Written evidence submitted by Transport North East (SRI0031)

Strategic Road Investment in England

Introduction

Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the above call for evidence. I am responding on behalf of Transport North East (TNE). We provide strategy, planning, and delivery services on behalf of the North East Joint Transport Committee (NEJTC), which brings together the North of Tyne Combined Authority and the North East Combined Authority for transport matters. 

Our Transport Plan sets out a vision for: ‘Moving to a green, healthy, dynamic and thriving North East.’  The Plan also states that we want to encourage people to travel around the North East. The region’s road network is crucial in enabling economic growth and unlocking opportunities for people, as well as facilitating the efficient movement of freight.

Our reasons for responding to this call for evidence is so that we can comment on the progress of the RIS programme to date, highlight the importance of delivering investment in our key road links and outline concerns about difficulties experienced by our local authorities in unlocking access to growth sites due to planning issues raised by National Highways (NH).

As requested by the Committee, we have provided a summary of our comments below, followed by our full answers to the specific points about which you are seeking views.

Summary of comments provided

How effectively the RIS2 enhancements portfolio has been managed to date

Whilst we understand that the RIS2 programe was affected by external factors, more could have been done more to plan for and manage the potential risks. The late  publication of the portfolio of schemes meant that the opportunity was lost for effective collaboration with sub-national transport bodies (such as Transport for the North – TfN) or local transport authorities.

Within this region, we welcome progress on the A19 Downhill Lane and Testos schemes and the A1 Western Bypass, but are disappointed by the continuing delay in Development Consent Order approval for the A1 Morpeth to Ellingham dualling scheme. The delivery of this scheme is fundamentally important in improving network resilience, safety and journey time reliability on this economically important strategic route.

Whether risks to the enhancements portfolio for the remainder of the RIS2

period are being well managed

Although NH’s 2020-25 Delivery Plan outlined measures to manage risk,  the need to cut back the programme suggests these have been insufficient to date. As TNE does not have detailed knowledge about how RIS2 portfolio risks are being managed for the rest of the programme we cannot comment on whether or not they are being “well-managed”. 

The decision to cut 11 smart motorway projects following a Transport Select Committee recommendation is a a sensible measure both to address public concerns about smart motorways and to help reduce the overall programme to a more manageable scope.  

What the impacts of delays and cost overruns are on the overall programme,

and whether the revised programme can be delivered to schedule and on

budget

We are unable to predict whether the revised programme can be delivered to schedule or on budget but are concerned about the possibility of important schemes (such as Morpeth to Ellingham dualling) being delayed even further, or perhaps even carried over into RIS3.

Improvements to the A1 are vital to delivering more reliable journeys for people and businesses in the North East using this key link to Scotland. Also of regional significance is the planned dualling of the A66, a strategically important cross-Pennine link that is particularly important for freight connectivity, with work due to start in 2024.

What progress is being made on planning for the next Road Investment

Strategy

TfN has been working collaboratively with NH to provide evidence on the North’s requirements for investment in our roads. Like TfN, we are concerned about slippage in completion of NH’s Route Strategy reports and the need for clarity on the likely level of funding available for RIS3..

TNE have submitted a number of schemes we wish to see included in the RIS3 programme, with the A19 junctions north of Newcastle (Moor Farm /Seaton Burn) and A194(M) Whitemare Pool roundabout being a particular priority. This section of the road network has been identified as a key pinch point that suffers from congestion at peak times and investment at these sites is essential to secure the future effectiveness and reliability of the SRN in the North East, and to unlock opportunities for  growth and development. NH’s assessment work highlights that any further housing or economic growth on North Tyneside will be constrained until a scheme is in place/agreed.

Improvements to the Whitemare Pool roundabout will reduce congestion at a key interchange between Gateshead, Sunderland, North Tyneside and Durham, supporting local economic growth and helping to unlock access to development sites. 

TNE’s proposed improvements for 2025-2030 include long term planning from National Highways and funding from the Department for Transport (DfT) to upgrade the A1 to dual carriageway from Ellingham to the Scottish Border.  We note that the recent Union Connectivity Review recommended an assessment of the East Coast rail and road corridor to determine appropriate investments for better connectivity between Scotland and England and a formal government response to the UCR is keenly awaited.

What lessons from RIS2 need to be incorporated into RIS3 to ensure it is

achievable and delivers on policy objectives

RIS3 needs to be carefully planned to manage risk and to ensure that the programe as a whole is balanced between large projects and those that pose fewer delivery challenges. Where delivery issues arise, clear and transparent communication with stakeholders is important..

