Archived decisions

Contact: Richard Cowling, ext 5202 email: [email protected]

1. Summary

1.1 The County Council's Transport Capital Programme identifies funding for individually named integrated transport improvement schemes and also includes other county-wide improvement programmes and block budget allocations.

1.2 The table below shows the county-wide improvement programmes that are applicable and identifies the funding allocation made from the Local Transport Plan (LTP) for 2005/06. The table also identifies where further information about the works appropriate to each programme can be found on the agenda.

1.3 This paper provides a progress report on the named integrated transport schemes within the 2005/06 Transport Capital Programme, as approved by the Executive Member for Environment: South Hampshire and Resource Management on 13 September 2005, for implementation in the East Hampshire area. These are summarised in the attached appendix. The report also provides a progress update on schemes started in earlier programmes which were incomplete at the last meeting.

1.4 Individual schemes within the Transport Capital Programme are financed from the LTP, which consists of Central Government supported capital expenditure (SCE). In addition schemes may receive external funding (EF) from developers or other contributors.

2. Transport Capital Schemes 2003/04

Petersfield (Tesco off-site works) - Pedestrian signing £2,000 EF

2.1 This Tesco funded scheme is for the installation of pedestrian signing in Petersfield between the Tesco supermarket off Hylton Road and the town centre. Suitable locations for the proposed signs have been determined, with two of these being within the car park of the supermarket.

2.2 Attempts to confirm Tesco's approval of the location of the two signs in the car park have yielded no response, despite repeated written requests for confirmation from East Hampshire District Council. Therefore at this time the scheme remains incomplete.

3. Transport Capital Schemes 2004/05

Central Hampshire Transportation Strategy Villages Initiative Schemes £60,000 LTP

3.1 The situation for Clanfield remains unchanged from the previous meeting but the expected completion date is now March 2006. There are complications with services at the site, as the provision of the refuge will necessitate taking a strip of verge into the carriageway. A new commission for the detailed design and implementation of this revised work is being arranged.

3.2 The schemes in Steep, Kingsley and Lindford described in previous reports were completed in March 2005. The projects in Steep and Kingsley have been well received by the parish councils. In the case of Lindford, although the Parish Council supported the refuge in Elmfield Court, there has been objection, particularly from the local traders, to the new pedestrian refuge crossing facility. The objection relates to the effect the refuge had on the amount of parking available and hence the trade to the shops. The refuge has since been removed.

4. Transport Capital Schemes 2005/06

A31 Junction Lymington Bottom, Four Marks £100,000 LTP, £10,000 EF

4.1 This scheme will modify the junction of the A31 with Lymington Bottom in Four Marks. The current junction layout is of an `open' nature which, coupled with the fact that it lies in a dip, is resulting in vehicle speeds higher than the 40 miles per hour (mph) speed limit and is making pedestrian crossing of the A31 difficult. The junction features bus stops on either side of the A31, which serve students from Eggars School. These students need to cross the A31 every day. The bus stop on the north side of the junction is of cantilever design with the `open' portion effectively closed off by the overgrown vegetation at the rear of the footway. This creates a `tunnel' through which all pedestrians using the footway must pass if they do not wish to step into the carriageway to circumvent the bus stop. The junction was also specifically identified in the School Travel Plan for Four Marks Primary School as a safety concern and a reason why fewer children are being walked to school than is desirable.

4.2 The main features of the scheme are to create new pedestrian islands at the entrances to the junction of the A31 and to widen and reshape the existing central reservation to formalise the right turn facility. This will remove the existing overtaking opportunity and provide safer pedestrian crossing features. The bus stop on the north side of the A31 will be replaced with a new cantilever shelter that has clear polycarbonate panels. The vegetation running along the rear edge of the footway will be cut back to create more usable footway width and remove the tunnel effect of the old bus stop. The scheme is designed to have a calming effect on vehicle speeds as well as provide new crossing facilities for pedestrians. The combined effect should be a perception that the junction is easier to cross and will therefore encourage more pedestrian traffic. The scheme passed through the project appraisal stage in September and is now in the tendering stage. Construction is expected to commence towards the end of the year.

Alton Accessibility £250,000 LTP, £34,000 EF

4.3 This scheme aims to address pedestrian accessibility and vehicle direction signing issues in Alton. The scheme is split into several physical areas throughout Alton and mainly comprises new footway links, pedestrian refuges, lining and lighting around the Whitedown Lane, Queens Road, Normandy Street/Orchard Lane and Lower Turk Street areas. The vehicle direction signing element of the scheme aims to improve general signing, but is specifically targeting issues associated with vehicles entering and leaving the town and simplifying car park signing.

4.4 The detailed design of the works in Whitedown Lane and new pedestrian lighting for the footpath between Paper Mill Lane and Ashdell Road were completed in September and a project appraisal will be submitted for consideration in November. If approval is given at that time, main works will commence in early 2006. A three month trial of a new priority gateway under the Lower Turk Street railway bridge to provide space for a new footway link is to commence in mid to late October. An audit of the current vehicle signing in and around Alton was completed in early September and presented to the Town Council who, together with representatives from Alton Initiatives, determined the strategy for any new and modified signs. The new signing strategy is due to be completed by the end of November with the works being started in early 2006.

Petersfield Railway Station to Town Centre Cycles £70,000 EF

4.5 This is an on-road cycle scheme starting in the car park at Petersfield railway station, where there are good cycle storage facilities, continuing along Lavant Street to the junction of Chapel Street. The route is then signed to allow a choice to cycle towards the town centre or enter the car park for the route continuing towards the Taro centre. The road into the car park is currently one-way only and therefore the scheme will include a contra-flow cycle lane along this short stretch of road. The nature of Lavant Street and Chapel Street precludes the use of off-road cycle facilities, but as the volume of vehicles along this route is not significant and the route is mainly within the 20 mph town centre speed limit zone, on-road facilities will be suitable for the majority of cyclists. This scheme will link directly to the cycle route scheme completed in 2004, that runs along Tor Way and finishes at the junction with Pulens Lane. The Tor Way to Pulens Lane scheme, which is also discussed in this report, will provide the final link to provide the complete cycle route from the railway station to the Taro centre.

4.6 The scheme is currently in the detailed design stage, which is expected to be completed by November 2005 so that construction can commence before March 2006.

Cycleway links Fletchers Field, Liphook £55,000 EF

4.7 This scheme will complete a cycle route running from the residential area on the east side of Liphook Square to Bohunt School on the west side of the town. It will allow children to cycle to school entirely on quiet residential streets and hence avoid the busier town square. The portion of the cycle route included in this scheme runs from Fletchers Field Road, across the public open space known as Fletchers Field to Portsmouth Road and then up Portsmouth Road before crossing into the Firs. The scheme will provide a dedicated off-road cycle path, away from an existing footpath across the field, so as to separate cyclists from pedestrians travelling to and from the sheltered accommodation situated next to Fletchers Field. The cycle path will be lit by new lighting columns with focused lighting heads so as to avoid light pollution affecting nearby residential properties. Once the cycle path leaves Fletchers Field it will become a shared-use facility, by widening the footway into the carriageway - thus reducing the effective carriageway width and providing a traffic calming effect at the junction of Portsmouth Road and the Firs.

4.8 Detailed design for the scheme was completed in early September and a project appraisal submitted in late September. Scheme construction should be able to commence before Christmas 2005.

Pulens Lane to Tor Way cycle route £130,000 EF

4.9 One of the areas of need identified in the Petersfield Area Transportation Strategy was for a spinal cycle route to allow easy and safe cycling from the railway station on the west side of the town through to the Taro centre next to the District Council offices on the east side of town. This scheme provides the final link in the chain for this aspiration by providing off-road cycle facilities from Tor Way to Pulens Lane. At Tor Way the scheme will link directly with the town centre to Tor Way cycle route, completed in 2004, and use the existing developer built off-road shared use cycle path that runs parallel to, and south of, Moggs Mead until approximately half way between Tor Way and Pulens Lane. This scheme will continue the cycle path from the termination of the existing one and use the Riverside walk path to the junction of Pulens Lane. The scheme will then use the School Crossing Patrol crossing point, built early 2005, as a means of getting to the east side of Pulens Lane. A new cycle bridge will be built across the east side of Tilmore Brook and the footway widened and converted to cycle path from the bridge down to the junction of Pulens Lane with Barnfield Road, where the existing cycle route to the Taro Centre begins.

4.10 This scheme is at the detailed design stage, after having been through a period of initial consultation with the Town and District Councils, the East Hampshire Cycling Forum and County Council cycling officers. It is intended that the scheme will be constructed during the first quarter of 2006.

5. Impact Assessments

5.1 This report provides a position statement only, therefore an impact assessment in terms of the Race Relations (Amendment) Act has not been undertaken.

Recommendation

That this report be noted

542/RC

APPENDIX

2005/06 Capital Programme