Hampshire County Council Fareham Highway Management Advisory Panel 24 October 2002 Other Programmes and Scheme Status Report Report of the County Surveyor and Director of Planning and Transportation (Fareham Borough Council) |
Item 9 |
Contact: Chris Lait, tel: 01329 824485
1. Summary
1.1 This report covers the following issues:
(i) Traffic Management and Traffic Regulation Order Programme;
(ii) Low Cost Casualty Reduction Programme 2002/03;
(iii) Bridge Works Programme 2002/03;
(iv) Intelligent Transport Systems Programme 2002/03;
(v) South East Hampshire Transport Strategy Scheme Report;
(vi) Regeneration of Older Urban Areas Programme; and
(vii) Hook Park Road, Warsash - adoption.
2. Traffic Management and Traffic Regulation Order Programme
2.1 Investigations are ongoing with regard to the traffic regulation order programme. An update is given in Appendix 1.
3. Casualty Reduction Programme 2002/03
3.1 The casualty reduction programme within Fareham includes six schemes and an update on the current programme is included within Appendix 2.
3.2 An important element of the casualty reduction strategy is the expansion of the use of safety cameras on routes with a serious accident record. Hampshire Police, in partnership with the County Council and other Highway Authorities in Portsmouth, Southampton and the Isle of Wight, will operate additional fixed and mobile cameras as part of the `netting off' system whereby fine revenue can be used to fund enforcement costs.
3.3 The sites and routes chosen are where there is a history of speed-related accidents. New fixed camera sites are proposed at the following locations:
(i) B3037 Bishopstoke Road, Eastleigh;
(ii) A35 Totton Causeway, New Forest;
(iii) A32 Gosport Road, Fareham;
(iv) Highlands Road, Fareham;
(v) Grange Road, Gosport; and
(vi) A337 Setley, New Forest.
3.4 New route sections for mobile camera operations are on the A30 at Hook and Blackwater and the A339 at Lasham. The 11 existing routes for mobile camera enforcement will continue. They have shown encouraging results so far, initial monitoring giving significant reductions in total casualties and particularly in speed-related accidents, which have reduced on average by over 30%.
4. The Bridgeworks Programme
4.1 The Bridge Section of the County Surveyor's Department is responsible for inspection and maintenance, load assessment and strengthening of all existing county highway structures, together with new structures built as part of road improvements, housing schemes and industrial developments. This includes 1,400 road bridges, 300 footbridges and numerous ancillary structures such as retaining walls and gantries.
4.2 The majority of bridge maintenance, assessment and strengthening is capital funded via the Local Transport Plan (LTP), but inspections, routine maintenance, footbridges and environmental maintenance of subways are revenue funded.
4.3 Bridge maintenance covers regular routine items, such as vegetation and drainage clearance, repairs to accidental damage, major and minor structural maintenance identified from the annual cycle of bridge inspections and environmental maintenance of subways. The latter includes graffiti removal and cleaning under a three year term contract with a firm called Graffiti Solutions. Raynesway Construction Southern Limited carries out the majority of other maintenance, although some specialist or larger jobs go out to tender.
4.4 A programme of load assessment and strengthening was instigated by EU legislation that allowed 40 tonne lorries on British roads from 1 January 1999. The assessments are now complete and strengthening of sub-standard bridges is ongoing. There remain about 50 bridges subject to interim measures, such as weight limits or monitoring, that will be strengthened over the next five or six years, funding permitting.
4.5 Following the Selby crash in February 2001, parapets and safety fences at road/rail interfaces, mainly bridges, are being evaluated and prioritised with a view to establishing a rolling programme for protective measures.
4.6 There are two schemes within Fareham in the 2002/03 programme:
(i) Titchfield Bypass footbridge, alongside A27
The old footbridge was nearing the end of its useful life, due to rotting of the main laminated timber beams and vandalism of the worn deck planks. The new footbridge was installed overnight on 20/21 July 2002 and involved the closure of the eastbound carriageway of the A27. This bridge is wider and has higher parapets to allow use by cyclists as well as pedestrians. The estimated cost is £35,000.
(ii) Bursledon bridge, carrying A27 over the River Hamble
Following detailed inspection and investigation, this three span reinforced concrete arch is due to have major repairs in January to June 2003, at an estimated cost of £600,000. The work will mainly be carried out from scaffolding under the bridge, so traffic disruption will be minimal.