Although Transport North East have had useful engagement with National Highways at an operational level, our Local Authority Partners have expressed concerns about  difficulties in getting support from National Highways for planning applications in some instances, and resultant difficuties in unlocking access to growth sites. We elaborate on this in the answer to the next question. 

Whether the Government’s current and forthcoming roads investment programme is meeting the current and future needs of consumers and business

We want to encourage people and goods to travel around the North East and support a programme of road investment that helps to create jobs and facilitate economic growth while also helping to decarbonise road transport. The network needs to work for all users and we support the creation of better facilities for walking, wheeling and cycling around the network. We also welcome the commitment to install around 6,000 high powered electric vehicle chargers on the motorway network by 2035.

As a region, we are, however, aware of concerns that local authorities seeking to deliver government objectives for housing growth are having attempts to do so frustrated by issues and delays arising out of the consideration of individual planning applications by NH’s Spatial Planning Team. We highlight some specific examples in Northumberland.

We have begun the process of initiating a more broad and strategic conversation with NH regarding this issue based around a larger economic geography rather than individual local authorities or schemes.

Whether the Government’s roads investment programme aligns with other

policy priorities, such as decarbonisation, levelling up, productivity and growth

The road investment programme aligns with our North East Transport Plan and national objectives for growth and levelling up. High quality infrastructure is a crucial enabler of economic growth. In the North over 80% of commuting trips and 87% of freight movements use the road network so continued investment is crucial for our economy. The dualling of the A1 between Morpeth and Ellingham is a key example of how wider growth-based policies align with the road investment programme.

There is, however, more that could be done. Transport for the North (TfN) in their Strategic Transport Plan, identify that creating greater connectivity between assets in the North is fundamental to allowing it to realise its full economic potential. An example of this in the North East would be improvements to the A69 between the North East and Cumbria, which have the potential to unlock significant economic growth in the manufacturing, renewables, tourism and life science industries. A minute of journey time saving on the road would lead to between £2–5m in economic benefit per annum.

It is also important to improve provision for non-motorised users to help tackle Transport-related Social Exclusion ((21.7% of the North’s citizens live in communities where this is a significant risk) and to deliver major investment in ZEV charging infrastructure.

How RIS3 should take account of technological developments, and evidence on

ways of increasing capacity on the Strategic Road Network (such as smart

motorways and potential alternatives to them).

There are several ways in which developing technology and data can be utilised to help decarbonise the road network and reduce the environmental impacts of schemes, as set out in NH’s current 5-year Delivery Plan.

The potential role of connected and autonomous vehicles and how they can be safely trialled on the SRN is an issue we commit to in the North East Transport Plan, and the

region has already hosted a connected and autonomous project led by Sunderland Council, which has trialled the use of 40 tonne trucks to deliver parts and assemblies at the Nissan plant as part of a proof-of-concept.

Full responses to questions

How effectively the RIS2 enhancements portfolio has been managed to date

The RIS2 portfolio published in Spring 2020 represented a significant increase in road investment over the five-year period and was published late (only 3 weeks in advance of the start of the programme commencing).

We recognise that the programme has been affected by external factors, including the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in urgent changes to National Highways (NH) operational and on-site arrangements, as well as recent inflationary pressures.

When also taking into account the increased number of large and complex projects in the portfolio compared to RIS1, the result was that significant changes were made to the delivery plan from late 2021 as it became clear that it could not be implemented as planned. In their report on the RIS programme, the National Audit Office concluded that: “National Highways and DfT could have done more to plan for and manage the potential risks to their portfolio of enhancement work.” [1]

The delayed publication of the programme meant that the opportunity was lost for effective collaboration with sub-national transport bodies (such as Transport for the North – TfN) or local transport authorities to plan for the effect of investment in the Strategic Road Network on their own networks and to consider the planning of complementary investments on local transport networks.

RIS2 is an ambitious programme including several substantial and challenging investment proposals. Earlier and more thorough engagement of this kind would have helped in mitigating risks, particularly with respect to the planning system where delays and uncertainties about delivery can occur.

Within this region, we welcome progress on the A19 Downhill Lane and Testos schemes and the A1 Western Bypass, including the recent completion of work on the Scotswood to North Brunton section of the latter. However, we are disappointed by the continuing delay in Development Consent Order approval for the A1 Morpeth to Ellingham dualling scheme. A decision on the DCO had been delayed from last summer until 5th December 2022, but the deadline was then further extended to 5th September 2023 with no surety that a final decision will then be announced.

