Archived decisions

Contact: Kevin Fuller, ext 7958 email: [email protected] email: @hants.gov.uk

1. Summary

1.1 This report outlines the content of the Traffic Management Act 2004, its impact and the measures needed to meet the requirements of the legislation.

2. Corporate Strategy

2.1 This report supports Aims 1-5 of the Corporate Strategy, in particular Aim 2 (Stewardship of the Environment) by implementing the measures outlined in the Act.

3. Introduction

3.1 The Traffic Management Act received Royal Assent in July 2004 and is being enacted in stages over the next 18 months. Some parts have already been enacted and others are due to commence during 2005. The Department for Transport (DfT) has and will continue to consult on each new part prior to its implementation. The main body of the detailed matters will be introduced as secondary legislation supported by codes of practice, in a similar way to the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991.

3.2 The purpose of the Act is to `keep traffic moving' by minimising congestion and disruption on the highway network. In this respect there is a statutory duty on the County Council, as local highway authority, to `Manage the road network with a view to achieving, as far as may be reasonably practicable having regard to other obligations, policies and objectives, the following objectives:

(a) securing the expeditious movement of traffic on the authority's road network; and

(b) facilitating the expeditious movement of traffic on road networks for which another authority is the traffic authority'.

3.3 There are powers for the Government to intervene should a local highway authority fail in its duty. It is important to note that the requirement to manage congestion does not override the need to implement safety related measures on the network which may, by slowing traffic speeds, contribute to increased congestion.

3.4 These new duties placed on local highway authorities are a consequence of public and Government concerns that authorities are not doing enough to help relieve congestion, for example by failing to coordinate activities on the highway and by not responding well enough to highway incidents that cause major disruption. The legislation highlights that weather emergencies and other major events and incidents that cause disruption and serious delay on the highway network require contingency planning and better coordination between the authorities involved. The growth of traffic and lack of capacity on the network is another factor which is prompting the need to make best use of the available road space. Congestion has been identified as a strategic transportation issue and is one of the key themes within the Local Transport Plan for the period 2005-2010. The DfT requires local highway authorities to outline their strategy to deal with congestion matters and also set congestion targets to gauge the performance of congestion reducing initiatives. A number of measures have been introduced in the Traffic Management Act 2004 to assist local highway authorities to meet the new obligations and these are outlined in this report.

3.5 The Traffic Management duty is wide reaching and not limited to the policies, procedures and actions of the highways department within an authority. There is a need to consider the duty when exercising powers under any legislation whenever there is likely to be an impact on the operation of the road network. As such the County Council as a whole should be aware of the duties and implications and there will be need for wider communication and involvement throughout the authority. Although the impact of additional traffic has always formed a part of the County Council's assessment of new development proposals, the Traffic Management Act may require greater in-depth assessments. In addition, the impact of other County Council controlled development, eg new schools, will also need to be assessed under the Act.

Asset Management

3.6 Linked with the need to develop an effective traffic management regime is the development of a Transport Asset Management Plan (TAMP). It is a requirement that the development of this Plan be reported upon within Hampshire's second Local Transport Plan (LTP2). The LTP2 will inform the Hampshire TAMP outlining the strategies, objectives and plans to ensure the optimum use of the asset. Congestion based issues related to the use of the asset will need to be an integral part of TAMP.

The Traffic Manager

3.7 The Traffic Management Act requires that each authority appoints a Traffic Manager. The Traffic Manager is to be the focal point within the County Council who will draw together the strands of activity from the whole organisation that affect traffic movement on the road network, ensuring that the obligations under the Act are met. It is for each local highway authority to decide the level and seniority of this appointment. The Executive Member for Environment has the lead role on transportation matters and the Department is already well positioned to meet many of the new requirements of the Act. As such it is considered better to accommodate the position of Traffic Manager within the existing structure rather than create a new post that requires departmental reorganisation with little gain. The Assistant Director (Management) has taken on the duties of Traffic Manager to steer the implementation of new requirements. The role is likely to attract a lot of media attention on congestion related issues and an appointment at this level shows the commitment and high profile given to the new obligations.

3.8 A Traffic Manager Board led by the Traffic Manager has been formed that will report to and have input from the Executive Member and other Members as required. The Board will comprise officers with functional responsibility for services that impact on the Act and will have representation from other Departments of the County Council as appropriate. This arrangement will allow the current operational arrangements to be retained, managed and strengthened to meet the requirements of the Act.

3.9 The inaugural Board meeting has taken place and initially it is proposed to hold monthly meetings at the enactment phase of the legislation. The meetings will be minuted to form an audit trail of discussions held and operational decisions made.

