Archived decisions

Contact: Helen Ackerman, ext 5077 email: [email protected]

1. Summary

1.1 This report sets out the 2007/08 Capital Programme sub programmes for Community Street Lighting, Casualty Reduction and Safer Routes to School (SRtS).

1.2 This decision will help the department's efforts to reduce road casualties through the targeted implementation of low-cost engineering measures at high risk sites. It will enable a local response to be coordinated with Parish and District Councils on local safety concerns in order to help communities feel more secure. Decisions made in relation to the SRtS programme will provide pedestrians and cyclists with a safer walking or cycling environment on the journey to school.

2. Recommendation

2.1 That the following 2007/08 Integrated Transport Capital Programme Sub Programmes, set out in Appendices 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, be approved:

(i) Community Street Lighting - £60,000;

(ii) Casualty Reduction - £3,000,000; and

(iii) Safer Routes to School - £1,000,000.

3. Community Street Lighting Programme - £60,000

3.1 The proposed Community Street Lighting partnership programme for 2007/08 is set out in Appendix 1. This programme responds to local community concerns identified by parish and district councils and is funded on a 50:50 basis. The maximum contribution to each scheme is set at £3,000. Of the 68 bids for funding, 48 are included in the proposed programme, with a further 16 in reserve should funding become available during the year. Those bids that did not comply are also detailed in Appendix 1.

3.2 It is proposed to allocate the available Local Transport Plan (LTP) funding to secure a reasonable spread of provision across the county, having regard to priority assessments. Schemes submitted should meet some, or all, of the following criteria:

(i) provision in response to a strong local need;

(ii) provision in response to a known or accepted night-time crime issue. Recommendations arising from consultations with the Police will be given favourable consideration as will local Neighbourhood Watch requests;

(iii) provision of a demonstrable highway safety benefit; and

(iv) schemes are to be funded on the basis of 50:50 up to a maximum contribution of £3,000 by the County Council. For schemes over a total of £6,000 the remainder of the costs will be funded by the district/parish or a combination of these Councils.

3.3 All the schemes listed comprise the introduction of one or more lighting columns designed to promote safety, particularly for pedestrians.

4. Casualty Reduction Programme - £3,000,000

4.1 The long established annual casualty reduction engineering programme has played a major part in improving the safety record on Hampshire's roads over the last decade or more.

4.2 Success in this area has been based for some years on a large annual programme of lower-cost safety engineering measures at higher risk accident sites (identified through police collated personal injury accident statistics), which has been supplemented in recent years with important new targeted programmes. This programme is unique in that it is completely based on analysis of accident statistics and the site characteristics of locations with poor accident records. In recent years the programme has been expanded to include route carriageway surface improvements, detailed auditing of the continued performance of previously implemented accident remedial measures and ongoing Casualty Reduction Partnership investigations with Hampshire Constabulary in the vicinity of the most serious crashes on the Hampshire road network.

4.3 The proposed breakdown of the overall programme is divided into four small sub programmes, outlined in the table below and set out in Appendices 2, 3 and 4. At this point in the programme year some individual candidate schemes are well developed and ready to be implemented early, being based upon police recorded personal injury accident data. Other schemes, both provisionally listed and potentially not currently named, will be subject to further analysis.

Low Cost Programme (Appendix 2)	£ 800,000
Carriageway Surface Treatment Programme (Appendix 3)	£1,500,000
Casualty Reduction Partnership	£ 400,000
Casualty Reduction Programme Audit (Appendix 4)	£ 300,000
Total	£3,000,000

4.4 Casualty Reduction Partnership projects are initiated subsequent to investigations of fatal/very serious road traffic accidents on the network. By their very nature therefore an advanced programme is not possible. Projects will be added as a result of investigations and will be approved through the regular Capital Programme decisions.

5. Safer Routes to School Programme - £1,000,000 2007-08

5.1 Central Government guidance states that every school in the country should have a School Travel Plan (STP) by the end of the decade in order to reduce school run congestion. In response the County Council has taken advantage of joint Department for Transport and Department of Education and Skills' grants to recruit five staff to work with schools to help them develop and implement STPs. This target has also been incorporated into the current LTP and Hampshire's Local Area Agreement as a performance indicator against Priority A, to Improve the life chances of children and young people (healthy eating/reducing childhood obesity). In addition Section 508A of the Education and Inspections Act 2006 now places a general duty on local authorities to promote the use of sustainable travel and transport. In January 2007 42% of schools (255 out of 601) had approved STPs.

5.2 The Safer Routes to School (SRtS) programme links very closely with the development of STPs. One of the objectives of an STP is to encourage children to be active and independent by walking, cycling or using public transport to get to and from school on a regular basis. This can be achieved through a combination of physical and other measures. Schemes identified within approved STPs are prioritised in order to ensure the most benefits are gained for the level of investment made.

5.3 On 21 February 2007 the County Council approved the budget which allowed for an allocation of £1 million for a county-wide programme of SRtS schemes from the Capital Programme for 2007/08. The proposed programme for 2007/08 is set out in Appendix 5.

Scheme Prioritisation Process

5.4 Due to the large number of schools with approved travel plans it is necessary to prioritise schemes in order to determine the most appropriate measures to fund. Any eligible schemes not included in the 2007/08 programme will be considered for funding in 2008/09 alongside any new STPs which are approved before January 2008. The prioritisation matrix assesses the travel plan as a whole by scoring against criteria such as existing travel patterns, the level of school commitment, previous SRtS expenditure, the length of time since submitting the travel plan and accident levels near the school. It also considers each measure identified in the travel plan scoring it on factors, such as the opportunity to create modal shift, number of pupils, cost per pupil and ease of delivery.

Mountbatten Community School, Romsey

5.5 One scheme in the proposed programme is relatively high cost. It consists of a large, off-highway bus-bay which will provide a safe place for pupils to board the coaches and will remove the current conflict between buses, pedestrians and cyclists on the school site. As a result, the aim is to increase cycling and walking to the school and, due to the high number of pupils who will benefit, this scheme is a high priority when scored using the SRtS prioritisation tool. The total cost of the scheme is expected to be in the region of £300,000, with £100,000 funding proposed from the SRtS programme, split over two financial years, and £200,000 being secured from other sources.

5.6 The required contribution represents 5% of the total SRtS programme in 2007/08 and the same of the indicative allocation in 2008/09. There are over 90 schools currently eligible to bid for SRtS funding, the suggested SRtS programmes for 2007/08 will deal with less than half of those on the prioritisation list.

School Crossing Patrol Infrastructure Upgrades

5.7 For several years the SRtS programme has funded a number of School Crossing Patrol (SCP) upgrade works at various locations throughout the county. These locations were based on the priorities set by the SCP team and works consist of dropped kerbs, tactile paving, anti-skid surfacing and provision of flashing amber lights and patrol signing at each location. Good progress has been made since transfer of this responsibility to the County Council's Environment Department in 2002 with 16% of sites (46 out of 288) receiving comprehensive site upgrades and 129 with improvements to the approach signing. The investment programme for these works will now be reconsidered as the main programme of improvements has now been completed.

6. Impact Assessments

6.1 The casualty reduction programme will improve road conditions for all users but will involve some additional road signs in some cases, where necessary, to increase awareness of hazards. While new schemes will mean some increases in maintenance liabilities, some parts of the programme, including the surface treatment works and refurbishment of previously treated sites, will reduce maintenance needs.

6.2 The Safer Routes to School programme will improve access for all users and the proposals are not considered to be discriminatory.

6.3 The Community Street Lighting programme will improve lighting conditions for all users and the proposals are not considered to be discriminatory.

7. Conclusion

7.1 This report proposes the approval of the Community Street Lighting, Safer Routes to School and Casualty Reduction sub programmes in order to progress the schemes identified to be delivered as part of the 2007/08 Integrated Transport Capital Programme.

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