Agenda item - HIGHWAYS UPDATE (EXECUTIVE FUNCTION)

To receive an update from the Highways Area Team Manager (North East).

The Joint Committee (Spelthorne):

(i) Agreed the strategy for allocation of Joint Committee Highways budgets for next Financial Year 2019-20 as set out in Table 4 (paragraphs 2.1.8 to 2.1.12 refer);

(ii) Delegated authority to the Area Highway Manager, in consultation with the Chairman, Vice Chairman, and Divisional Member, to decide on completion of the feasibility study and subject to funding being made available, whether to promote a traffic regulation order for a new width restriction in Horton Road, Stanwell Moor Village, to consider any objections to any traffic regulation order and if feasible to implement the scheme (paragraphs 2.2.2 to 2.2.3 refer);

(iii)Agreed the programme of ITS schemes for next Financial Year 2019-20 as set out in Table 6 (paragraphs 2.2.4 to 2.2.6 refer);

(iv) Deferred agreement to the removal of 33 schemes from the prioritisation list in Annex A (paragraph 2.2.7 refers) until the Joint Committee meeting in March 2019;

(v) Agreed to the Area Highway Manager reviewing the Staines SCOOT region revalidation project with the Chairman, Vice Chairman, and Staines Division and Ward Members, to review the observations of the project team and prioritise suggestions for further work (paragraphs 2.3.4 and 2.3.5 refer);

(vi)Agreed to provide feedback on the draft reviewed Local Transport Strategy Forward Programme to the Area Highway Manager by 10^th January 2019 (paragraphs 2.10.2 to 2.10.6 and Annex C refer);

(vii) Authorised the Area Highway Manager in consultation with the Chairman, Vice Chairman, and relevant Divisional Member(s) to undertake all necessary procedures to deliver the agreed programmes.

Reasons for the recommendations:

Recommendations are made to facilitate development of Committee’s 2019-20 Highways programmes, while at the same time ensuring that the Chairman, Vice Chairman and relevant Divisional Members are fully and appropriately involved in any detailed considerations.

Committee is asked to provide the necessary authorisation to deliver its programmes of work in consultation with the Chairman, Vice Chairman and relevant Divisional Member without the need to revert to the Committee as a whole.

Declarations of Interest: None

Officers attending: Nick Healey, Area Highways Manager

Petitions, Public Questions, Statements: Mr Jim McIlroy, Chairman of the Stanwell Moor Residents’ Association, asked a question in the informal open forum at the start of the committee session – the discussion is recorded in the annex to these minutes.

The Area Highways Manager (AHM) stated that the 2019/20 budget revised the Joint Committee’s resources, and he now anticipated receiving no revenue funding and approximately £182k capital funding, together with the £7.5k allocation to each Divisional Member. His recommendation was that £100k of the capital budget should be allocated to minor capital works, and £82k to significant patching works. Day-to-day maintenance such as vegetation clearance, sign cleaning, installation of new traffic lights etc would be covered by the Divisional Members’ allocations.

It was noted that Annex A had not been reproduced completely with the agenda papers and it was therefore not possible to discuss it.

Work on updating the Staines town centre SCOOT region is ongoing. Improvements have been made to its operation but new questions have been raised and officers are seeking discussions with stakeholders to determine the priorities and next steps.

Member Discussion – key points:

Concern was raised about the proposed roundabout at the junction of Charlton Road and Charlton Lane, which while improving the traffic flow was expected to lead to fewer gaps in the traffic and therefore reduced opportunities for pedestrians to cross the road in Charlton village. The scheme should therefore include a pedestrian crossing. AHM stated this was being covered under proposed schemes related to possible development at Shepperton Studios.

The Vice-Chairman stressed that since the money had been committed for the width restriction feasibility study in Stanwell Moor he was keen for the installation work to go ahead (subject to the findings of the study). It was estimated that the cost for this could be between £50k and £75k, and that funding would come from CIL monies. There was a discussion about the composition of the CIL Task Group and the Partnership Committee Officer agreed to circulate the Terms of Reference to the member concerned.

Resolved: