Category: News

A new active travel bridge over the A30 in Cornwall that has been described as a game-changer for active travel is now open.

The new bridge at Chiverton is part of a National Highways funded network of cycle routes that Cornwall Council had to cut back from a planned 30km to just 13km.

The county council, which led on the design and delivery of the 48-metre structure, said it provides a safe crossing point for pedestrians, cyclists and horse riders for the first time and significantly boosts local connectivity.

It is part of the Saints Trails route linking St Agnes and Threemilestone, one of just two planned routes from an original four. 

Cornwall Council said the route will not be complete until later this year as works are continuing on the section of the A390 between Penstraze and West Langarth.

The bridge was built by Costain, which provided detailed design and construction services. It is also currently delivering the new A30 Chiverton and Carland Cross dualling schemes for National Highways.

Andy Clarke, director for integrated transport at Costain, called the bridge a ‘game-changer for active travel’.

Richard Williams-Pears, the council’s cabinet portfolio holder for transport, described the structure as ‘a great example of what can be achieved by partnership working between the council, National Highways and Costain’.

He added: ‘The bridge includes some iconic design features to reflect the nearby Cornish Mining World Heritage areas and is a key part of the Saints Trail route and a link that residents and users have been keen to see in place.’

Colin Bird, South West regional delivery director for National Highways, said: ‘We’ve pumped £11.9m of investment into Cornwall to help provide a network of cycling trails between the coastline and Truro and the funding has enabled Cornwall Council to install a network of routes for non-motorised users, including walkers and horse riders, and represents one of the largest cycling infrastructure investments ever in the region.’

In fact, National Highways originally announced in 2019 that it was pumping £17m into the Saints Trails from its RIS 1 (2015-20) designated funds programme but has confirmed that it cut back its contribution due to Cornwall Council ‘facing difficulties in achieving the deliverable timeframe’.

The Saints Trails were initially conceived as a £19m programme featuring four routes: St Agnes to Truro; Trispen to Idless; St Newlyn East to Carland Cross; and Perranporth to Newquay.

Following a series of delivery problems, delays and projected overspending, the St Agnes to Truro route was cut back, the Perranporth to Newquay was also curtailed to become a route from Perranporth to Goonhavern, and the other two routes were scrapped.

The situation has reportedly been described by local councillors as an ‘unmitigated disaster’, a ‘total shambles’, a ‘fiasco’ and a ‘mess’.

The remaining projects are funded by £5m from the European Regional Development Fund, £2m from Cornwall Council and National Highways’ remaining contribution of nearly £12m.

The cancellation of the Trispen to Idless and St Newlyn East to Carland Cross routes also casts further doubt on National Highways’ claim to have carried out 160 cycling and walking schemes between 2015 and 2020.

The government-owned organisation previously confirmed to Highways that it counted minor on-road works in preparation for the two routes as projects towards the total of 160 schemes.

Councillors in Devon have given the go-ahead to a £24m road, largely funded by the county council’s own borrowing.

The highway authority’s cabinet approved the delivery of the two-phase spine road to a new employment development at Langage, which aims to improve links to a key part of the Plymouth and South Devon (PASD) Freeport.

The project includes extending the existing Kingsway road, as well as a multi-use bridge across the A38 Deep Lane Junction, which will connect the new community of Sherford to the development.

One of 12 designated by the Government, the freeport is a partnership between Devon CC, Plymouth City Council, South Hams District Council and the private sector. It aims to create over 3,500 jobs, predominantly across key engineering and manufacturing sectors.

Stuart Hughes, cabinet member for highway management, said: ‘I welcome the proposed infrastructure to support the Freeport, which will bring new jobs to the area.

‘The new bridge across the A38 is much needed to support active travel at an early stage in the expansion of homes and jobs on Plymouth’s urban fringe.’

The Kingsway road (pictured) currently stops just south of the Langage Power Station on the eastern side of the Langage Business Park. Phase one will focus on extending the road to serve the Langage customs and tax site.

The council said the ‘ambition’ is for work to begin in November this year for completion next spring.

The road will allow developers to deliver access points to the site in the future as individual plots receive planning permission and become available.

