'Highways England planning to cut or delay major road improvement schemes'

[jackal]

I imagine the A27 cancellation is about getting all their ducks in a row before the budget announcement. Thinking optimistically, the other overdue preferred route announcements are being held back to be announced for the budget. But it's also possible that we'll hear about more delays or cancellations before the budget.

The really interesting one is the Lower Thames Crossing. It has its own controversies, but logically it's being held back to be announced at the budget. I don't think cancelling the biggest UK road scheme for decades, and one that directly serves several ports, would really send the intended 'open for business' message...

[Berk]

Yes, that's right. Like I said earlier, although it's bad news the scheme has been cancelled for now - let's hope it makes a speedy reappearance in RIS2, complete with a northern option. Having seen the proposals, it does seem to make sense to separate A27 long-distance from local traffic.

[WHBM]

I feel whoever talked the DfT into this "shovel ready" concept had an ulterior motive.

Bet it was the consultancies, who thus get far more of the preliminary work for themselves than can ever be justified by the funds available for actual work. Now we have the likes of buffoon Grayling at the helm, they are easily led.

"Oh yes, minister, let us do all the design (and redesign since last time), all the consultations, etc, etc, for 20 schemes. Then they could all be ready to go. Well the Treasury may only let you have funds for 5, or 8, but they were ready. By the way, those funds for 8 don't quite go that far any more, because of all the extra consulting work we are doing, so they only cover 6 schemes of the 'shovelling' bit, the nasty dirty bit, now.

"Another bottle of Pol Roger, minister ?"

[jackal]

To be fair, it will be rather more than 6 out of 20 that get built. I think we only have one cancellation so far, compared to ~100 major schemes that will have started construction in 2015-20.

[sotonsteve]

Quite.

Highways England pays out for all these studies, schemes get postponed or cancelled, but the money is spent, and when it comes round again it all has to be paid for again.

The other really controversial scheme of the moment is Stonehenge, but like Lower Thames Crossing this is a flagship scheme, so it will be interesting to see.

It's a shame some smart motorways can't be shelved to free up funds for proper improvements. What is the benefit to cost ratio of the M27 smart motorway compared with the Chichester Bypass schemes? I reckon the M27 smart motorway will at best enable me to reach Chichester a minute quicker to join a 20 minute to half hour long traffic jam.

The other thing is, Highways England haven't got a chance of starting all the schemes they suggest they want to by the end of RIS1, even if they had the money. The whole planning and consultation process will get in the way. Despite the financial black hole, I wouldn't be surprised if suddenly come autumn 2019 they frantically panic to blow unspent money that was earmarked for projects that have unable to be started in RIS1.

[M5Lenzar]

How much is being wasted on that fancy railway line again?

[jackal]

I've said it many times, but I don't think planning or consultations are a major limitation to the timescale, as the processes are very streamlined now.

Finance is the main limitation, local politics (e.g. Chichester) another, but also capacity within the sector to actually build so many road schemes all starting in early 2020, when there has been minimal strategic road construction prior to this. For those reasons I expect many 'by March 2020' schemes will end up starting throughout 2020 and possibly 2021.

[jackal]

ORR's annual report on HE has been published: http://www.orr.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf ... 17-web.pdf

Page 58 has an interesting summary of scheme schedules. There were 112 schemes in the first road period (2015-20). Of these, 32 had started by 2016-17. Of the remaining 80, 77 are on schedule. The ones that aren't are:

* M621 Junctions 1-7 improvements – start of works commitment of 2019-20 delayed to April 2020
* A27 Chichester Bypass – stopped, to be change controlled
* M54 to M6/M6 Toll link road – start of works commitment of 2018-19 at risk

[Glenn A]

How much is being wasted on that fancy railway line again?

I wouldn't say HS2 is a waste of money. By 2030, it's likely the WCML south of Birmingham will seize up, which would mean more road traffic on the M1, M40 and M6 as train travel becomes unattractive, and surely a 200 mph train journey makes more sense than struggling bumper to bumper on a motorway, or where you can speed up, a camera is likely to catch you out. Also a 17 year rail project is likely to create vastly more jobs than a 2 year by pass scheme.
That said, I definitely do favour by passes and road improvements that eliminate pinch points and improve the quality of life. I very much doubt anyone who lives in Distington, Cumbria, would want the A595 to return to their village.

[jackal]

Secretary of state's report on HE for 16-17:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... 16-to-2017

[wrinkly]

Not sure if this is the right thread ...

HE's Delivery Plan 2017-18:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... 17-to-2018

The number of schemes listed to start construction in 2019-20 is staggering. I think they're being optimistic to imagine that (a) so many will complete their design and statutory processes on time, (b) so many will be fundable if they do.

[jackal]

Thanks for that. I don't think they imagine for a moment that (a) AND (b) will be satisfied. They deliberately overprogramme. The current expectation is of a nominal £800m overcommitment, but I expect they will be pretty much on target once cancellations are taken into account (e.g. Chichester), as well as schemes that come in well under budget (e.g. Port of Liverpool was budgeted at £250m-£500m, but is most likely going to be the £16m–£41m option A).

For anyone that's interested, the full table of 112 schemes, with start and end dates, is at p. 58 of wrinkly's link.

[nowster]

In government if you underspend your department's budget one year, the bean counters will assume you didn't need that much and will allocate you a smaller budget next year.

