening of the roundabout and approaches.
A1 Doncaster to Darrington
Would a D4M even be excessive? With a single lane drop before Knottingley and a double-lane drop southbound at the M18 junction?
In reality I have a bad feeling they will look at what they did / are doing around Newcastle, and figure, regarding the existing A1(M) Doncaster section, "if we can fit a D3 in the space formerly occupied by a D2, then fitting one through the space occupied by a D2M with narrow hard shoulders will be a piece of cake".
The Doncaster-Darrington improvement will be from Red House to Darrington, closing the gap between the two motorway sections. I don't think it includes any widening to the existing A1(M). In the current climate I expect D3 rather than D3M will be the result - HE do not build hard shoulders any more.
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Re: Highways England pipeline of possible future schemes

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With the A21 one, interestingly it seems to include minor realignments in all sections, as well as layby review. Maybe there will be a little more than just paintwork and signs, although for £20 million, you can't expect much.
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Re: Highways England pipeline of possible future schemes

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jackal wrote: Wed Jun 16, 2021 10:43 A64 Hopgrove
Upgrading the A64 Hopgrove junction near York.
[Interesting that it's phrased like that as the feasibility study said the problem was the single carriageway more than the junction.]
There. Is. Nothing. Wrong. With. The. Junction. It's the capacity drop from six lanes down to one lane going east that is the problem. Any "improvements" to the junction will just make the problem worse as it will just make it more efficient to dump too much traffic onto too small a road.
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Re: Highways England pipeline of possible future schemes

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Chris5156 wrote: Wed Jun 16, 2021 23:40
JRN wrote: Wed Jun 16, 2021 22:55A1 Doncaster to Darrington
Would a D4M even be excessive? With a single lane drop before Knottingley and a double-lane drop southbound at the M18 junction?
In reality I have a bad feeling they will look at what they did / are doing around Newcastle, and figure, regarding the existing A1(M) Doncaster section, "if we can fit a D3 in the space formerly occupied by a D2, then fitting one through the space occupied by a D2M with narrow hard shoulders will be a piece of cake".
The Doncaster-Darrington improvement will be from Red House to Darrington, closing the gap between the two motorway sections. I don't think it includes any widening to the existing A1(M). In the current climate I expect D3 rather than D3M will be the result - HE do not build hard shoulders any more.
The new motorway section will almost certainly be D3M.

There were two schemes in the RIS1 document to be developed for RIS2:

A24 A1 Redhouse to Darrington
A26 A1(M) Doncaster Bypass

These were then combined into one current scheme:

A1 Doncaster to Darrington

It would make no sense to add a lane to Redhouse to Darrington but not the Doncaster Bypass, which has significantly more traffic.
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Re: Highways England pipeline of possible future schemes

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jackal wrote: Thu Jun 17, 2021 08:50
The new motorway section will almost certainly be D3M.
At risk of being a human embodiment of wikipedia, citation needed.... I've not seen any evidence to suggest this would be the case. And yes, I've not seen any evidence to the contrary either - but it's a fairly bold statement to say that it will "almost certainly" be D3M....
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Re: Highways England pipeline of possible future schemes

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jackal wrote: Thu Jun 17, 2021 08:50
There were two schemes in the RIS1 document to be developed for RIS2:

A24 A1 Redhouse to Darrington
A26 A1(M) Doncaster Bypass

These were then combined into one current scheme:

A1 Doncaster to Darrington

It would make no sense to add a lane to Redhouse to Darrington but not the Doncaster Bypass, which has significantly more traffic.
As I understand it this is why the Redhouse to Darington and Doncaster bypass widening were pushed back into RIS3. The Doncaster bypass has some real problems when it comes too widening, the most obvious is the Don Bridge. Originally the talk was of converting it to an all lane running D3M managed motorway but with the new safety barriers in place its hard to see how you could make it D3 without a new bridge. In any event both need to be considered as part of the same development

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Re: Highways England pipeline of possible future schemes

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c2R wrote: Thu Jun 17, 2021 09:22
jackal wrote: Thu Jun 17, 2021 08:50
The new motorway section will almost certainly be D3M.
At risk of being a human embodiment of wikipedia, citation needed.... I've not seen any evidence to suggest this would be the case. And yes, I've not seen any evidence to the contrary either - but it's a fairly bold statement to say that it will "almost certainly" be D3M....
Well, what are the alternatives?

