Archived decisions

Contact: Geoff Topps, ext 7959 email: [email protected]

1. Introduction

1.1 The Policy and Resources Policy Review Committee has requested from its Forward Plan a report on this major transportation scheme. Details of the project, recent developments and references to earlier associated reports are provided here, along with appendices containing the Section 2a Purbrook Village Project Appraisal (Appendices 1, 2 and 3), recommended for approval by the Executive Member for Policy and Resources on 26 November 2003, and the Section 3 Waterlooville advanced works Project Appraisal (Appendix 4), being recommended to the Executive Members for Environment and Policy and Resources for approval in December 2003.

2. Background

2.1 The A3 Corridor is a major public transportation scheme that forms part of the South Hampshire Rapid Transit network. This has now been further encompassed by Solent Transport, which will develop public transport issues over an even greater area of South Hampshire. Additional information about the project, partner organisations, method of implementation, etc was given in previous Progress Reports and Project Appraisals to the Executive Member for Environment on 22 January 2001 and 10 September 2002. Recent progress has been reported to both the South East Hampshire Transportation Panel and the Havant Highway Management Advisory Panel.

2.2 These reports have approved funding for the works to date and a major scheme bid has been submitted for the estimated funding for the remainder of the project.

2.3 The following targets are the most direct benefits to which this investment will lead when the whole scheme has been completed:

(i) an 18% increase in passenger trips along the corridor;

(ii) an up to 20% decrease in morning peak hour journey times;

(iii) a 4% modal shift from car use along the corridor; and

(iv) a bus frequency increase of 50%.

2.4 The project involves on-road bus priority measures to help improve and maintain service reliability, new high quality passenger waiting facilities and more frequent modern high quality buses. This is a large amount of work that is being provided incrementally over a five year period. Ultimately, it will raise the standard of public transport along the corridor, give better integration with the local network and create a viable alternative to car travel for trips along the corridor and beyond.

3. Funding and Programme

3.1 In July 2002 a Major Scheme Appraisal for the A3 Corridor was submitted to the Department for Transport (DfT) to seek capital funding, so that the project could continue to be delivered to the quality and programme intended to deliver the best results. The result of this was expected in December 2002 but instead the DfT requested additional information and clarification to allow a view on the application to be reached. This has been provided and in October 2003 the DfT confirmed that the appraisal bid had been successful, with additional Supplementary Credit Approval funding available for the project in 2003/04 and beyond.

3.2 The delay in the outcome of the bid has affected the project programme, since it was not clear what future commitments could be made without the method of funding determined. An example of this is construction of Section 2a Purbrook Village, which was intended to have its Project Appraisal in May 2003 but was delayed until it became clear there was funding for this element of the work.

3.3 At the end of 2002/03 £5,636,000 had been spent on the investigation, design, consultation and construction of the A3 project. The DfT has approved support of £25,100,000, giving a total project value of £30,736,000. The exact details and extent of work north of Waterlooville have yet to be determined, but the design here will be managed so that the project budget can be achieved. This is to be combined with the £2,700,000 being delivered by Portsmouth City Council and approximately £2,000,000 of investment in vehicles by First.

3.4 At present it would appear that the overall project programme completion has moved from 2006 to 2007, but reviews and investigations will now be held to see if and how best to accelerate the programme back to its original finish time. Whilst the delay is regrettable, it is not a significant problem, and it is reassuring that the Government has decided to fund the remainder of this project, which is a major part of Hampshire's current Local Transport Plan and complements the South Coast Multi-Modal Study.

4. Construction Contract

4.1 The innovative Project Term Contract (PTC) is being used to procure the major road works associated with this scheme. This has led to the satisfactory completion of the first section of the corridor highway works. The advantages of the PTC are starting to be realised now that construction of the second section has started, and all parties involved are benefiting from retaining the same contractor and using his knowledge for the remaining design and construction.

5. Section 1 - Widley to Purbrook

5.1 The roadworks element of Section 1 was completed in February 2003. This took a little longer than originally planned, due mainly to inclusion of additional work at the top of Portsdown Hill and the need to divert an unpredicted Statutory Undertaker cable.

5.2 As expected, the quality of workmanship has been very high; health and safety issues have been a key focus in the construction; environmental issues have been given special consideration; and the inconvenience to motorists using the A3 kept to a minimum. Significant accommodation works have been incorporated as a result of local consultation, and when local businesses were surveyed afterwards the results were all positive about the work undertaken. Appendix 2 shows a more detailed summary of the consultation results.

5.3 Adshel, the maintenance contractor in Havant for bus shelters with advertising, eventually provided the new high quality shelters for Section 1 for free, as a contribution to the project. However, its performance has been unreliable and quality of workmanship lacking. While it is hoped that Adshel can contribute to future sections of the project, a contract has been prepared for the procurement of the remaining bus shelters so that they can be installed in a more reliable manner should this be necessary.

5.4 Whilst the roadworks have been finished, other features of the project such as the closed circuit television (CCTV) and real-time passenger information (RTPI) are still being developed for the whole corridor. These will be installed in Section 1 as soon as the supporting systems have been set up, which is expected to be in spring 2004.

6. Section 2a - Purbrook

Project Appraisal

6.1 The Project Appraisal for Section 2a, submitted to the Executive Member for Environment on 11 November, is attached as Appendix 1 and is recommended for approval by the Executive Member for Policy and Resources on 26 November 2003. A location plan is attached and a copy of the Developed Concept Plan No. 17/A3/77/2A/006 Rev D will be displayed at the meeting. All relevant details of this section are contained in the Project Appraisal.

7. Section 2b - Purbrook to Waterlooville

7.1 The Project Appraisal for Section 2b was approved in September 2002 and advanced diversionary works started in February 2003, with the main road works starting in June 2003. It involves significant road widening and the creation of bus lanes both north and south between Purbrook and Waterlooville. This forms the second part of the roadworks for the PTC contractor Dyer and Butler, to which the works in 2a will be added if approved.

7.2 A manifestation of its previous trunk road status is that the A3 carries some major public utility services, including part of British Telecom's (BT) national fibre optic network. This has been identified and financial allowances made for necessary diversions during the project development. However, when BT estimated that this will take more than two years to complete, negotiations were undertaken to try and reduce what appears to be an excessive timescale.

7.3 Agreement was made to allow the contractor to lay the new ducts and access chambers for this work (and save several months' construction time), but BT would not reduce its estimated recabling and reconnection time, which is linked to its internal data management procedures. BT is endeavouring to do this more quickly, but if it follows its current estimates, the road works on the west side of the A3 in the areas of the diversions will not be able to be completed until 2005. This would mean that lengths of the west side will be left in a temporary state until 2005, although this may not occur if BT's work continues as fast as appears to have been to date.

7.4 The existing local surface water drainage system already reaches its capacity at peak times, and the road widening will increase the amount of water entering it. Therefore Southern Water has requested that either the main drainage system is upgraded or temporary storage (surge tanks) with a limited outflow are provided as part of the works. Replacing the main drainage would be extremely costly and time consuming, therefore two water surge tanks have been provided.

7.5 The non-road highway land is already fully utilised with landscaping and public utility services, therefore the only space available in which to create such surge tanks is under the south-bound bus lane. For safety reasons it has been necessary to use single-way traffic control during construction of the tanks and great effort has been made to assist and placate local residents during this difficult construction work.

7.6 The financial implications of these events are that the estimated costs for Section 2b have risen by £800,000. An additional reason for this increase is that a large proportion of the costs for the RTPI and CCTV systems occur at this time, which previously had been more evenly shared across each section of the route. However, with funding now being provided by the DfT this increase can be managed within the overall budget with minimal impact to the overall effectiveness of the project.

7.7 Section 2b was approved with the addition of four conditions, which are being addressed in the following manner:

(i) Consultation for proposed bus shelter and street light locations - a comprehensive procedure for consultation with all local residents and interested parties has been developed and used. Final locations have been agreed with the local Members and all involved made aware of the results.

(ii) Provide significant replacement landscaping along the west side, using the most mature trees practicable - replacement landscaping greater than that removed was already proposed and the design for this has now been completed. This includes some semi-mature trees and extensive new hedge and wild flower seed mix on some of the verge areas. Details have been provided for the local Members' consideration and planting will take place in the 2003/04 season.

(iii) The performance of the south-bound traffic signal bus gate shall be reviewed after 18 months' operation (including local feedback) to determine its performance and decide if it is to be retained - the bus gate is affected by the delay in diverting the BT fibre optic cables. It cannot be installed until these have been completed, so it seems unlikely that the bus gate will be operational before 2005. The review will still take place 18 months after its eventual completion.

(iv) Winchester City Council's Major Development Area (MDA) Working Party and developer for the MDA West of Waterlooville to be asked to give high importance to the inclusion of a rural footpath adjacent to the new landscaping strip - this request has been passed to County Council and Havant Borough Council officers to raise at the Working Party.

7.8 The contractor expects to complete the current work by March 2004. As much as possible will be finished in this time, although the road works for the west side will recommence in 2005 or earlier when BT has finished moving its fibre optic cables.

8. Section 3 - Waterlooville Town Centre

8.1 Waterlooville is the most significant destination of Hampshire County Council's part of the route, and is commanding a corresponding amount of effort to develop. It is intrinsically linked to Havant Borough Council's wish to extend the existing pedestrian zone south into London Road and the Local Plan aspirations to create a new public transport interchange in Swiss Road. A great amount of time has been spent investigating the options and limitations within the town centre and discussing the results

with the Waterlooville Town Centre Consultative (WTCC) Panel. The Swiss Road concept has not proved to be a viable short term solution so an alternative has been developed in its place.

8.2 In November 2002, after considerable study, investigation, development and discussion, an interim solution was considered by the WTCC Panel that meets most of the desired aims. This involves extending the pedestrian zone as planned and closing the appropriate ends of Stakes Hill Road, St Georges Walk and London Road (south) to traffic, with the exception of buses which can use a single lane in either direction between St Georges Walk and London Road.

8.3 Further investigation and design of this solution has shown that there are some associated technical difficulties, eg providing off-road delivery access for some shops and allowing some buses to make a new left turn out of London Road (south) into Rockville Drive. Both require third party land but some of the owners are indifferent to the negotiations to date. This land is essential but just one owner could endanger the whole process, and without imposing Compulsory Purchase Order acquisition it appears very unlikely that this can be overcome to meet the project programme. In addition, the estimated costs for all the proposals are higher than the expected budget for this section of the route.

8.4 These issues were discussed with the WTCC Panel in July 2003 and a way forward agreed; completion of the design of the town centre improvements but including a short term, lower impact version that maintains existing vehicle movements. This avoids the technical problems and creates time for them to be solved. It also brings the estimated cost in line with the expected budget. Also, being drawn from the full design, abortive works are avoided and it becomes a relatively straightforward task to expand the short term scheme to the main scheme when the problems have been solved. These proposals are now being prepared in detail, and with the project funding secured public consultation can be planned for early 2004 to show the final proposals.

8.5 There are several other areas within Section 3 where more conventional highway works are being proposed. These will need to be completed before the pedestrian zone can be extended (so that the new traffic system can function), therefore it is desirable to start these and any advanced diversionary works they require as early as possible. Ideally this work should start in early 2004, and a Project Appraisal will therefore be submitted in the near future. This will be before the town centre work has been completed, which will have its own Project Appraisal at the end of 2004 so that work can begin on the pedestrian zone extension in 2005.

8.6 In order to pull back some of the lost programme time a Project Appraisal has been prepared for approval of the advanced works for Section 3, Waterlooville. This will allow public utility diversionary works and ancillary improvements to be undertaken before the main works proposals have been approved. These works are common to any improvements to the town centre, part of the costs estimated in the major scheme bid and must be completed before the main works can be undertaken. Details and further information about these proposals are contained in the Project Appraisal attached as Appendix 4.

9. Section 4 - Waterlooville to Cowplain

9.1 Originally it had been planned to hold a public exhibition of the preliminary proposals for Section 4 in April 2003. However, with the funding unresolved and the development of the proposals for Section 3 taking longer than anticipated, this is now scheduled for spring 2004.

9.2 Previous investigations have shown that it might be possible to build dual bus lanes adjacent to the Queen's Enclosure (the wood south-east of Cowplain). This would require some sort of support (a low retaining wall) which would affect the mature trees along the highway boundary. An initial meeting has been held with Forest Enterprise to discuss this possibility at which Forest Enterprise was receptive, as in order to remove a liability its policy now is to remove any trees that might fall onto roads, etc. Hence more detailed surveys are being undertaken to evaluate the ecological situation, and it may be that any accommodation works here are combined with Forest Enterprise's own management of the boundary.