Phase two will extend the spine road to align with the future delivery of the employment development, expected to be in 2027.

The county council said a planning application is expected to be submitted in September 2024.

Work on the multi-use bridge is expected to start in December.

The delivery of this infrastructure, as well as improvements to the Sandy Road/Holland Road roundabout, is funded by £9.6m from the Government as part of the PASD Freeport seed capital programme, and up to £14.3m of borrowing by Devon.

A councillor has asked Shropshire Council’s external auditor to investigate concerns the North West Relief Road (NWRR) in Shrewsbury will ‘completely bankrupt the council’.

Liberal Democrat councillor David Vasmer, who sits on the committee that gave planning permission for the road, has written to Grant Thornton UK LLP to raise concerns about an alleged series of failures by the council to follow its own proper procedures.

As Highways has reported, the council is relying on a pledge by transport secretary Mark Harper in a TV interview to ‘fully fund’ the road. However, his department has made clear that it has so far only said it will fund the £81m cost at outline business case stage, while critics have suggested that it could now cost around £200m.

Cllr Vasmer highlighted four areas of concern:

• the council’s alleged failure to follow its own procedure on the need for a Full Business Case to be in place before approving capital expenditure
• starting construction before full funding is guaranteed
• committing £45m of taxpayer cash to the project ahead of the general election, which Cllr Vasmer said could be wasted if a new government refuses to fund the project
• circulating tender documents before all the planning conditions have been agreed, which ‘risks a serious underestimation of the project’s true costs’.
• He said: ‘I was compelled to write this letter because I am seriously concerned that this road project could completely bankrupt the council.

He said: ‘Despite the administration’s reassurances, the Department for Transport has not guaranteed to fully fund the road beyond the Outline Business Case estimate of £81m. This leaves Shropshire Council committed to paying the remainder of the road’s costs, which could be another £120m or more. That would bankrupt the council immediately with devastating implications for residents across the whole county, as vital services would be lost overnight.’

Better Shrewsbury Transport (BeST), which is crowdfunding a legal challenge to the road, said the absence of up to date costings for the project in the public domain is adding to the financial pressure is.

It said that with scores of pre-commencement planning conditions in place, including those surrounding the risk the road poses to Shrewsbury’s water supply, there is a risk that costs could escalate exponentially, with the council committed to paying for any overruns.

Mike Streetly from BeST said: ‘If Shropshire Council was the Titanic, the NWRR would be its iceberg. BeST has been raising the alarm about this road’s spiralling costs for years now, but the Conservative administration has had its fingers in its ears. Far from trying to avoid the iceberg, they’re speeding up as they sail straight towards it.’

Dan Morris, the council’s cabinet member for highways, said: ‘Since 2019, work has been taking place to support the development of a full business case, which will be considered by Full Council in the summer, before being shared with the DfT later this year.

‘Money to enable this work to happen has come from the DfT and the former Marches LEP, with match funding from developer contributions and the sale of assets as part of the SUE West development. The project spend to date remains within the available budget and has been fully agreed within the council’s current Capital Financial Strategy.

‘Work to complete the required Section 106 agreements is now taking place, which will allow for a full planning permission notice to be issued shortly

‘To ensure that there are no delays, the procurement of the main contractor is now underway. However, no contract will be awarded until the full business case is endorsed and approved by Full Council and the DfT.’

National Highways has announced plans to install 52 new emergency areas (EAs) on smart motorways in the South East as it faces a battle to meet a promise of 150 by next year.

The government owned company said work on sections of the M25 in Hertfordshire and Essex is due to begin this month but gave no completion date. It also made no mention of the 2025 target date.

As Highways has reported, only 13 new EAs have so far been completed – a figure that National Highways confirmed remains the current total – although work is underway on 22 on the M1 in South Yorkshire and Derbyshire, and 12 on the M6 in Cheshire.

Last month the company announced the start of work ‘in the spring’ on a further 54 EAs (also known as emergency refuge areas, ERAs) on the M1 and M5 motorways in the Midlands.

It said it expected to complete that part of the programme by spring 2025; however, its webpage for the national programme gives no completion date.