D2 - not an improvement on current.
D2M - would add a hard shoulder but no capacity benefit, the opposite of HE policy.
D4M - not needed for volumes, and gold plating is again the opposite of policy.

The only alternative that has a slither of possibility is D3, as a cost saving (hence why I said 'almost certainly'), but this would be totally at odds with the other A1 upgrades and with the ambitions for a motorway alternative to the M1, as set out in the RIS doc:

A1 Redhouse to Darrington –
upgrading the A1 to motorway standard
between A1(M) junction 38 and junction
40. This will mean that the whole of the
A1 in Yorkshire has been upgraded to
motorway standard, providing traffic
between the North East and the
Midlands with an alternative route
avoiding Sheffield and Leeds.

Note that there seems to be no provision in the new DMRB for new build motorways without hard shoulders. Policy seems to have turned away from that (see A14 and LTC). D3 with no HS means all purpose. Not likely IMO. The value of 'bypassing' the M1 in Yorkshire has long been recognized and AP wouldn't cut the mustard. This isn't the south east where new motorways are politically toxic.
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Re: Highways England pipeline of possible future schemes

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PS: Here's a report from last June referring to the "Yorkshire bypass" as motorway standard:

https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/po ... m1-2878476

And re: scheme scope, here's a natty map showing it includes the Donny bypass:

https://highwaysengland.co.uk/media/okq ... p-2021.jpg
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Re: Highways England pipeline of possible future schemes

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jackal wrote: Thu Jun 17, 2021 09:55 Note that there seems to be no provision in the new DMRB for new build motorways without hard shoulders. Policy seems to have turned away from that (see A14 and LTC). D3 with no HS means all purpose. Not likely IMO. The value of 'bypassing' the M1 in Yorkshire has long been recognized and AP wouldn't cut the mustard. This isn't the south east where new motorways are politically toxic.
https://www.standardsforhighways.co.uk/ ... 67f70b8652

Surely the "Expressway" standard would be used. No shoulders but with smart tech. Point E/1.1 allows a road built to the standard to be designated as a motorway.
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Re: Highways England pipeline of possible future schemes

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jervi wrote: Thu Jun 17, 2021 10:16
jackal wrote: Thu Jun 17, 2021 09:55 Note that there seems to be no provision in the new DMRB for new build motorways without hard shoulders. Policy seems to have turned away from that (see A14 and LTC). D3 with no HS means all purpose. Not likely IMO. The value of 'bypassing' the M1 in Yorkshire has long been recognized and AP wouldn't cut the mustard. This isn't the south east where new motorways are politically toxic.
https://www.standardsforhighways.co.uk/ ... 67f70b8652

Surely the "Expressway" standard would be used. No shoulders but with smart tech. Point E/1.1 allows a road built to the standard to be designated as a motorway.
Fair enough. Given that I think three lane motorway without a hard shoulder is quite possible for this section. The main point of what I said still stands, viz, that the upgrade will almost certainly be three lane motorway.
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Re: Highways England pipeline of possible future schemes

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jackal wrote: Thu Jun 17, 2021 10:36
jervi wrote: Thu Jun 17, 2021 10:16
jackal wrote: Thu Jun 17, 2021 09:55 Note that there seems to be no provision in the new DMRB for new build motorways without hard shoulders. Policy seems to have turned away from that (see A14 and LTC). D3 with no HS means all purpose. Not likely IMO. The value of 'bypassing' the M1 in Yorkshire has long been recognized and AP wouldn't cut the mustard. This isn't the south east where new motorways are politically toxic.
https://www.standardsforhighways.co.uk/ ... 67f70b8652

Surely the "Expressway" standard would be used. No shoulders but with smart tech. Point E/1.1 allows a road built to the standard to be designated as a motorway.
Fair enough. Given that I think three lane motorway without a hard shoulder is quite possible for this section. The main point of what I said still stands, viz, that the upgrade will almost certainly be three lane motorway.
It rather hopes the design consultants actually understand what a motorway is and don't end up making an A14 fudge again using TROs to get a 'similar' outcome.
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Re: Highways England pipeline of possible future schemes

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KeithW wrote: Thu Jun 17, 2021 09:29 As I understand it this is why the Redhouse to Darington and Doncaster bypass widening were pushed back into RIS3. The Doncaster bypass has some real problems when it comes too widening, the most obvious is the Don Bridge. Originally the talk was of converting it to an all lane running D3M managed motorway but with the new safety barriers in place its hard to see how you could make it D3 without a new bridge. In any event both need to be considered as part of the same development
I think the best solution for widening the Doncaster Bypass is to build a cut & cover tunnel under J36, through the residential area, to D3M spec. A tunnel should start North of Broomhouse Ln and just south of the Don Bridge. The Don Bridge would be replaced with a new "twin" D4M, with the A1(M) reducing to D3M north of the Don Bridge
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Re: Highways England pipeline of possible future schemes

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jackal wrote: Wed Jun 16, 2021 10:43 Severn resilience package
Developing a package of possible improvements to sections of the M4, M5 and M32 motorways on the eastern side of the Severn Crossings near Bristol to tackle current and future congestion levels following the 2018 removal of the tolls to cross the Severn bridges.

["M4 junctions 19 to 20 and M5 junctions 16 to 17 upgrade dynamic hard shoulder running to all lane running" is separately committed for delivery by 2023-24, so this is presumably a more substantial improvement - most likely further ALR sections.]
Please say collector/express lanes. It is what the M4 and M5 need
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Re: Highways England pipeline of possible future schemes

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c2R wrote: Thu Jun 17, 2021 09:22
At risk of being a human embodiment of wikipedia, citation needed.... I've not seen any evidence to suggest this would be the case. And yes, I've not seen any evidence to the contrary either - but it's a fairly bold statement to say that it will "almost certainly" be D3M....
Well given that the A1(M) from Leeming to Darrington is D3M it not an unreasonable assumption especially as it associated with widening the Doncaster bypass. It could of course be built as a managed motorway with 3 running lanes and no hard shoulder. The D2 A1 Redhouse from Redhouse to Darrington is seriously overloaded and the chances of it being rebuilt as an All Purpose D3 seems slim to say the least.
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Re: Highways England pipeline of possible future schemes

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JammyDodge wrote: Thu Jun 17, 2021 13:24
KeithW wrote: Thu Jun 17, 2021 09:29 As I understand it this is why the Redhouse to Darington and Doncaster bypass widening were pushed back into RIS3. The Doncaster bypass has some real problems when it comes too widening, the most obvious is the Don Bridge. Originally the talk was of converting it to an all lane running D3M managed motorway but with the new safety barriers in place its hard to see how you could make it D3 without a new bridge. In any event both need to be considered as part of the same development
I think the best solution for widening the Doncaster Bypass is to build a cut & cover tunnel under J36, through the residential area, to D3M spec. A tunnel should start North of Broomhouse Ln and just south of the Don Bridge. The Don Bridge would be replaced with a new "twin" D4M, with the A1(M) reducing to D3M north of the Don Bridge
Why bother though when they could ALR it for a fraction of the price? When have HE ever dug a tunnel to add a lane when they could just nick the HS?
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Re: Highways England pipeline of possible future schemes

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JammyDodge wrote: Thu Jun 17, 2021 13:24 I think the best solution for widening the Doncaster Bypass is to build a cut & cover tunnel under J36, through the residential area, to D3M spec. A tunnel should start North of Broomhouse Ln and just south of the Don Bridge. The Don Bridge would be replaced with a new "twin" D4M, with the A1(M) reducing to D3M north of the Don Bridge
Well given that a cut and cover tunnel would require demolishing properties and be highly disruptive during construction this seems to me to be somewhat unlikely.
Looking from the A630 overbridge I think there would be room to squeeze 3 lanes in especially using ALR.

As for the Don Bridge providing its structurally sound I would expect a new bridge for the southbound carriageway would be built east of of the existing bridge and the northbound traffic would use the existing structure.
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