Contact: Jonathan Ryder, ext: 5162 e-mail: [email protected]

1. Summary

1.1 This report provides a progress update on transport schemes within the Capital Programme that have been approved by project appraisal for implementation in the Eastleigh area.

2. Transport Capital Schemes - Progress

Chandler's Ford Railway Station

2.1 Following the successful Rail Passenger Partnership bid for the South Hampshire Crossrail train service at the end of last year, works started on the reconstruction of the station at Chandler's Ford in April 2003. This work consisted of:

(i) the rebuilding of the southern platform;

(ii) a station building, incorporating a ticket office and customer toilet;

(iii) a 50 space car park with an additional two spaces for the disabled;

(iv) space for 40 bicycles to be left securely;

(v) a stepped footbridge linking Hursley Road to the station; and

(vi) the construction of a cycle/pedestrian ramp from Bournemouth Road - part of the Valley Park/Toynbee School cycle route.

2.2 The works have now been completed and the station handed over to South West Trains. The formal opening of the station will be on 19 October 2003.

2.3 Since approval of the Project Appraisal in October 2002, a report on the Transport Capital Programme was approved by the Executive Member for Environment on 24 June 2003 which set out details of increased costs on this project. Approval was given to increase the level of funding for Chandlers Ford Railway Station to £3.375 million to reflect the predicted final increases in cost for tender preparation, works to the station/cycle ramp/footbridge, land acquisition, management/supervision and legal fees. The project funding profile has been adjusting by increasing the Local Transport Plan capital funded element and additionally by seeking to increase the externally funded contribution from the Knightwood Agreements.

2.4 Eastleigh Borough Council has agreed terms with the County Council in the sum of £475,000 for land required for the station, of which £225,000 will be refunded at a future date to the County Council when development proposals are finalised on the Rookwood school site.

Templars Way Junction Improvements

2.5 The Project Appraisal for the following options was approved on 16 July 2002:

(i) a slip lane at the junction of School Lane between Templars Way west and School Lane should be constructed, and

(ii) at the junction of Montgomery Way a right turn ghost island should be constructed. This proposal will bring this junction up to current standards and allow the right turning traffic to wait out of the running traffic on Templars Way, thereby reducing the rear shunt type accidents. This option will also allow people exiting Montgomery Way turning right to do this manoeuvre in two sections, if necessary, thereby reducing the need to `gap hunt' in two streams of traffic and making egress easier.

2.6 The improvements at the junction of Montgomery Way have been completed. However, there have been some concerns from Montgomery Way residents that the scheme does not achieve the objectives. Monitoring at this junction will be carried out in the very near future to investigate this. The improvements at the School Lane junction have been put on hold because of the location of a previously undisclosed 33 kilovolt electricity cable. Southern Electricity Contracting was unaware of the actual location of these cables and had them located some seven metres or more from their true location. The matter was reported to the Executive Member for Environment in June 2003 as part of a report concerning progress on the Knightwood Development Funded Programme.

Valley Park to Toynbee School Cycle Route

2.7 The Valley Park to Toynbee School cycle route Phase II forms part of the Knightwood Development Funded Programme and is aimed at providing a safer route to school for pupils and staff. A sum of £190,000 has been allocated from the Knightwood Development Funded Programme for the scheme. The project will provide a valuable east-west cycle link in Chandlers Ford and is included in Eastleigh Borough Council's proposed cycle network. The Phase II works will complete the scheme from the station area to Meon Crescent and will include:

(i) conversion of the existing Pelican crossing on Bournemouth road to a Toucan crossing;

(ii) conversion of the footway on the eastern side of Bournemouth Road (between the Toucan crossing and the Central Precinct car park), including the footpath link to Meon Crescent, to shared use footway/cycleway; and

(iii) widening of the footway in front of the Central Precinct, including the relocation of the bus stop and a telephone box.

2.8 The first phase of this work has been completed as a part of the Chandlers Ford Railway station scheme. The Phase II works will start in December 2003 and are expected to be completed by February 2004.