Traffic Officers

3.10 The new legislation allows the Highways Agency to appoint Traffic Officers to deal with incidents on the motorway network, such as broken down vehicles and crashes. The intention is that these Traffic Orders will concentrate on traffic management to keep vehicles moving, therefore freeing up police time to deal with crime detection and prevention. Currently Traffic Officers are deployed on the motorway network in the Midlands area but the deployment will be rolled out to the Hampshire motorway network from spring 2005. An important issue for the County Council is the extent of the powers of the Traffic Officers to operate on the County road network. A national protocol is being developed for this through the auspices of the County Surveyors' Society; the County Council is represented on the working group that has been convened to develop a national framework agreement which is intended to form the basis of local agreements with local highway authorities. In time the Traffic Officer concept may extend to the all purpose trunk road and County road networks but the powers are not within the existing legislation.

3.11 A National Traffic Control Centre (NTCC) has been established by the Highways Agency, and Regional Traffic Control Centres (RTCCs) have been set up with one servicing the south east region based at Godstone, just off the M25 in Surrey. This initiative, coordinated through the NTCC located at Quinton, Birmingham by the service provider (Traffic Information Service [TIS]), will be responsible for collecting, collating and disseminating traffic and travel information to the public and media. The County Council's Traffic and Travel Information Centre (TTIC) in Monument House will feed into this network by exchanging information to ensure a wide dissemination of travel and traffic information. In Hampshire the County Council will have a role of setting the variable message signs on the M27 in association with the Police as well as receiving the images from the CCTV cameras located on the motorway network. This situation is unique in England, whereby the message setting on signs is undertaken by a local authority in conjunction with the Police.

Works Coordination

3.12 The Act recognises the importance of effective, advanced works planning and coordination and its part in reducing disruption for road users. The Authority has increased powers under the Act to direct the timing of works to ensure that any disruption is minimised. A fixed penalty notice fine is also being introduced for utility companies that default or are in breach of the requirements to submit advance notifications. There is a requirement to notify the County Council in advance of any works on the highway and to provide better descriptions and locations of where these are planned. A map based system is being developed that will show the position and status of all highway works which will help with works coordination. It is intended to make the map based system available to the public, in addition to the travel and traffic information service that is currently available. The DfT is presently consulting on the Notices and Directions, and Fixed Penalties parts of the Act, following which secondary legislation and related codes of practice will be produced.

3.13 When the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991 came into effect the County Council recognised the importance of works coordination and introduced appropriate measures, which have been in place for several years. Quarterly coordination meetings are already held with Utility Companies and others to discuss forward works programmes, and local coordination is carried out via the Hampshire Highways area offices. A review of the effectiveness of the current arrangements is required to see whether they need to be strengthened to meet the new duties and outcomes.

Highway Works Permits

3.14 The Act provides for a permit system for any works or activity on the highway to regulate and control the use of the road space. This will give the Council more control than it currently has over what and when Utility Company activities can take place on the highway. There will be a fee structure for the issue of permits which should support the running costs. The DfT is currently consulting on this aspect prior to introducing the new provision.

Civil Penalties

3.15 There are wider powers available to local highway authorities through the Act to apply civil penalties for traffic violations. Fixed penalty fines may be issued for a range of traffic violations, such as entering yellow hatched boxes, going the wrong way down a one-way street, using banned turns, illegal use of bus lanes, etc. This part of the Act is unlikely to be enacted for at least 12-18 months and further details on the scope and extent of these powers will be developed in the intervening period. The operational implications of this concept will need to be carefully considered in the light of the current decriminalised parking arrangements administered in a partnership with district councils in Hampshire.

3.16 There are a number of individual measures to assist in managing the network, including longer term protection against newly surfaced roads being dug up repeatedly by Utility Companies and a requirement for full or half width utility trench reinstatements in certain situations.

Congestion Measures

3.17 Congestion performance measures are a requirement of the Local Transport Plan and indicators are being developed to give a measure of local highway authorities' success in keeping traffic flowing. Technology such as vehicle number plate recognition devices are likely to be needed to measure journey times and an understanding of the different causes of congestion, such as inadequate road capacity and disruption caused by road works or incidents.

Cost

3.18 The Government has indicated that the legislation will be cost neutral and no additional funding support will be given for the implementation of the provisions. Whilst there is scope to recover costs from any permit scheme, fixed penalty notices and enforcement, these will not match the funding that will be required to put in place measures to achieve the objectives of the legislation. New and upgraded technology will be required to provide the infrastructure to meet the new duties. The increased focus on works coordination will require an examination of the resources currently deployed and that needed to meet the challenges of the new Act. In particular, the requirement for the County Council to now submit Street Works Notices for its own minor highway maintenance works will require additional resources.

4. Conclusions

4.1 The Traffic Management Act 2004 introduces a duty to `keep traffic moving' and a requirement for local highway authorities to appoint a Traffic Manager with the responsibility for delivering the traffic management objectives of the legislation The Assistant Director (Management) has taken on the duties of Traffic Manager and a `Traffic Manager Board' will support this role with input from all relevant Departments of the County Council. The County Council is well positioned, with good systems already in place, but these will need to be enhanced and extended to meet the challenges of the new legislation. The Traffic Manager Board will meet regularly to consider the arrangements and resources that may be required and will report further as more guidance and secondary legislation is issued.

Recommendation

That this report be noted.

9119/KF