Archived decisions

Contact: Brian Millen, tel: 01256 764444

1. Summary

1.1 The following decisions are sought:

(i) That, subject to the Highways Agency's commitment to the road being in a condition comparable with the rest of the county's `A' road network, no objection be raised to the A339 trunk road detrunking, providing the following concerns are addressed:

(a) the low residual life of the Kingsclere Bypass;

(b) the condition and longevity of the street lighting stock;

(c) the upgrading of parapets to a number of railway bridges and footbridges;

(d) the Highway Agency's commitment to road safety improvements.

(ii) That the proposal to approach the Government Office for the South East and the South East of England Regional Assembly to raise awareness of the implications of cross-boundary development and traffic issues be endorsed.

2. Reason

2.1 To comply with the Government's proposals in its White Paper `A New Deal for Trunk Roads in England' and ensure that the County Council takes over the A339 in a condition comparable with the rest of its `A' road network which does not prejudice its funding position.

2.2 To ensure that where one highway or planning authority supports development, which has significant impact on a neighbouring authority, satisfactory evaluation by all affected authorities takes place.

3. Other Options Considered and Rejected

3.1 Not to comment at this stage on the proposals for transfer of responsibility of the road to the County Council. However, it is in the Council's interests to raise its concerns and to continue to seek a resolution of these in advance of any transfer.

4. Conflicts of Interest Declared by the Decision Maker or a Member or Officer consulted - None.

5. Dispensation granted by the Standards Committee - Not applicable.

6. Reason(s) for the Matter being dealt with if Urgent - Not applicable.

Approved by: Date:

Councillor K B Estlin

7. Introduction

7.1 The White Paper `A New Deal for Trunk Roads in England' identified a core network of nationally important routes and announced plans to detrunk the remainder of the trunk road network. Negotiations are being held with local highway authorities to reach agreement concerning the appropriate allocation of funds for future maintenance and improvement.

7.2 The Secretary of State for Transport is to publish a draft Order under Sections 10 and 12 of the Highways Act 1980 to provide that a length of the A339 Trunk Road, from the West Berkshire/Hampshire county boundary north of Headley to south of the A30 Black Dam Roundabout, will cease to be a trunk road and has asked for the County Council's comments. It would be transferred to Hampshire County Council, as the local highway authority, and would become a principal road.

8. Background

8.1 The County Council has been in discussion with the Highways Agency, the executive arm of the Department for Transport (DfT), on the detrunking of the A339 since April 2001. Considerable liaison has taken place with both the Agency and its agents Mott MacDonald. To date the County Council has written to the DfT accepting the suggested provision of £400,000 per annum as a reasonable sum for purely routine maintenance activities on the stretch of road until it could be taken account of in the Local Transport Plan (LTP) settlement. This was agreed in March 2002 to allow it to be included in the Special Grant Report which was to be laid before Parliament. At this stage a proviso was noted by the County Council that a number of outstanding issues needed to be resolved before any transfer would be agreed. A meeting with Motts and the Highways Agency was therefore arranged to progress these issues. Two meetings have taken place, a third is programmed. Legal representation from the County Council has been involved. The Highways Agency has prepared draft detrunking orders with the aim of detrunking on 1 April 2003. The issues are detailed in the following sections.

9. Maintenance Issues

9.1 Street Lighting - the hope is that agreement can be reached on the longevity of the lighting stock and therefore the replacement need and likely cost. Motts will look at testing and work with the County Council's Street Lighting Engineer.

9.2 Carriageway Residual Life - the aim is to reach agreement on the residual life of the carriageway. The Council's position is that it should not take over a road where the life left before major maintenance is needed is less than the county average. If this was the case and the LTP settlement not amended to reflect this then the Council would be unduly prejudiced into using funds on the A339 when there are others which would have been dealt with. The aim is to agree extra payment for this work beforehand.

9.3 Planting - the need for pre-maintenance, etc has been agreed with the managing agents, Motts and it is hoped that the Highways Agency will fulfil the work needed. The Highways Agency has agreed to fund research into establishing the highway boundaries.