10. Section 5 - Cowplain to Horndean

10.1 There has been no significant development of this section of the corridor. The public exhibition of the preliminary proposals is now scheduled for spring 2005, although this may be brought forward and be included in the exhibition for Section 4 to accelerate the project development.

11. The Portsmouth Part of the Route

11.1 Portsmouth City Council is continuing to progress its elements of work that form part of the corridor:

(i) Despite earlier concerns, English Heritage has now accepted that there is a good case to relocate the historic tram shelter from Cosham Interchange to Gunwharf Quays, where its long term future is more certain. Following relocation, new shelters and facilities will be provided through the PORTAL project.

(ii) Hilsea bus lanes Stages 1, 2 and 3 are substantially complete.

(iii) Securing bus priority through North End is seen as a key element of the North End (Stubbington Avenue to Kingston Crescent) route. A successful scheme will need to take account of the function of the road as a through route and a busy shopping street, and meet legitimate needs for short term parking. Consulting on and negotiating an appropriate solution is expected to be more protracted than earlier phases and it is programmed to start this in 2003/04.

12. Quality Bus Partnership

12.1 With all the packages of work being undertaken by the various partners of the scheme, a corridor-specific Quality Bus Partnership (QBP) has been prepared to pull these together and demonstrate the team working involved. This was formalised on 19 November 2003 and included specific details of the work being undertaken by each member of the partnership.

13. A3 Corridor Service Branding

13.1 Providing improvements to public transport services alone will have only a limited effect on the number of people using them, and the response will be slow. In order to get the maximum take-up as quickly as possible, and especially to get at the established habits of existing car users, the public must be encouraged to use the improved services. Hopefully, then, the new experience will change some preconceptions about public transport, elevate it in public opinion and make it a more readily chosen travel option.

13.2 This requires marketing of the transport service, and the partner organisations have commissioned a brand design and market research to see how best to do this. As a result, a new brand and livery for the current A3 service is to be launched in tandem with the QBP signing in November, boosting public awareness as more benefits and improvements are achieved. This maintains the concept of elevating the corridor above `a normal bus route' and the branding themes/colour scheme will be reflected in the finishes of the new bus shelters.

14. Real-Time Passenger Information

14.1 The type and extent of technical infrastructure for RTPI along the A3 is being developed in tandem with the works underway in Portsmouth and the core requirements for county-wide coverage. Compatibility issues are being established and the first shelters along the corridor should be fitted with signs in early 2004.

15. Closed Circuit Television

15.1 The creation of a new dual purpose CCTV system for security surveillance and traffic monitoring will be the first of its type in Hampshire. Processes and procedures have been developed for a set of cameras that can be controlled from both the Hampshire County Council Traffic Monitoring Control Room and the Havant Borough Council Security Control Room, with additional security `help' buttons in bus shelters linked to the cameras and security staff. This has meant the installation of new control room equipment, and the first cameras should be installed and operational in spring 2004.

16. Bus Lane Use and Enforcement

16.1 After consideration and consultation the A3 corridor bus lanes are being established for the use of buses and cycles. Although taxis can now use all Portsmouth bus lanes there was not a demand to extend this to the A3. However, this can be allowed for in the future, potentially when taxi operators in the Havant, Fareham and Gosport areas have developed a similar agreement with the local authorities to that being used in Portsmouth (without which enforcement would be impractical).

16.2 At present the Police have not requested any specialised enforcement technology for the A3 corridor and intend to wait and see how conditions settle after completion and how conventional enforcement copes. The only initial observation is the difficulty in making drivers aware of the speed limit reduction from 40 mph to 30 mph, made harder because 30 mph repeater signs are not allowed as there is street lighting. After consultation with the Police, additional temporary signs have been put up highlighting the new speed limit, and the impact of the CCTV cameras is still awaited. There have not been different types of accident as a result of changes to the road, but there is a perception that some drivers are not aware that, when turning left across a bus lane into a side road, etc, they must give way to buses and cycles. Following consultation with the Police and local cycle forum, signs to remind drivers of their responsibility will be put up at sensitive side road junctions and the DfT consulted to see if it is a national issue.

Recommendation

That the progress and future programme for the A3 Corridor scheme be noted.

8445/GT