Councillors and committees

Agenda item

HIGHWAYS UPDATE (EXECUTIVE FUNCTION)

To receive an update on the 2016/17 programme of highway improvement and maintenance works funded by this committee and to agree further arrangements for allocating the budget for 2017/18.

 

Decision:

Resolved to:

 

(i)         Note progress of the 2016/17 programme of highway works funded by this committee and by developer contributions described at Annex 1.

(ii)        Agree to promote a traffic regulation order extend the 30mph speed limit on the B3001 Milford Road by approximately 200m to the east (towards the A3).

(iii)      Agree to promote a traffic regulation order to install a bus cage on the north side of Alma Lane and extend the existing double yellow lines opposite the junction with Heath Lane by approximately 4m to meet the new bus cage.

(iv)      Agree to promote a traffic regulation order to extend the double yellow lines on the south side of Alma Lane by approximately 15m from the junction with Heath Lane. 

(v)       Agree the allocations recommended by the LTP Task Group and described in this report to a total value of £530,000.

(vi)    Note that the LTP task group will convene if necessary once the Local Committee budget is known in the spring of 2016.

(vii)     Authorise the Area Highway Manager (AHM) to progress the schemes prioritised by the four area task groups and listed at Annex A in consultation with local  elected members and associated task groups, subject to available funding from developer contributions.

(viii)       Authorise the AHM to consider and determine any objections submitted following the statutory advertisement of the traffic orders and notices associated with the programme of schemes, in consultation with the Chairman and/or Vice-Chairman of the Local Committee and relevant local councillors.

 

(ix)          Delegate authority to the AHM in consultation with the Chairman and Vice-Chairman and locally affected members to amend budgets throughout the year if required.

 

(x)            Agree that the Community Engagement Fund is devolved to each county councillor based on an equal allocation of £5,000 per division.

 

(xi)          Consider the selection of schemes under the influence of local committee for inclusion in Horizon 2 (2017-2021) Roads Major Assistance Programme.

 

(xii)         To delegate the final decision on selection to the AHM in consultation with the Local Committee Chairman and Vice- Chairman to be submitted to Asset Planning by 31st January, 2017.

 

 

Reasons

 

(i)       The traffic orders are required in order to progress ITS schemes in the 2016/17 programme.

 

(ii)     The committee agreed the 2017/18 allocations in order that the scheme design can start at the earliest opportunity and increase confidence in their prompt delivery.

 

(iii)The selection of schemes under the Horizon 2 programme will enable the finalisation of the major maintenance schemes.

 

Minutes:

The Area Highways Manager presented an update on current Highways work across the borough and the list of schemes recommended by the Local Transport task group following input from the four area groups.

 

The Area Highways Manager reported that the committee budget for 2016/17 has now all been spent and that priority was given to spending funding that has come from developer schemes (such as Planning Infrastructure Contribution ‘PIC’, Section 106 ‘S106’ and Community Infrastructure Levy ‘CIL’)

 

The Lengthmen’s scheme and maintenance works had all run well this year.

 

With reference to recommendation (ii) on page 45 of the committee papers, it was noted that both the Highways officers and the police approved this measured and the divisional member had personally witnessed speeding in this area at a time when there were pedestrians present.

 

It was further noted that this would be funded by PIC money which should be spent in the division in which it was generated and for measures which benefit the community. It was therefore agreed that this measure would be appropriate and would encourage traffic to slow down ahead of the double bend.

 

With reference to recommendation (iii), the scheme is question has already been agreed previously. What was being requested here was the authority to seek the appropriate traffic order which will publicise the council’s intention to install the bus cage and gather the public’s responses accordingly which will be taken into account by the Area Highways Manager.

 

It was noted that the task groups sometimes include schemes that do not get implemented due to budget restrictions which then may get carried over to the following year. This did not however, guarantee that they were implemented as they still competed with any other schemes and were prioritised according to their relative merit. It was suggested that schemes that are not implemented are recorded so that members can get more transparency of the task group’s decision making process.

 

The committee asserted the importance of local knowledge when smaller transport measures (such as the provision and location of bus stops) are decided upon as local Members were best placed to gauge the impact of decisions on residents. It was therefore decided that the chairman would write to the appropriate cabinet member to ensure that these decisions were referred to the committee.

 

The Area Highways Manager was asked whether measures were monitored for effectiveness after implementation. He reported that schemes were often revisited up to one year after they were first installed.

 

The committee moved on to discuss the recommendation schemes to be installed in the next financial year. The available budget will not be known until the end of the financial year in March, however the task group has devised a schedule of schemes making an assumption that the budget will be in the region of £500,000. As the assumed budget was £750,000 last year, this figure acknowledges the likelihood that there will be a significant reduction in funding this year.

 

The Area Highways Manager will inform each divisional member of available Section 106 and PIC funding in their respective divisions.

 

At the time the report was written, the £10,000 allocation to the improvement of cycling infrastructure, which was earlier agreed as part of item 10 of this committee, had not been proposed. This will be incorporated into future financial calculations.

 

It was recognised that the lists of recommendations presented by the area task groups were driven by each area’s priorities and it was understood that the budget to implement all of them (especially the larger schemes) was unlikely to be available. It was however agreed that the allocation of funding was a necessary step to take at that time in order to allow scheme designs to be drawn up straightway which would assist in their timely delivery in the following year. It was further agreed that the assumed budget of £530,000 budget was realistic given the present financial uncertainty. The task groups would be convened as appropriate to progress decisions once the budget has been set.

 

The committee went on to discuss the recommendation for the Horizon 2 programme which is a scheme to undertake major maintenance works across the borough. As 80% of the programme has been determined, the committee was asked for its feedback on determining the remaining 20%.

 

As this would equate to approximately 250 metres per division, it was agreed that each county Member would nominate one road in their respective wards.

 

The committee noted that it would be helpful if information pertaining to this project could be presented by division in order to assist Members in locating their roads more easily.

 

 

The Local Committee resolved to:

 

(i)         Note progress of the 2016/17 programme of highway works funded by this committee and by developer contributions described at Annex 1.

(ii)        Agree to promote a traffic regulation order extend the 30mph speed limit on the B3001 Milford Road by approximately 200m to the east (towards the A3).

(iii)      Agree to promote a traffic regulation order to install a bus cage on the north side of Alma Lane and extend the existing double yellow lines opposite the junction with Heath Lane by approximately 4m to meet the new bus cage.

(iv)      Agree to promote a traffic regulation order to extend the double yellow lines on the south side of Alma Lane by approximately 15m from the junction with Heath Lane. 

(v)       Agree the allocations recommended by the LTP Task Group and described in this report to a total value of £530,000.

(vi)    Note that the LTP task group will convene if necessary once the Local Committee budget is known in the spring of 2016.

(vii)     Authorise the Area Highway Manager (AHM) to progress the schemes prioritised by the four area task groups and listed at Annex A in consultation with local  elected members and associated task groups, subject to available funding from developer contributions.

(viii)       Authorise the AHM to consider and determine any objections submitted following the statutory advertisement of the traffic orders and notices associated with the programme of schemes, in consultation with the Chairman and/or Vice-Chairman of the Local Committee and relevant local councillors.

 

(ix)          Delegate authority to the AHM in consultation with the Chairman and Vice-Chairman and locally affected members to amend budgets throughout the year if required.

 

(x)            Agree that the Community Engagement Fund is devolved to each county councillor based on an equal allocation of £5,000 per division.

 

(xi)          Consider the selection of schemes under the influence of local committee for inclusion in Horizon 2 (2017-2021) Roads Major Assistance Programme.

 

(xii)         To delegate the final decision on selection to the AHM in consultation with the Local Committee Chairman and Vice- Chairman to be submitted to Asset Planning by 31st January, 2017.

 

 

Reasons

 

(i)       The traffic orders are required in order to progress ITS schemes in the 2016/17 programme.

 

(ii)     The committee agreed the 2017/18 allocations in order that the scheme design can start at the earliest opportunity and increase confidence in their prompt delivery.

 

(iii)The selection of schemes under the Horizon 2 programme will enable the finalisation of the major maintenance schemes.

 

 

(Mr Martin left the meeting following these decisions)

 

Supporting documents: