Contact: Caroline Bonner, ext 6592 email: [email protected]

1. Summary

1.1 The following decisions are sought:

That the Highways Agency be informed that the County Council:

(i) has no objection to the draft Orders for the A3 Hindhead bypass scheme for that part of the route which lies in Hampshire, subject to the agreement of any necessary off-route traffic management measures; and

(ii) will pursue with the Highways Agency the future of the A3 Ham Barn roundabout, and welcomes the Highways Agency's assistance in designing and funding any necessary off-route traffic management measures.

2. Reason

2.1 This decision supports Aim 3 of the Corporate Strategy (Achieving economic prosperity) by reducing traffic congestion from the crossroads of the A3 Hindhead traffic signals. The Secretary of State for Transport published draft Orders for the A3 Hindhead scheme on Friday 24 October 2003. The draft orders seek legal authority to construct the new trunk road to bypass the village of Hindhead and to carry out alterations to existing roads, public rights of way and accesses affected by the new road. The draft orders are open for objection and comment until 9 January 2004.

2.2 A copy of this report and draft recommendations has been sent to the Highways Agency prior to the closing date of 9 January 2004.

2.3 It is necessary to inform the Highways Agency of the County Council's formal response to the Secretary of State's consultation on the five Draft Orders in so far as they affect Hampshire.

3. Other Options Considered and Rejected

3.1 Taking no action.

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 A3 trunk road is the main regional route between London and Portsmouth. The section of A3 between Hammer Lane in Hampshire and Boundless Road just south of Thursley in Surrey (including the road through Hindhead) is the only part of the route which has not been upgraded to the standard of a modern dual carriageway. The Published Scheme is designed to alleviate severe traffic congestion at the A3/A287 signal controlled crossroads in the centre of Hindhead (see the attached location plan and Appendix 1 for a plan of the Published Scheme).

7.2 The congestion and delay at the A3/A287 junction results in some traffic diverting onto local roads to avoid queues. The high traffic flows and congestion also create environmental and access problems for local communities and businesses. This section of the A3 also has a high accident rate.

7.3 The majority of the Published Scheme (including the new grade separated junction at Hazel Grove and the twin tunnels) falls within the administrative boundary of Surrey County Council and the Borough of Waverley. The Hampshire/Surrey border lies at the southern end of the scheme where the existing dual carriageway ends at Hammer Lane.

7.4 The only section of the scheme in Hampshire is the urbanised southern part of the route, which is already dominated by the A3 road, namely the online section between the Spaniard Inn and Hammer Lane. The proposed scheme involves the construction of new slip roads to connect to and from the southbound carriageway and from the northbound carriageway of the improved A3. The implications for Hampshire will be the need to address the routeing of traffic to and from the southern interchange at Hazel Grove and to come forward with off-route traffic management proposals for the roads in north Hampshire and south of the A3.

7.5 The new road and tunnel should be opened to traffic four years after the start of construction with an estimated opening date of 2009. The target price for the design and construction of the scheme is £132 million. When design fees, surveys, utility diversions and land acquisition are taken into account the total scheme cost is £150 million.

8. Background

8.1 The scheme is identified for construction in the Hampshire County Council Structure Plan 1996-2011 (Review) Policy T13.

8.2 Hampshire County Council supports in principle the construction of the bypass as agreed by the former Planning and Transportation Committee on 7 September 1992.

8.3 At the local planning level, East Hampshire District Council Local Plan, Second Review, Second Deposit Draft (January 2002) contains a Policy T9 safeguarding land for the preferred route of the A3 Hindhead bypass.

8.4 The need for improvements to the A3 through Hindhead has been recognised since 1970 but environmental constraints over the years have delayed consensus for any improvements on this section.

8.5 The Government's Roads Review of 1998 led to a study into whether tolling could help deliver the environmental and economic benefits of the preferred scheme for the A3 Hindhead bypass. In 2000 this study concluded that tolling was not viable but the scheme itself was. The scheme entered the Government's targeted programme of improvements in 2001. Further development of the scheme progressed, including the appointment of contractors early in the design process in 2002, leading to the current stage of Draft Order publication.

9. The Published Scheme, Draft Orders and Comments

9.1 The A3 Hindhead scheme would complete the dual carriageway link between London and Portsmouth. It would provide a new 6.7 kilometres length of dual two-lane carriageway including 1.9 kilometres twin bored tunnels to take the A3 past Hindhead and under the Devil's Punch Bowl. Approximately 1 kilometre of the total route lies in Hampshire.

9.2 The Secretary of State has published five Draft Orders under sections 10, 12, 14, 41 and 125 of the Highways Act 1980. The purpose of the Draft Orders is detailed below. Only the sections of the route within Hampshire have been listed.

10. The A3 Trunk Road (Hindhead) Order 200

10.1 The Order fixes the route of the new A3 where it lies outside the boundaries of the existing trunk road. In Hampshire this forms the proposed works to improve the northbound carriageway of the existing A3 and to provide a new southbound carriageway in the central reserve of the existing dual carriageway, south of Hammer Lane to The Spaniard. There are no comments on this Order.

11. The A3 Trunk Road (Hindhead) Slip Roads Order 200

11.1 The Order provides that the slip roads which would be built to connect the new or improved A3 would become trunk roads. The Secretary of State is responsible not only for the trunk road network but also for the roads that connect it to the existing local road system. The two slip roads that are proposed as trunk roads in Hampshire are the links to connect to and from the southbound carriageway of the improved A3 at The Spaniard and the link from the northbound carriageway of the improved A3 to a new local road near Hammer Lane. There are no comments on this Order.

12. The A3 Trunk Road (Hindhead) Detrunking Order 200

12.1 The Order provides that lengths of the existing A3 road would cease to be a trunk road when superseded by the new scheme. In detail the Order provides that a section of the southbound carriageway from north of Hammer Lane to north of the Little Chef would become a classified road and that the responsibility would be transferred to Hampshire County Council as local highway authority.

12.2 The detrunking will raise the issue of future maintenance responsibilities, which will need to be addressed by Hampshire Highways East. The County Council should clearly indicate to the Highways Agency prior to the publication of the Order that it will only accept the handover of the road if the highway and associated infrastructure is in reasonable condition (ie no worse than other roads of a similar classification). This will require the County Council to undertake surveys of the section of the road to be detrunked in order to establish the condition of footways, carriageways, street lighting, structures, etc. If the infrastructure is not in a reasonable condition, early discussions with the Highways Agency to ensure the works are funded by the Highways Agency, and not the County Council, will be necessary. These costs will be one-off costs to bring the infrastructure up to a reasonable standard.

12.3 Negotiations will also be necessary to establish what funding is to be annually transferred for routine maintenance of the road. It is assumed that this funding will eventually be directed to the county through the Local Transport Plan process. In addition, discussions with respect to detailed historical records of the road (eg inspection records, accident records and maintenance records, etc) will have to be discussed and handover arrangements agreed.

13. The A3 Trunk Road (Hindhead) Side Roads Order 200

13.1 The Order provides alterations to the existing local road network as a consequence of the new and improved A3. The detailed provisions for Hampshire are as follows:

(i) Bridleway 71 would be stopped where it meets the A3 opposite The Spaniard. A replacement route will be provided in a diverted route northwards to rejoin Bramshott Chase, west of Hammer Lane.

(ii) Knockhundred Lane would be stopped and reconnected to the new slip road and would be one-way from its junction with Sandy Lane towards the A3 so as not to attract southbound traffic.

(iii) The southbound carriageway of the existing A3 would become a two-way service road.

(iv) A diversion of Hammer Lane is proposed south of the existing road which would pass under the A3. The remaining part of Hammer Lane would become part of the two-way local service road.

13.2 Several comments have been received on the proposal to make Knockhundred Lane one-way. Regular recreational users of the car park along this lane will be very inconvenienced by the one-way order and face detours of several miles.

13.3 The County Council is in discussions with the Highways Agency to look at options to move the car park, with the aim of addressing the above comments.

14. The A3 Trunk Road (Hindhead) Side Roads No 2 Order 200

14.1 The Order provides for the closure of the existing A3 across Hindhead Common and provides for the transfer of the responsibility to Surrey County Council. The existing road surface will be buried under landscaping and be replaced by various minor rights of way for use by pedestrians, cyclists and equestrians.

14.2 This section of the route falls within Surrey and will be a decision for that County Council to make, but currently it is supporting closure on environmental grounds. The Highways Agency's traffic model predicts that the effects on the roads in Hampshire either of closing the old A3 or keeping it open are similar. The County Council will therefore be replying to the Highways Agency supporting the principle of the closure of the old A3 road across Hindhead Common.

15. Traffic Flows

15.1 On completion of the scheme, there will be a varying impact for the roads in Hampshire due to the redistribution of traffic flows. Appendix 2 shows the Average Annual Daily Traffic (AADT) Flows (in vehicles per day) for those roads in Hampshire and also includes the total flows entering the Hindhead crossroads junction. The `Do Minimum 2009' case shows forecast flows on the network should the scheme not be constructed. It is important to note that the highway network in this area is finely tuned and traffic can easily transfer from one road to another, namely Headley Road and Crossways Road. This means that the traffic model is very sensitive, therefore it is prudent to use the combined flows of these two roads (Headley Road and Crossways Road, east and west of Fiveways Junction) for predicted changes.