[jackal]

Or in this case, for the next five years! Although it is an unusual case as a large majority of HE budget goes on capital spending, not revenue spending.

[Glenn A]

Whither the A1 dualling from Morpeth to Alnwick, which seems to have been put on hold since 2015, unless our good friends in Transport Scotland can come to the rescue like they did with the A74 in Cumbria and offer to pay for full dualling to the Scottish border. It's interesting that while nearly all of the A1 in Scotland is now D2, most of the road north of Morpeth is still S2. It might be nostalgic to see an S2 A1, imagining how this road would be in the rest of the country until the late sixties, with houses, small businesses and farms on the side of the road, but no fun when a tractor appears and you have to sit behind it at 10 mph.

[wrinkly]

Whither the A1 dualling from Morpeth to Alnwick, which seems to have been put on hold since 2015,

On the contrary, 2015 (or to be more exact, Decmeber 2014) is when the scheme was revived, in the form that the DfT persists in describing as dualling Morpeth to Ellingham, though this includes the existing 9 or so miles of dual carriageway from Felton to north of Alnwick and the existing mile and a half at Brownieside, immediately south of Ellingham.

The thread about it is here:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=31517

And HE's scheme page is here:

http://roads.highways.gov.uk/projects/m ... -dualling/

There's also a page about single carriageway improvements between Ellingham and the border:

http://roads.highways.gov.uk/projects/a ... ellingham/

unless our good friends in Transport Scotland can come to the rescue like they did with the A74 in Cumbria and offer to pay for full dualling to the Scottish border.

I didn't think anybody still believed that urban myth. The Scottish Office offered to include the upgrade of the Cumberland Gap to motorway in the "M6 DBFO" cotract (which covered the construction of the A74(M) between Paddy's Rickle Bridge (south of J14) and J16), but the DfT would still have had to pay for it.

[Berk]

There was a story in the Daily Mail today - citing CBRD amongst others.

I'll post a link later.

[WHBM]

I think it's this one

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... n-yet.html

[jackal]

I'm sorry to say the DfT is right. Since the redesign there are dozens of schemes on CBRD listed as on hold that are actually in prep, as I've mentioned previously. A bit embarrassing that the Daily Mail would make a story out of this.

http://www.cbrd.co.uk/road-schemes?rout ... region=All

[wrinkly]

Not sure if this is the best thread:

Press release out today:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/15bi ... congestion

£15billion road upgrade plan updated to minimise congestion

Highways England has today updated its £15 billion road improvement programme to reduce the impact of roadworks on motorists and minimise congestion while improvements take place.

Plans for twenty-six road upgrades have been revised to reduce roadworks taking place in the same area of the network or on popular journey routes at the same time. This will mean less congestion for motorists as Highways England embarks on the biggest road upgrade plan for a generation.

The Supplementary Delivery Plan published today will see Highways England rescheduling its programme for the schemes between three and 24 months – meaning a number of schemes will be completed earlier than planned. All are still set for delivery as part of the Government’s first road investment strategy.

Jim O’Sullivan, Highways England Chief Executive said:

Our update today is a sensible and responsible way to deliver major national investment in road infrastructure. It will keep our roads moving, deliver a lasting legacy for the country and ensure best value for money for the taxpayer.

Now, more than two years into delivery of a £15 billion Government investment in motorways and major A roads, Highways England has already completed 18 major schemes, adding more than 190 lane miles of much-needed capacity to the nation’s roads.

The 10 schemes being brought forward are:

A19 Testos
A19 Downhill Lane
M56 junctions 6-8 smart motorway
M6 junctions 21a – 26 smart motorway
M6 junction 22 upgrade
A500 Etruria
M6 junction 10
M4 Heathrow Slips
A47 Acle Straight -small scale improvement
A47 and A12 junction enhancement

The 16 schemes being re-scheduled to smooth the timing and frequency of roadworks are:

A5 Dodwells to Longshoot widening
M3 junction 9 improvement
A31 Ringwood
M27 junctions 4-11
A47 North Tuddenham to Easton
A47 Blofield to North Burlingham dualling
M25 junction 25 improvement
M25 junction 28 improvement
A1 Birtley to Coal House
M60 junctions 24-27 and junction 1-4 smart motorway
A47/A11 Thickthorn
A47 Wansford to Sutton
A47 Guyhirn Junction
A12 Chelmsford to A120 widening
M25 junction 10/A3 Wisley interchange
M25 junctions 10-16

Highways England is obliged to ensure that investment in the road network delivers good value for money. Following a full review the Road Investment Strategy (RIS) programme some schemes require further development to achieve an acceptable return on investment. As a result, in addition to the 26 schemes above, 6 schemes have been paused for further review and consideration as part of future RIS planning process.

These schemes are:

A1 & A19 Technology enhancements
M11 junctions 8 to 14 technology upgrade
A12 whole-route technology upgrade
M53 junctions 5-11 smart motorway
A14 Junction 10a
M62/ M606 Chain Bar

Two further schemes required rework to achieve value for money; however, changes in local development plans mean that these schemes can be progressed, albeit in the early stages of Road Period 2. These are:

M5 Bridgwater junction improvements
A50 Uttoxeter Project B growth corridor project

There's also this statement to parliament, which also mentions the list of newly approved local road schemes that I've mentioned in another thread.

https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/ ... ajors-fund