Contact: Peter Mitchell, tel 023 9244 6159 email: [email protected]

1. Summary

1.1 This report details the programmes for:

(i) Street Lighting;

(ii) Regeneration of Older Urban Areas;

(iii) Bridgeworks;

(iv) Intelligent Transport Systems; and

(v) Development Related Works.

2. Street Lighting

Maintenance Contract 2002/07

2.1 The maintenance contract continues to provide over 99% of all street lights on at any one time with performance levels improving since the change from `calendar' to `working' days. It is not possible to be more precise at present due to the commissioning time for the new computer system.

2.2 The partnership arrangement has now been in place for six months. There have been some changes to the assessment of the contractor's performance, such as changing the method of time measurement from `calendar' to `working' days. The new arrangements have split the original Street Lighting Team into two new groups with the Contract Delivery Team located mainly at Cosham working alongside the contractor and the Corporate Management Team at Winchester dealing with public interface, probity and audit, as well as the management of the Community Safety Initiative, new works and the Column Replacement Programme.

Energy

2.3 Following the start of the new supply contract in April 2004, consumption has tended to rise at a slightly higher rate than expected but still within budget. The main problem facing the County Council is, however, the prospective increase of 70% plus in energy costs in April 2006 when a new supply contract will be required.

New Computer System

2.4 The new street lighting computer management system, Deadsure, designed to monitor the street lighting maintenance contract became operational on 10 February 2005. The new system was required as the previous system SLIMs was mainframe-based and the mainframe was switched off at the end of March 2005. There are still a number of problems to resolve, particularly as regards data and reports, but the inclusion of the street lighting GIS database and the expectation of the web browser and mobile field based operational returns make this an innovative system for the future.

Column Replacement Programme 2005/06

2.5 A £1.8 million programme of work is planned for 2005/06 and commenced in late March 2005. The programme for the Havant area is as follows:

Cunningham Road - works completed

Laburnham Road - works completed

Lone Valley - works completed

Underdown Avenue - works completed

Maralyn Avenue - works completed

Dunsbury Way - works completed

Fourth Avenue - works completed

Hiltingbury Road - works completed

Spindle Close - works completed

Frogmore Lane - works programmed to start November 2005

Gladys Avenue - works programmed to start November 2005

Hazelton Way - works programmed to start November 2005

Spring Vale - works programmed to start November 2005

Cedar Crescent - works programmed to start November 2005

Manor Road - works programmed to start December 2005

Beach Road - works programmed to start December 2005

St George's Road - works programmed to start December 2005

Wakefords Way - works programmed to start December 2005

Crawley Avenue - works programmed to start December 2005

Oakshott Drive - works programmed to start December 2005

Rotherwick Close - works programmed to start December 2005

Froxfield Road - works programmed to start December 2005

Community Safety Initiative 2005/06

2.6 The programme for 2005/06 is as follows:

Brockhampton Lane, Havant - two columns

Mill Lane, Langstone - five columns

Hipley Road, Havant - four columns

Spinnaker Close, Hayling Island - one column

Park Parade, Havant - two columns

Programme dates are yet to be agreed.

3. Regeneration of Older Urban Areas

Town Centre, Havant

3.1 The County Council's Regeneration of Older Urban Areas (ROUA) 2003/05 programme included a budget allocation of £50,000 for technical studies in Havant town centre. The Borough and County Councils have used the funding to work in partnership on plans to regenerate Havant town centre. Urban design consultants Roger Evans Associates have been jointly commissioned to prepare an Urban Design Framework to guide the long-term planning of the town. Preparation of the framework is now reaching completion and a comprehensive programme of consultation will be undertaken on the final proposals.

3.2 In the short-term, the urban design framework is informing the Borough Council's capital programme, providing guidance for a range of environmental improvement schemes funded through the Liveability programme, the Local Transport Plan (LTP2) and future investment decisions for the ROUA programme.

4. Bridgeworks

4.1 The Bridges Section of the Environment Department is responsible for all existing county highway structures, together with new structures built as part of road works, housing and industrial schemes. This covers inspection, maintenance, replacement, load assessment and strengthening.

4.2 Raynesway Construction Southern (RCS) carry out most maintenance works, through a term contract. Some specialist works, such as graffiti removal, and larger schemes, such as bridge replacements, are awarded by tender.

Funding

4.3 Most work on bridges is capital funded via the Local Transport Plan (LTP), but inspections, routine maintenance and environmental maintenance of subways are revenue funded.

Load Assessment and Strengthening

4.4 This programme was brought about by EU legislation that allowed 40 tonne lorries on UK roads from 1 January 1999. The assessments are now complete and strengthening of sub-standard bridges is ongoing.

Road/Rail Interfaces

4.5 Following the Selby crash in February 2001 parapets and safety fences at road/rail interfaces, most of which are bridges, have been prioritised. A rolling programme for protective measures has been started that will continue over several years as funding is made available.

Aluminium Parapets

4.6 The Highways Agency has identified that aluminium vehicle parapets made by BACO and installed before 1994 are not to current standards. All such parapets on county bridges were prioritised and RCS completed a contract for their replacement between September 2004 and April 2005. Three bridges in East Hampshire, Eastleigh and Rushmoor were omitted from this contract for operational reasons and were carried over to 2005/06. Details for individual bridges are given below.

Havant Bridgeworks Programme 2004/05 and 2005/06

Havant Station Footbridge

4.7 This footbridge, jointly owned by Network Rail (NR) and Hampshire County Council, links housing and residential areas to the shopping centre and the station. Some elements were in poor condition and the footbridge has been the subject of extensive discussions with NR, Havant Borough Council, David Willetts MP and local Councillors. The chosen strategy is for some short-term repairs, followed by a bid for a new footbridge in the LTP submission. The lighting has been upgraded and RCS carried out the short-term repairs between March and June 2005. This included new fence panels, cleaning the roof, removing the damaged guttering on the approach ramps and new surfacing on all the bridge.

Emsworth Mill No 1 Footbridge, Emsworth

4.8 This footbridge links South Street to The Promenade on the east side of Quay Mill. The concrete beams were due to be repaired, but further investigation showed that complete replacement was a preferred solution. Work was programmed for summer 2005, but Environment Agency requirements resulted in a postponement until 2006. Further details will follow as they are finalised.

Aluminium Parapets Replacement Programme 2005/06

4.9 RCS replaced the parapets on Hermitage East bridge, West Street, Havant in January and Harts Farm Way bridge, Langstone in April 2005. Dyer and Butler have replaced the parapets on Hambledon Road subway, under the A3 near Waterlooville town centre, as part of the major A3 improvement contract.

5. Intelligent Transport Systems

5.1 The ITS Group of the Environment Department manages the feasibility, design, implementation, operation and maintenance of traffic control and traffic and travel information systems throughout Hampshire. Further responsibility now sits with the ITS group for the monitoring of and improvement to the operation of the highway network, as a result of the Traffic Management Act.

5.2 The former Executive Member for Environment approved expenditure of £200,000, in the 2005/06 Transport Capital Programme, for extending the implementation of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) in Hampshire. Buses operating in the Eastleigh area will be fitted with Automatic Vehicle Location technology so that they can be tracked and incorporated into the county-wide real-time passenger information system (STOPWATCH). The funding will also allow Hampshire and Portsmouth Real-Time Information (RTI) systems to be integrated, allowing bus data and information exchange and the provision of RTI on services in the Havant, Gosport and Fareham areas. This information will be provided on electronic displays at bus stops and via the internet and mobile phones.

5.3 The continuing development of the Hampshire Traffic and Travel Information Centre (TTIC) in Winchester has enabled a number of systems to be deployed and operated in Hampshire. Collectively these applications help to provide improved traffic and travel information and contribute to the delivery of the County Council's transport policies. The provision of timely and accurate information can help to reduce congestion, manage incidents and improve accessibility. The funding will allow further improvement to the central systems in the TTIC, enhancing information collection and outputs. The work will also provide the basis for developing tailored and personalised journey planning and travel information.

5.4 Progress on schemes in 2005/06 within Havant is as follows:

(i) a new Puffin crossing for Stakes Road, Purbrook has been completed;

(ii) the layout change of the signals at the A3 Maurepas Way and Hambledon Road has been completed as part of A3 Quality Bus Partnership works;

(iii) refurbishment of the Pelican crossing at Bedhampton Road near Kingscroft Lane in Havant is complete;

(iv) a new Puffin crossing for Church Road, Hayling Island near Katrina Gardens is scheduled for installation this financial year;

(v) RTI is being installed as part of the A3 Quality Bus Partnership and the Hampshire and Portsmouth RTI systems are being integrated. Up to 18 displays will be deployed on the route in 2005/06 and the information will also be disseminated via web and mobile phone (SMS) facilities;

(vi) two information and journey planning kiosks were installed on the A3 route at Widley and Purbrook during August 2005; and

(vii) as part of the A3 Quality Bus Partnership, eight CCTV cameras were installed earlier in the year for traffic monitoring and security purposes and are now operational.

6. Development Related Works

6.1 Section 38 Development work currently being undertaken by Hampshire Highways within the Havant area is detailed in Appendix 1.

External Funding

6.2 External funding and schemes relevant to that funding are detailed in Appendix 2.

7. Impact Assessments

7.1 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.

590/PM