Valley Park to Hiltingbury Cycle Route

2.9 The Hursley Road/Hiltingbury Road, Chandlers Ford signal improvements form part of the Knightwood Development Funded Programme. A sum of £355,000 has been allocated from the Knightwood Development Funded Programme for the provision of the Valley Park to Hiltingbury cycle route, with the balance required for the footbridge coming from future capital programmes. This project has been divided into three sections:

(i) the cycle track along Baddesley Road/North Millers Drive/Ashbridge Rise;

(ii) the Flexford Pedestrian/Cycle Bridge; and

(iii) the Hursley Road/Hiltingbury Road/Baddesley Road signals.

2.10 The cycle track and the bridge works have been deferred due to overspends on other Knightwood schemes and have now been identified in the indicative programme 2005/2006. A sum of £120,000 of the above funding is allocated for the implementation of the signal improvements.

2.11 The proposals are to install a pedestrian phase at these signals. The arrangement of this pedestrian phase will allow for the future cycle route to Hiltingbury. For some time there has been local concern over the difficulty of crossing Hursley Road in this area, especially in peak traffic periods. This was particularly evident at the various consultation exercises held in the area during the development of the Knightwood programme and subsequent scheme consultations, ie the Hiltingbury Traffic Management consultation.

2.12 The scheme will provide a pedestrian facility on each of the four arms of this junction, with Hursley Road south and Hiltingbury Road being designed to accommodate the future cycle route. These two will have larger `landing pads' to accommodate cycles, and some street furniture will need to be relocated to create this space.

2.13 As has been noted above, this junction operates at maximum capacity during peak periods. The addition of a pedestrian phase at these signals will inevitably cause some further delays at this junction. However, the current signalling controller is an old system and, by upgrading the controller and adding pedestrian detectors and `call cancel' to these proposals, delays will be reduced to an acceptable level. Requests for traffic management of other roads due to these works should not be generated.

2.14 There has also been a pattern of vehicle accidents at this junction that suggests that drivers are not fully aware of other vehicles. The opportunity is being taken to increase the lighting standards in the area and add anti-skid surfacing. There has already been a low-cost safety scheme to enhance the signing of the junction.

2.15 The project appraisal for the works on the signals has been approved and the scheme will start in early December 2003 and be completed in February 2004.

Hedge End Area Transport Package

2.16 The package continues to be progressed with local Members (from Eastleigh Borough and the County Councils) developing the programme via a Members' Working Group. To date the following schemes have been completed:

(i) the Cycle Link to Itchen Valley Country Park (completed June 2003, £45,000);

(ii) Botley Town Centre cycle stands (completed June 2003, £10,000);

(iii) Chalcroft Industrial Estate signing (completed September 2002, £2,500);

(iv) St Johns Road footway extension and bus waiting area for pedestrians (completed March 2003, £8000);

(v) Charles Watts Way footbridge improvements (completed November 2002, £3000);

(vi) Chalk Hill/West End Road junction (completed March 2003, £21,000); and

(vii) Wildern School footway improvements - missing links (completed February 2003).

Doncaster Drove Cycle Route

2.17 The scheme starts at the junction of Stoneham Lane and Doncaster Drove. It is proposed that a Toucan crossing be constructed here to enable cyclists and pedestrians to cross Stoneham Lane at this point. The cycle route then crosses Monks Brook using the existing footbridge over the brook.

2.18 The cycleway follows the line of the existing BOAT (Byway Open to All Traffic) until it reaches the boundary of the Lakeside Country Park. It then enters the Country Park and follows the southern boundary on a new permissive path, using the existing lightly-trafficked access road and car park for the Country Park until it reaches the A335 Wide Lane.

2.19 The cycleway will then head southwards towards Southampton Parkway Railway Station using the western footway. This footway will be widened to accommodate shared use by pedestrians and cyclists. The cycleway will cross the A335 Wide Lane by the station using a pedestrian/cycle island. A short length of footway on the eastern side will be widened to access the railway station.