The latest announcement includes new EAs on the M25 between junctions 23 and 27 and between junctions 5 and 7, while the M20, M3 M4 will also see additional EAs from late April and early May, with the M27 following ‘later in the summer’.

National Highways first announced the locations for the new EAs last December, when it did reference the 2025 target date.

In its new announcement, the company said that since January 2022, when it committed to building more than 150 EAs ‘progress has been made’ in both designing and delivering the programme.

Project sponsor Felicity Clayton said: ‘Safety is our highest priority and we have listened to drivers’ concerns about having more places to stop in an emergency on motorways which don’t have a permanent hard shoulder.

‘This is part of the Government’s £900m investment in further safety improvements on existing smart motorways, which includes adding an additional 150 emergency areas across the network and giving motorists clear advice when using smart motorways to boost public confidence.’

National Highways said the works will see lane one closed throughout construction and a 50mph speed limit put in place.

It added that it is being carefully co-ordinated with major improvements underway on the M25, including junction 28, where the motorway meets the A12 at the Brook Street roundabout in Essex, and at Junction 10 near Wisley.

Digital services provider Version 1 has been named as National Highways’ ‘strategic long-term partner for managed services and collaboration’.

The company has provided cross-cloud adoption, implementation and support services for National Highways for six years.

This latest contract lasts five years, with an option to extend for a further two, and is worth at least £47.5m.

Craig Bromage, head of infrastructure and platforms at National Highways, said: ‘We were looking for a long-term partner to work with us in a modern, agile DevSecOps [development, security, and operations] approach and having the skills we need to deliver our innovative strategy to meet both current and future organisational skills.

‘Version 1 has already helped us make significant progress in transforming and transitioning legacy infrastructure to our cloud offering. We are very excited to be moving into the next phase, expanding the cloud capability and modernising our ways of working as we continue to deliver and improve our service to road users, making journeys better and safer.’

Guy Hodges, director of transport at Version 1 said: ‘The National Highways modern ways of working and automation of platform technologies stand it apart from other organisations. The clarity of direction and defined ways of working that it has within its infrastructure and platform teams are beyond exceptional.

‘This should be applauded, and Version 1 is delighted to be part of this partnership for the next seven years.’

Highway consultant and chartered Civil Engineer Clive Hall discusses the potential impact of the Highways Act 1980 (Amendment) Bill.

On 19 April, the second reading of a Private Members Bill proposing to amend section 58 of the Highways Act 1980 to restrict the defences available to highway authorities will be heard in Parliament.

While it has some way to go before being made into law, and Private Members Bills always face an uphill struggle, the amendment would have a major impact if passed.

As drafted, it seeks to amend the special defence in action against a highway authority for damages for non-repair of a highway. Currently, to defend any third-party claim for damages under section 58, the highway authority must take ‘such care as in all the circumstances was reasonably required to secure that the part of the highway to which the action relates was not dangerous for traffic’.

In practice, this could mean proving that it has a reasonable system of inspection and repair in place and – particularly under the new code of practice Well-managed highway infrastructure – one that takes account of the character and usage of the highway in question.

Under the new bill, the authority would have to prove it has ‘taken all possible steps’ to secure that the part of the highway in question is not dangerous to traffic.

On top of this, when considering a section 58 defence the courts would have to consider ‘whether the highway authority had, within the previous six months, carried out a full survey of the condition of the highway to which the action relates, the date on which that section of the highway was last repaired and the date on which that section of the highway was last subject to surface dressing’.

Highway authorities would also have to provide a claimant within 28 days ‘all the documentary and other evidence upon which the highway authority seeks to rely in its defence’.

Clearly, the intent is to shift the dial towards the claimant and to create a new standard for routine maintenance.

The proposed amendment appears to try to counter the erosion of maintenance standards through, in effect, the prescription of a minimum survey frequency of six months and the requirement to evidence maintenance plans.

This is a significant shift, when the latest code of best practice has deliberately sought to remove a reliance on prescription, replacing it with the risk-based approach.

The public might see this as making sense – shouldn’t a highway authority know when it last carried out repairs to any of its roads, and when they were last surface dressed? And indeed, under the Network North funding programme, the Department for Transport has already asked for routine updates on resurfacing and maintenance works.