We understand this delay is caused by a need to review the project in the context of the Union Connectivity Review, however as referenced below, we are keen to see this review progress so that the DCO can be determined. Additionally, we do not accept the premise that a new study is necessary as both a highways study[2] and a rail study[3] have recently been undertaken on the route.

The delivery of this scheme is fundamentally important in improving network resilience, safety and journey time reliability on this strategic route and will help facilitate future economic growth, including the development of the planned Fairmoor Enterprise Zone on the new junction between the A1 and the northern bypass link to South East Northumberland. The economic importance of dualling the A1 in Northumberland is confirmed in the emerging Northumberland Local Plan and the supporting evidence base for this Local Plan and the Northumberland Economic Strategy 2015 – 2020. Moreover, the rural location of this section of the A1 also means that improvements are key to improving the everyday journeys of rural residents, who rely on the route as there are no realistic alternative modes of travel.

Whether risks to the enhancements portfolio for the remainder of the RIS2

period are being well managed

In the “Risk Management” section of their 2020-25 Delivery Plan[4], NH outline a number of measures to manage risk including a specific financial contingency: “We will have a contingency within our funding for unexpected risks in the form of a centrally managed risk reserve of £1.6 billion. This represents 11% of the value of our capital investments, to which this contingency applies, across the five-year road period.”

The necessity to cut back the programme suggests that these measures have been insufficient and  the NAO report (referenced earlier) states that even more could have been done to manage these risks . However, with regard to the remainder of the RIS2 period, as TNE does not have detailed knowledge about how RIS2 portfolio risks are being managed we cannot comment on whether or not they are being “well-managed”.  The reduction in the number of projects to be delivered by 2025 (eleven out of the 69 planned schemes have been cut from the programme) should assist, however, in enabling the remainder of the programme to be delivered.

We note that the 11 schemes in question were smart motorway projects which were cut from the programme following a Transport Select Committee recommendation after issues around safety were raised. This would seem a sensible measure both to address public concerns and to help reduce the overall programme to a more manageable scope - although in general cutting schemes completely should be a last resort.  

What the impacts of delays and cost overruns are on the overall programme,

and whether the revised programme can be delivered to schedule and on

budget

The NAO report states that, as a result of delays to projects, DfT reduced National Highways’ budget for road enhancements by £3.4 billion (27%) and has also reduced the total number of projects that it requires NH to deliver by 2025.

We are not able to predict whether the revised programme can be delivered to schedule or on budget but are concerned about the possibility of important schemes (such as Morpeth to Ellingham dualling) being delayed even further, or perhaps even carried over into RIS3. Given that the funding envelope for RIS3 is likely to be severely constrained, this would add even further pressures to the next round of road investment. 

Inflationary pressures are also likely to impact RIS 2 and 3, reducing the amount that can be afforded within a fixed budget. As such it is important that there is a strategy for dealing with such inflationary pressures at a programme and scheme level.

As mentioned earlier in our response, improvements to the A1 are vital to delivering more reliable journeys for people and businesses in the North East using this key link to Scotland and in particular Edinburgh. Dualling of sections of the route would bring significant safety improvements through reducing the need for drivers to make dangerous overtaking manouvers. Additionally, through dualling, the average speeds on the route would increase in line with dual carriageway sections of the A1. Currently the high proportion of heavy goods and agricultural vehicles on this stretch result in reduced speeds for vehicles following behind.

Another important project for the region is the scheme to improve the A66 between the M6 at Penrith and A1(M) at Scotch Corner, a key cross-Pennine link that is particularly important for freight connectivity. This involves upgrading single carriageway sections of road to dual carriageway standard and making improvements to the junctions along the route, with work scheduled to start in 2024. We are aware from the latest Accounting Officer assessment that project costs have increased - nevertheless, the Accounting Officer states that “there continues to be a strong strategic case for dualling on the A66”, a conclusion we agree with. [5] 

Durham County Council have welcomed the scheme and do not have major concerns but are still in discussions with National Highways regarding matters such as design and detrunking and diversions. 

What progress is being made on planning for the next Road Investment

Strategy

TfN has been working collaboratively with NH to provide evidence on the North’s requirements for investment in our roads and to influence the development of the NH Route Strategy reports. These were due to be published and consulted on in summer 2022 but this is now expected in January/February 2023.