15.2 The table in Appendix 2 shows that, with the scheme, the B2131 Liphook Road (south of the scheme) and the A325 south and north of Bordon, and the existing A3 from Hazel Grove to Crossways Road, will see a reduction in flows. Headley Road and Crossways Road (both east

of Fiveways Junction) taken together show a decrease from 11,700 to 10,200 vehicles per day. Headley Road (west of Fiveways Junction) and Whitmore Vale Road (west of School Road) taken together show no increase in flow at 10,200 vehicles per day.

15.3 However, due to the attractiveness of the new road, there will be some increases in flow on Crossways Road (at its junction with the A3) from 5,400 vehicles per day to 6,000; at Hammer Lane from 3,200 to 4,800 vehicles per day and at Knockhundred Lane from 700 to 800 vehicles per day. Sandy Lane will also see an increase from 1,100 to 2,700 vehicles per day.

15.4 Sandy Lane is a single track lane with passing places and the increase in flow raises the issue of future maintenance for the road, which in its present state will not be able to cope with the forecast increase in traffic. Knockhundred Lane will have similar future maintenance implications.

16. Off-Route Traffic Management

16.1 The residential area in Grayshott north of the A3, together with Sandy Lane and Knockhundred Lane south of the A3, are the main areas to be affected by the change in traffic flows following the opening of the tunnel. The local distribution of traffic through Grayshott village will need to be controlled by detailed traffic calming and traffic management layouts.

16.2 Officers from Hampshire are working closely with the Highways Agency, Surrey County Council, East Hampshire District Council and Waverley Borough Council on traffic management issues. A Working Group has been set up to agree an approach for developing and consulting on an area-wide traffic management strategy. This will ensure a consistency of approach for the whole area at the southern end of the scheme.

16.3 At meetings with the Highways Agency the issue of funding traffic management measures has been discussed. The Highways Agency has agreed to look into setting up an agreement through the Government Office for the South East for designing and funding traffic management in Hampshire and Surrey.

17. Environmental Statement

17.1 An Environmental Statement (ES) for the scheme was published at the same time as the Draft Orders. The main aim of the ES is to assess the significant impacts that the scheme is likely to have on the environment. For this scheme the more important effects fall under the headings of Landscape, Ecology, Air, Noise and Community.

17.2 The ES includes a summary of the environmental impacts on the southern section between The Spaniard Inn and Hammer Lane (ES volume 1 paragraph 17.4.1). In the case of this section of the route, where proposals will be online, the overall impact of the Published Scheme will be slight to moderate adverse in landscape terms. This is because the scheme simply reinforces the existing urbanised road corridor. Ecological impacts will be neutral, although reptiles and a mature hedge will be affected. However there would be benefits, including a new reed bed and new hedge planting. The loss of a small parcel of common land at Hammer Lane will be balanced by the gain of an equal and similar area behind The Spaniard Inn.

17.3 In terms of noise and air quality, the ES concludes that there will be a net benefit due to noise mitigation features and in the case of air by reduced traffic congestion. There will also be recreational/severance improvements due to the new pedestrian underpass at Hammer Lane. Therefore the ES concludes that the overall impact for the southern section in which an existing urbanised A3 road corridor becomes a wider road between The Spaniard and Hammer Lane would be neutral.

17.4 In Hampshire there are ecological implications for the edge of the Bramshott Chase Site of Importance for Nature Conservation (SINC) and adequate mitigation measures must be provided as part of the scheme. Consideration should also be given to the long-term sustainable management of the Bramshott and Ludshott Commons Site of Special Scientific Interest and the Bramshott Chase SINC.

18. Other Comments

18.1 Before the completion of the A3 Hindhead Scheme, Hampshire County Council will be raising the issue of the Ham Barn roundabout junction with the B3006 (south of Hindhead and north of Petersfield) with the Highways Agency. Currently, Ham Barn roundabout is the only remaining `at-grade' roundabout to cause an obstruction to traffic travelling on the A3 south of London to the A3/ M27 junction at Farlington. Although Ham Barn roundabout is not part of the published scheme, Hampshire County Council will wish to pursue with the Highways Agency the future of Ham Barn roundabout and options for upgrading.

19. Conclusions

19.1 The need for a bypass to the A3 at Hindhead is recognised. The Published Scheme will complete the upgrading of the A3 road to dual carriageway standard, which will provide a high standard link to Portsmouth. It will provide a bypass for Hindhead, relieving the centre of Hindhead of the notorious bottle-neck caused by the signalled controlled crossing and through traffic on the A3. As a result of the tunnel through traffic will be removed from the Devil's Punch Bowl, which will allow the closure of the existing A3 through the Site of Special Scientific Interest and Special Protection Area.

19.2 The Highways Agency has ensured that through a series of public consultations and exhibitions, as well as officer meetings, the public and all parties are kept informed on the development of the project.

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APPENDIX 1

THE PUBLISHED SCHEME

Average Annual Daily Traffic (AADT) Flows (in vehicles per day)

Source: Environment Statement

October 2003

Volume 1 Table 3.3