The logic of the Bill is that if the last time any maintenance happened was long ago, or so insignificant to have not even been recorded, then surely that is why the defect exists.

The intended consequence of this proposed amendment is clear, but what of the unintended consequences? The amendment presumes that ‘all possible steps’ is a higher bar than ‘such care as in all the circumstances was reasonably required’. It’s the art of the possible versus what is reasonable.

The presumption is that given the various technologies available, it is possible for the council to roughly know when potholes appear and get them repaired on a fairly quick and regular cycle. The counterargument is that even if the defect is known, it’s impossible, within the bounds of the available resources, to respond to all defects in a quick time.

Indeed, councils might argue that they are so cash-strapped it is impossible to sustain the systems of inspection and repair they currently operate. If a court accepted this, ‘all possible steps’ could become a lower bar than what was ‘reasonably required’. This is not the intended consequence of this proposed amendment, one imagines.

But the courts have historically found it hard to decide on the issues arising from limited financial resources and the need for reasonable maintenance – something the code of practice again sought to address.

The questions remain: what is possible with the money available and what highway condition would the revised section 58(2) presume to be sound?

Would this amended Section 58 (2) encourage a minimum acceptable frequency for surfacing and surface dressing to be established through case law? If the records show the road was last surface-dressed five years ago would the defence hold? What about 10 or 15?

Ultimately, this proposal is motivated by the desire to see the burden suffered by highway user reduced. Few in the general public would argue against that. However, amending Section 58 in this way may not achieve this, when the real issue is that the local road network needs a massive step change in investment if it is to be kept in a stable state, greater investment still, if its condition is to be improved.

Without a sustained increase in investment in our local roads and the application of good asset management, over time the burden on highway users will grow, be that on individuals through the damage inflicted by potholes, or indirectly through the demand placed on the public purse by compensation.

That is only reasonable, but is it possible?

The Department for Transport (DfT) is in negotiations with the Treasury over bringing forward a promised £8bn of ‘additional’ cash over the next nine years, a top official has revealed.

Speaking at the Road Surface Treatments Association’s annual conference, Tim Rowland-Deverell, head of local highways strategy and environment at the DfT, said that Whitehall was still discussing the profile of the redirected HS2 money. 

The total £8.3bn Network North local roads package has an 11-year profile, with only £300m for the first two years having been allocated.

‘If we were going to go by the letter of HS2 funding, that means all of our funding comes towards the back end of the decade. We don’t think that’s a particularly helpful way of doing things. We’ve had a conversation with the Treasury over what that looks like,’ he said.

Mr Rowland-Deverell also addressed the issue of ‘baseline’ capital funding for authorities beyond 2025 – acknowledging that uncertainty is preventing local authorities planning maintenance.

The DfT has also not announced core capital funding for local highway authorities beyond the current financial year,

He asked: ‘All of this Network North money is additional,’ he asked, ‘but additional to what?’ and added: ‘Our number one task is going to be to secure baseline funding for the years ahead.

‘And part of my meeting you today is that the industry continues to talk to Treasury, continues to say how important it is that that funding is substantial, that it is predictable, and that we are moving towards a longer-term position so that everyone can understand what they can invest in over the next decade.’

Local authority sources have pointed out that there is no guarantee additional government funding will result in additional council spending on highway maintenance as many will simply choose to withhold equivalent contributions from their own funds.

Under the funding package, councils were tasked with publishing plans for how the Network North cash would be spent, which the majority have now done. 

Speaking to Highways, Mr Rowland-Deverell admitted that the DfT were unlikely to interrogate the nature of the plans and what percentage of the works were simply being brought forward under current asset management processes.

He said: ‘To be honest, there is a degree of trust.’

While councils benefitted from a share of the £150m Network North cash this year, the Government dropped the £200m Pothole Fund that has been in place for 2023-24 – leaving them potentially worse off as they go into the year ahead.

It is with great sadness that Highways reports Anthony Morter Hon.FIAT, the former company secretary of the Institute of Asphalt Technology (IAT), has passed away.