2.20 The cycle track alongside Doncaster Drove has been completed. The Traffic Regulation Orders for the speed limit change in Stoneham Lane and the banned right turn out of Doncaster Drove onto Stoneham Lane have been advertised, with no objections being raised. These orders can now be confirmed and the Toucan crossing in this area installed. The works along the A335 Wide Lane have been delayed as the street lighting needs upgrading. To cover the additional costs of these works the Toucan Crossing by the railway station has been removed from the project and replaced with an uncontrolled crossing point. This section of the route will be constructed once the lighting issues have been resolved.

Waitrose Development Package

2.21 Following consultation with the working group and the public on 22 October 2002, the whole project has focused on three main areas of concern:

(i) the anticipated problems of rat-running in Peverells Road, Peverells Wood Road and Constantine Avenue;

(ii) speed related safety of children and parents crossing Peverells Wood Road to access the play area there; and

(iii) speed related loss of control accidents on the bend of Oakmount Road to the east of Constantine Avenue.

2.22 The consultation identified works in Winchester Road and a pedestrian refuge island at the Oakmount Road bend. The Winchester Road scheme require some additional design work and will be the subject of a project appraisal in the near future. A project appraisal for the works in Oakmount Road is expected to be approved shortly, with the works programmed to start in autumn 2003. Further phased elements of these works will be carried out later this year.

2.23 The proposals for Oakmount Road and the subjects of this project appraisal are:

(i) gateway features at the junctions with Peverells Road and Constantine Avenue. These will consist of landscaped pinch points two car lengths in from the junctions with the appropriate gateway signing;

(ii) a pedestrian refuge by the children's play area in Peverells Wood Road. This will be a pedestrian refuge island. Due to the road widths in this area this will be at the current minimum width of 1.5 metres for this type of island; and

(iii) anti-skid surfacing, centre line hatching and localised widening, and additional signing on the bend in Oakmount Road east of the junction with Constantine Avenue.

Fair Oak Road Cycleway

2.24 The cycleway covers three different areas of construction:

(i) a shared use cycleway on the southern side of Fair Oak Road, between Allington Lane and Fratton Way, and a new Toucan crossing into Hawthorne Close on the northern side of Eastleigh Road. The existing footway is to be widened and converted to a shared use facility, linking to a new advisory route in Hawthorne Close;

(ii) an on-road advisory route along Dean Road, Dell Close and Fratton Way/Dell Close by means of road markings and signing. This section also provides a link with an existing cycleway opposite the Dean Road/Allington Lane junction; and

(iii) a new 2.5 metre wide shared use cycleway through the open space and school playing fields between Fratton Way and the school complex. Minimal lighting is to be provided along this route.

Eastleigh Quality Bus Partnership

2.25 An allocation of £125,000 from the 2002/03 Capital Programme has completed a number of infrastructure improvements at bus stops undertaken as part of the Eastleigh Quality Bus Partnership (QBP). The works include the provision of 200 high quality new bus stop posts and signs, including the naming of some stops where possible. The stops have also been provided with new timetable boards and route maps. New bus shelters and raised access kerbs have been provided at principal bus stops.

2.26 It is proposed that substantial investment in measures to assist bus operators and passengers should continue, and a report detailing the next round of proposed improvements in the Eastleigh Quality Bus Partnership area is to be submitted to the South West Hampshire Transportation Panel on 4 November 2003. Although subject to confirmation by the Executive Member for Environment, the report details a number of junction improvements which were originally expected to be developed in later capital programmes, but are now expected to be developed as part of the current year's programme, and are identified in the table below.

Wildern Lane Zebra Crossing

2.27 A project appraisal is to be submitted in October 2003 and, if approved, construction is expected to commence in December 2003. The scheme will be funded by Eastleigh Borough Council (under a Section 106 Agreement) and aims to improve pedestrian crossing opportunities outside the school and sports centre.

3. Transport Capital Programme for 2003/04

3.1 Schemes marked ** on the above table are proposed changes to the currently approved Transport Capital Programme 2003/04, and will be subject to a report to the South West Hampshire Transportation Panel on 4 November 2003 and the Executive Member for Environment on 9 December 2003.

Recommendation

That this report be noted.

8256/JR