9.4 Drainage - a minor issue has yet to be agreed.

9.5 Bridges - the Highways Agency is not progressing any cover work to stop vandalism on two bridges in Basingstoke despite requests from the County Council. A copy of a report commissioned by the Agency on the subject is awaited. The County Council is pursuing the need for enhanced parapets on at least two rail bridges and joint inspections on all bridges prior to handover. A joint inspection for the road has also been agreed.

9.6 Transfer of Information - information on issues such as Section 278s, TUPE, maintenance history has been requested.

10. Road Safety Issues

Road Safety Analysis

10.1 As part of the detrunking discussions with the Highways Agency, the County Council has examined the road casualty record for the route over two distinct sections, namely:

(i) the dual carriageway section between Black Dam roundabout, north-east to Roman Road roundabout (excluding both roundabouts); and

(ii) Roman Road roundabout, north-east to the county boundary near Headley.

10.2 Police recorded personal injury accident data for the two sections has been analysed for the three-year period between January 1999 and December 2001. For the dual carriageway section south of Roman Road roundabout there were 67 reported injury accidents (0 fatal, 13 serious and 54 slight). The calculated accident rate is 167% of that expected for such an `A' class category of dual carriageway road, based upon DfT national average figures. For the section north from Roman Road roundabout to the county boundary, there were 81 reported injury accidents (2 fatal, 26 serious and 53 slight). This represents an accident rate 117% of that normally expected for this class of road. There is also concern at the proportion of fatal and serious injury accidents which stands at 35% of all the accidents on this section.

10.3 As a consequence of these investigations the County Council has been in discussion with the Highway Agency and its agents about the potential for remedial measures to tackle these accident clusters and dominant patterns. As a result, a number of the sites have already been treated by the Highways Agency, a further five will be treated during 2002/03, and bids have been made against the Highways Agency's national programme for a further five locations to be treated during 2003/04.

Other Measures

10.4 In addition to proposals for site specific accident remedial engineering measures, concerns have been raised by the emergency services over the number of incidents on the Basingstoke Ringway where valuable time is lost in attending due to the lack of vital location details. The most practicable means of improving incident location detection is likely to be the use of numbered marker posts. Such works do not currently form a bid against the Highway Agency's programme, but the County Council would propose to install such measures subsequent to detrunking if they were not undertaken in the foreseeable future.

Safety Camera Deployment

10.5 There are currently a number of potential locations under study by the Highways Agency for additional safety (speed) camera enforcement on the A339. Such enforcement would form part of the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Safety Camera Partnership's operational plan for expansion of safety camera operations across the Hampshire Constabulary police force area. The Highways Agency is a member of that partnership and would be in a position to support appropriate camera enforcement activity at those locations meeting national criteria set by the DfT for safety camera operations. It is anticipated additional enforcement activity could commence as early as the 2003/04 financial year.

11. Development Issues

11.1 Development pressures in the region are accentuated where one highway or planning authority supports development but where there is a significant impact on a neighbouring authority, particularly in terms of traffic on the local road network. For example, development in West Berkshire, such as the approved redevelopment at New Greenham Park, will have an effect on Hampshire's road network, particularly the A339 and local communities near the boundary. With separate authorities having separate LTPs and development plans, the impact of such large scale developments cannot be evaluated by individual authorities satisfactorily. A wider approach would take into account the transport issues arising from large developments, irrespective of administrative area.

11.2 This has implications in the context of the draft Regional Transport Strategy in that the identification of hubs as a focus for transport activity (including Basingstoke) may exacerbate this problem. Dialogue has taken place with representatives of parish councils and interest groups, including the North Hampshire and West Berkshire Joint Action Group which has been expressing concerns over future traffic levels. It is proposed that the Government Office for the South East and the South East England Regional Assembly be approached to raise awareness of the implications of cross-boundary development and traffic issues.

12. Conclusion

12.1 Negotiations are progressing slowly towards a mutually agreeable outcome with detrunking likely in April 2003. The County Council's aim is to take over a road in a condition comparable with the rest of its `A' road network which does not prejudice its funding position.

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