Described as ‘a perfect gentleman’ and ‘totally committed to the IAT’, Mr Morter was an Honorary Fellow of the institute. He served as secretary for 14 years after taking on the role in 1997.

The IAT said in a statement that during that time ‘he became the interface for the IAT membership and was the go-to person for members’.

Chris Lycett, former IAT President said: ‘As President, I found him to be extremely loyal to the IAT principles and conscientious in carrying out his duties as Institute secretary.’

An honourable man: Arthur Hannah (left) presenting an Honorary Fellow certificate to Anthony Morter (right)

Tributes on social media described Mr Morter as a kind and committed man who was always a pleasure to work with.

Mark Joel, non-executive chair and independent business adviser said: ‘I recall working for him as a trainee on the M25 in Surrey in 1985 before it was first opened and his positive support and cheery advice. And that cheerfulness and personal interest was always there whenever we met down the years. He made his mark on many of us and will be sadly missed.’

Business consultant and former Higwhays publisher Neil Levett said: ‘We worked closely with each other over many years and he was never anything other than a perfect gentleman. A good man lost.’

Mr Morter passed away on Monday 25 March 2024.

Funeral details are as follows:

A service for all is being held on Thursday April 25th, at 1pm at St Michael’s Church, Betchworth, followed by light refreshments.

‘It is intended to be a celebration of life, hopefully with colour and not too much black’.

The Royal Borough of Greenwich has awarded Marlborough Highways a comprehensive highways term contract.

The four-year deal began on 1 April and primarily involves maintenance and improvement works to roads and footways. Budgeted for up to £7m a year, the contract can be extended for up to four additional years, with a maximum value of £56m.

Marlborough said that while it already has a presence in nine other boroughs in the capital the new contract represents its first major operations in South London, with the expansion forming part of its ambitious growth plans.

The award also follows previous traffic management work in Greenwich, which began in 2022.

The new contract covers works to kerbs, footways and paved areas, road marking services, drainage works, fencing, earthworks, landscaping, and the installation and upkeep of street furniture.

Marlborough managing director Matthew Revell said: ‘This contract marks a significant milestone for Marlborough, with our new Royal Greenwich operations and dedicated South London depot further strengthening our market-leading position.’

Marlborough said it is delivering the work from a new dedicated depot in Greenwich, which is home to a fleet of high-performance plant machinery and specialist highways maintenance vehicles.

It added that as part of efforts by the Royal Borough of Greenwich to foster a fairer and healthier community, it is conducting a series of social value initiatives throughout the contract period.

Marlborough said it is using eco-friendly building materials and employing pioneering construction methods and that, working with an independent consultancy, all schemes are being expertly assessed using a Carbon Footprint Calculator.

Electric vehicles, biofuel powered plant, and renewable energy supplies are being deployed across Greenwich and Marlborough is diverting 100% of construction waste from landfill.

English Councils received nearly £2bn in income from on and off-street parking in 2022-23, but paid out nearly £1bn in running and enforcement costs.

Outturn data for the year published by the Department for Levelling up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) showed that councils in England had a total income including fines from on-street parking of £1,196m and £730m from off-street parking, totalling £1,927m.

However, total expenditure was almost half of this figure, at £535m for on-street and £441m for off-street parking, totalling £977m, meaning that the overall surplus was just under £1bn.

The figures cover both highway authorities and councils that are not highway authorities, with many of the latter operating off-street parking and enforcing on-street parking on behalf of highway authorities.

The vast majority of the income from on-street parking (£831m) came from London boroughs, which had a surplus of £529m after expenditure of £302m. However, London boroughs had income from off-street parking of only £49m, meaning that they made just £7m surplus, after expenditure of £42m.

Faced with soaring debts and limits on the amount by which they can raise council tax, local authorities will this month increase parking charges again, by as much as 60%.

The Sunday Times reported that many cash-strapped councils are implementing above inflation parking charges this month, including a 60% hike in Kirklees, West Yorkshire, 30% rises in some car parks in East Grinstead, West Sussex, and 29% in Shrewsbury, Shropshire.

Shropshire Council, which plans to build a new road costing up to £200m, recently announced cuts of more than £50m for 2024/25, on top of a 4.99% rise in council tax.