5. Intelligent Transport Systems Group Programme
5.1 The Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) Group was formed in January 2000 and manages all aspects of traffic control and information systems throughout Hampshire. It is responsible for the policy, research, development, design, implementation and operation of all signals, traffic control and information systems in the county. This includes Pelican, Puffin and Toucan pedestrian and cycle crossings.
5.2 The group is located in Monument House in Winchester which houses the Urban Traffic Control (UTC) system from where it coordinates and controls traffic signals in Winchester, Eastleigh, Havant, Fareham, Gosport and Basingstoke through a central computer. This system not only controls traffic signals but also car parking information, priority facilities for emergency vehicles and specific priority for other vehicles such as buses. Remote monitoring is used to immediately detect faults in signal equipment in any part of the county, facilitating swift response times.
5.3 The ITS group is also responsible for the operation, management and fault reporting for the traffic control elements of the Area 3 Commission for the Highways Agency. This work extends the area of responsibility for traffic systems management to include high profile sites on the motorway and trunk roads network in the Area 3 Super Agency.
5.4 The Traffic and Travel Information Centre (TTIC) at Monument House is directly linked to the original TTIC in Southampton (ROMANSE project) and it collects, collates and disseminates information in a variety of ways. A number of individual systems have been developed and are currently in operation:
(i) STOPWATCH real-time bus passenger information system;
(ii) Variable Message Signs;
(iii) TRIPlanner information terminals for pre-trip planning; and
(iv) Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) for network monitoring.
Traffic and Travel information is passed to the media, Police and motoring organisations as well as being disseminated through the ROMANSE on-line website (www.romanse.org.uk). Existing systems are being extended and new technologies and systems are being researched to ensure an efficient sustainable transport system for Hampshire.
5.5 Works identified within the ITS Capital Programme in Fareham for 2002/03 are:
(i) North Hill/Kiln Road traffic signals:
Works are well advanced, following delays due to utility works, and should be completed by the end of November;
(ii) Titchfield Road, Stubbington Pelican crossing:
Works are ongoing, with completion due early November;
(iii) Lockswood Road, Locksheath Toucan crossing:
Design and consultation is ongoing. Completion is due before the end of the financial year;
(iv) bus departure information for the bus station:
Included are 11 bus departure signs at stands and a summary display board at the entrance, including audio speech facilities for the visually impaired. Works are anticipated to be completed by the end of the financial year; and
(v) links between Gosport/Fareham CCTV cameras and TTIC in Winchester to improve traffic monitoring and information:
Fibre links are being installed by British Telecom and minor additional equipment is being supplied to facilitate the transfer of images. Works will be completed by the end of the financial year.
6. South East Hampshire Transport Strategy Scheme Report
6.1 The 2002/03 programme of South East Hampshire Transport Strategy schemes included within the LTP is set out in Appendix 3.
7. Regeneration of Older Urban Areas Programme
Castle Street, Portchester
7.1 This scheme involves the implementation of high quality improvements on pavements and road surfaces to reduce the dominance of the highway and the re-prioritisation of the junction with White Hart Lane to accentuate the change in townscape character and to calm traffic. Kerbing and paving from The Castle to The Green are substantially complete and works are now continuing from The Green towards the White Hart junction. These works are programmed to be completed by the end of this year. High quality surface dressing will then be carried out in 2003 to complete these works.
Shore Road, Warsash
7.2 These works include the removal of extraneous traffic by the reversal of the one way system in Shore Road and the installation of high quality environmental improvements. The traffic regulation order has been made and is awaiting completion of the works before implementation. Works commenced on site on 2 September and are expected to be completed by the end of October.
8. Hook Park Road, Warsash
8.1 Following complaints by residents over a number of years concerning the condition of the road, and local Members' concerns, a scheme has been agreed to improve the road to enable adoption. Both residents and the County Council, as a major frontager, are funding the scheme.
8.2 Works include improving the carriageway surface and drainage. In order to preserve the nature of the area there will be no kerbing, footway or lighting associated with the scheme. Works are currently underway and, upon satisfactory completion, the road will be adopted.
Recommendation
That the report be noted.
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7398/CL
APPENDIX 3
South East Hampshire Transport Strategy
Capital Programme 2002/03 as at October 2002