A303/A30/A358 Corridor Feasibility Study Reference

Group Meeting

20 May 2014

Purpose of meeting

• To agree the terms of reference for the Reference Group.

• To explain the work done to progress the study since January.– Finalisation of scope document.– Progression of stage one of the work to gather

evidence on the performance of the routes.

• To set out proposals for the progression of stage 2 of the study – option identification.

Background

• Following 2013 Spending Review, Government announced that it will identify and fund solutions to tackle some of the most notorious and long-standing road hot spots in the country by conducting 6 feasibility studies: – The A27 corridor (incl. Arundel and Worthing)– The A303/A30/A358 corridor– The A1 North of Newcastle– The A1 Newcastle-Gateshead Western Bypass– Trans-Pennine routes– The A47 corridor

• Studies progressed alongside the Highways Agency’s Route Strategy programme.

• Outcomes inform future roads investment decisions as part of the Roads Investment Strategy development process.

Background

• Met with stakeholders on 24 January in Taunton.

• Set out the proposed scope of work and timescales for the study.

• Explained intention to establish a Stakeholder Reference Group.

Study aims and objectives

• Study Aim: to identify the opportunities and understand the case for future investment solutions on the A303/A30/A358 corridor that are deliverable, affordable and offer value for money.

Study aims and objectives

• Study Objectives:– Identify and assess the case, deliverability and timing of specific

infrastructure investments that address existing and future problems on the A303/A30/A358 corridor

– To understand the balance of benefits and impacts from potential individual investment proposals and any additional benefits or impacts from an investment on a corridor basis.

– To evidence where possible, the wider economic benefits from the transport investment in the corridor.

– To understand the impacts of potential investment in the A303/A30/A358 corridor on the performance of other road transport corridors to the South West region.

– Understand the impacts of the proposed investment in the A303/A30/A358 corridor on the resilience of the road transport network.

Timescales and staging of work

Stage 1 Review of evidence and identification of problems along the corridor

Complete by end of March 2014

Stage 2 Work to finalise the range of infrastructure proposals that could address the problems along the corridor

Complete by end of July 2014

Stage 3 Work to assess the affordability, value for money and deliverability of prioritised infrastructure proposals

Complete by autumn 2014

Study management arrangements

• Project board comprised of Departmental and Highways Agency staff to manage and control the study work.

• Stakeholder Reference Group to ensure stakeholders’ views are considered and captured during the study process.– Meet following completion of each of the stages of

work.

Reference Group Terms of Reference

Reference Group serves to:• Represent the views of relevant organisations in relation

to the Feasibility Study and its activities, and where possible, the views of wider stakeholders.

• Provide details where necessary of related activities, strategies and proposals which may impact on, or need to be taken account of in the study work.

• Communicate the activities of the Feasibility Study Reference Group to a wider group of regional and local stakeholders.

Finalised scope document

• Key themes from comments received specifically in relation to the A303/A30/A358 corridor scope document:

Need to build on previous work and studies Study should identify early interventions together with a

long-term plan. Study should result in a prioritised list of interventions.

• Comments received in relation to other studies:

Comment Changes made to scope document

Insufficient protection and recognition given to environmentally sensitive areas and landscape designations

Work will abide by current commitments, as set out within the National Planning Policy Framework and draft NNNPS, to carefully consider the impacts of schemes on such sites.

Stage 1 progress and findings

• The following slides describe the work undertaken in this Stage 1 of the study and will cover the following:– Approach to completing the stage 1 work– Overview of the background and previous work

completed– Overview of the current situation on the corridor– Overview of the predicted/forecast future situation on

the corridor– Explanation of the need for intervention– Summary of the intervention-specific objectives– Conclusions and recommendations

Approach to stage 1

• WebTAG Guidance on Transport Appraisal:

– Understand the current situation– Understand the future context– Consider the need for intervention and objectives to

address that need– Identifies/ determine the region of impact

Approach to stage 1 (cont.)

Evidence from Previous Studies• Used evidence from SW Peninsular Route Strategy • Consideration of evidence and data from previous studies including:

– London to South West and South Wales Multi-Modal Study 2002– A303/A30 Corridor Management Study Problem Identification Report– South West Stress Mapping March 2012– A303 A30 A358 Corridor Improvement Programme: Economic Impact Study and

Sectional Economic Analysis January 2013 – A303 Scoping Study July 2013

Additional Evidence gathered from:– Local Authority Local Transport Plans– Strategic Economic Plans– Local Transport Boards– Stakeholders– Consultation feedback

Background and previous work

• Improvements to A303 considered over many decades

• 2002 - London to South West and South Wales Multi-Modal Study (SWARMMS).

• 2007 - the cancellation of the Amesbury to Berwick Down Scheme (Stonehenge)- the SWARMMS strategy could no longer be pursued

• 2011 - A303 Working Group established

• 2013 - A303 Working Group presented findings, resulted in A303 Scoping Study- Following the 2013 Spending Review Government announced that it would identify and fund solutions to tackle some of the country’s most notorious hotspots.

• 2014 - January: Initial Stakeholder Meeting

- April: Scope Finalised

A303 / A30 / A358 Corridor Characteristics

• Part of HA SRN (except A358)

• Part of TEN-T network

• Strategic importance to access South West

• 195 km

• 63% Dualled, 37% Single carriageway

• Speed limits 30 – 70mph

• Strategic and local function

• Route Usage• Business• commute• other• leisure

• HGV proportion 8-11%

• High seasonal impact

Current Route Performance

• Considered following factors/measures of performance– Traffic Flow– Congestion and “Stress”– Journey Time Reliability (OTRM)– Safety– Environmental considerations

• Comprehensive robust and current data used derived from HA, DfT, Defra and Local Authority sources.

Current Average Daily Traffic Flows (October 2013)

2013 Summer Additional Traffic (to October Average)

Current 2013 Neutral Month Stress

Current 2013 Summer Month Stress

Journey Time Reliability

Based on HA On Time Reliability Measure against a historic reference travel time.

Personal Injury Accidents

A303/A30/A358

Entire Corridor

• 876 personal injury accidents

• 22% severity ratio • Average 175 PIA/yr• Average 4.5 PIA per km

However• Comparable to national

average rates• Corridor improvements -

30% reduction in year on year accident rate since 2008

36

154

686

5 Year PIA Record (2008 – 2012)

Fatal Serious Slight

Personal Injury Accidents (2)

24

12

Fatal

Unimproved Sections Rest of corridor

24 = 67% of all fatal accidents on 37% of the corridor route length

61

93

Serious

325361

Slight

77.5

195.8

Route length (km) within Corridor

Fatal and Serious Accident Locations: Unimproved sections

12%

6%

24%

7%

1%

1%

12%

13%

25%

A303 Amesbury to Berwick Down (S-tonehenge)

A303 Wylye to Stockton Wood

A303 Chicklade Bottom to Mere

A303 Sparkford to Ilchester

A303 Podimore Roundabout

A303 Cartgate Roundabout

A303 South Petherton to Southfields

A358 Southfields to M5 (Junction 25)

A303 Southfields to Honiton

NB. This does not take into account differential section lengths

Environmental Key Considerations

Cultural Heritage• Stonehenge WHS

Noise• 23 First Priority Locations

Landscape and Boidiversity associated with AONBs at • Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs• Blackdown Hills

Flooding Designations

• Stretches of route are adjacent to or cross many water courses and rivers

• Recent events 2013/4 highlighted flood risk

• Deptford flooding due to land run off

• Flood plan now in place

Future Conditions on the Corridor

• Future conditions on the corridor will be influenced by:• Background traffic growth due to changing social,

demographic and economic factors• Specific growth proposals for the corridor, region or beyond.

• Key developments and growth expected at for example Exeter, Stonehenge Visitor Centre, Solstice Park and Andover.

• Growth agenda reviewed in LEP’s Strategic Economic Plans, City Deals, Local Authority plans

• Developments adjacent to the corridor have the following allocations up to 2031

Location Houses JobsEast Devon 7000 10000

Exeter 7000 3000

South Somerset 9000 5000

Taunton Deane 14500 10000

Wiltshire 26000 12000

Test Valley 3000

Total 66500 40000

Future Conditions on the Corridor (2)

• However further into the South West Peninsula are other key proposals such as : • Over the SWP a total of

242,000 additional households and 150,000 new jobs are planned by 2031

• Tempro growth estimates households and jobs will grow by:

• 9% by 2021, • 20% by 2031 and • 30% by 2041• Jobs grow by between 4 and

6%

• Applied growth to base traffic flow data for congestion

Location Houses JobsCornwall 23000 11000

Plymouth 47000 4000

West Devon 3000 1500

Torbay 18000 10000

South Hams 3000 3000

Teignbridge 6000 5000

Total 100000 34500

Committed Highway Network improvements • A303/A3088 Cartgate Roundabout• M5 J25• Yeovil Western Corridor• SMART motorways planned schemes• Bullington Cross A303/A34 junction• Exeter PUA Scheme (near M5 J30)• East Anton A303/A3093 junction

Future Growth Locations Adjacent to the Corridor

Future Traffic Flow Growth

Future Year Stress Levels

2021

2041

Evidenced need for intervention

• Stage 1 has examined route conditions based on congestion, journey times, safety and environmental considerations.

• Clearly the single carriageway sections experience the worst conditions• Building on the growth agenda for the region conditions will deteriorate• The following key sections have initially been identified for further

investigation in Stage 2:– Amesbury to Berwick Down– Chicklade Bottom to Mere– Sparkford to Ilchester– South Petherton to Southfields– Southfields to Honiton

• Traffic modelling will fine tune the assessment of impacts and solutions• No definitive solution for sections identified

Intervention-specific objectives

• Based on the evidenced need for intervention the following objectives are proposed against which potential investment options will be assessed

Strategic Objectives

Supporting Economic Growth

Facilitate growth in employment at key centres and locations along the A303/A358/A30 corridor

Facilitate growth in housing a key development hotspots along the corridor

Operational Objectives

Capacity Reduce delay and queues that occur during the peak hours and seasonal times of the year

Resilience Improve the resilience of the route such that the number of incidents and the effect of accidents is reduced

Safety Reduce the number of collisions on the A303/A358/A30 corridor

Connectivity Improve the connectivity of the South West to the rest of the UK, to reduce peripherality and improve business and growth prospects.

Environmental Avoid unacceptable impacts on the surrounding natural environment and landscape and optimise the environmental opportunities and mitigation that the intervention could bring

Conclusions and recommendations

• Stage 1 examined route conditions based on congestion, journey times, safety and environmental considerations which identified key issues for the unimproved sections

• Specific sections have been identified for further investigation in Stage 2

• It is recommended that in parallel to Stage 2 a strategic traffic model be updated to be able to robustly appraise the schemes on a region wide basis

Approach to stage 2

• In Stage 2 the process involves:• Following WebTag Transport Appraisal process

– Option generation building on existing work– Sifting– Drafting of an Options Assessment Report– Confirm Appraisal Specification Report

– Timing – end of July 2014– Sifting to examine

• Value for money • Deliverability • Affordability

Next steps

• Continue with stage 2 of study work to develop a range of options to address the issues identified.

• Convene another meeting of the Reference Group in early August to discuss findings and options to be considered in more detail in stage 3.