We are aware that TfN has expressed concern that slippage in completion and publication of these key documents is impacting on the development of the next RIS programme and has also called for clarity on the likely level of funding available for RIS3 to enable appropriate advice to be given to Government on investment priorities. At the moment, the only guidance provided is that funding is likely to be severely constrained. We share these concerns.

Whilst this clarity is awaited, TfN is progressing work on an evidence base to support recommendations on the RIS programme and has been actively engaging with partners, including TNE, to understand their regional priorities for investment.

TNE have submitted a number of schemes we wish to see included in the RIS3 programme, with the A19 junctions north of Newcastle (Moor Farm /Seaton Burn) and A194(M) Whitemare Pool roundabout being a particular priority. We are actively engaged with a new stakeholder referencing group that has been formed by National Highways in order to  strengthen the business case for investment in junctions North of Newcastle on the A19.

This section of the road network has been identified as a key pinch point that suffers from congestion at peak times and investment at these sites is essential to secure the future effectiveness and reliability of the SRN in the North East, and to unlock opportunities for  growth and development including access to sites allocated within the Newcastle and Gateshead Core Strategy and Urban Plan and the Northumberland Local Plan, along with housing developments with planning permission. There is also significant investment planned for the nearby Port of Blyth.

Whilst National Highways have accepted that North Tyneside’s current Local Plan can be fully delivered without the need for the A19 upgrades at Moor Farm and Seaton Burn, the assessment work has highlighted that any further housing or economic growth would be constrained until a scheme was in place/agreed. Delays in considering planning applications have been largely caused by the lack of an appropriate and up to date transport model from which an accurate assessment can be determined. Work is now commencing on developing and testing workable solutions for the Moor Farm and Seaton Burn junctions building upon recent work commissioned by North Tyneside (on behalf of the North of Tyne Authorities) and funded through the North of Tyne Combined Authority.

Improvements to the Whitemare Pool roundabout will reduce congestion at a key interchange between Gateshead, Sunderland, North Tyneside and Durham, supporting local economic and employment growth and helping to unlock access to development sites identified in the Local Plans for Gateshead and South Tyneside. Access to the Port of Tyne would also be improved. 

TNE’s proposed improvements for 2025-2030 include long term planning from National Highways and funding from the Department for Transport (DfT) to upgrade the A1 to dual carriageway from Ellingham to the Scottish Border.  Study work is required on a focused assessment of the strategic case and onward funding to fund the improvement works. In this context, we note that the recent Union Connectivity Review recommended an assessment of the East Coast rail and road corridor to determine appropriate investments for better connectivity between Scotland and England. The government has yet to make a formal response to the UCR and we are concerned at the delay in completing this important piece of work.

What lessons from RIS2 need to be incorporated into RIS3 to ensure it is

achievable and delivers on policy objectives

As outlined earlier, the increased number of large and complex projects in the RIS2 programme as well as inflationary pressures resulted in the programme needing to be scaled back. This suggests that, for RIS3, there needs to be careful planning to manage risk (including appropriate financial contingency) and to ensure that the programe as a whole is balanced between large projects and those that pose fewer delivery challenges.

Where delivery issues arise, clear and transparent communication with stakeholders is important. During the last year, Transport North East and National Highways have met on a regular basis and these meetings offer a valuable opportunity to share information and concerns about the road investment programme in general and any issues with particular schemes. There is still room for improvement and moving forward we would welcome greater engagement from National Highways as RIS3 is developed and implemented.

We are in the process of setting up a National Highways Collaboration Board which will establish a more structured and strategic forum for future engagement with National Highways, and a mechanism to help address some of the delays to development that we outline below.

Transport North East engage with National Highways at an operational level, including regular liaison sessions whereby we forward plan any disruptive works on the network. This is helpful to reduce programme clashes and to look for opportunities for efficiencies. TNE looks forward to strengthening these discussions. However, our Local Authority Partners have expressed concerns about  difficulties in getting support from National Highways for planning applications in some instances, and resultant difficuties in unlocking access to growth sites. We elaborate on this in the answer to the next question but, for the future it would be helpful if National Highways could provide more support to Local Authorities around these issues. 

Whether the Government’s current and forthcoming roads investment programme is meeting the current and future needs of consumers and business

The North East Transport Plan states that we want to encourage people to travel around the North East. The region’s road network is crucial in enabling economic growth and unlocking opportunities for people, as well as facilitating the efficient movement of freight. We do, however, wish to encourage modal shift to public transport and active travel modes where possible, together with a transition to zero emission vehicles for journeys that still have to be made by car.

These options are identified in more detail in our “Making the Right Travel Choice” strategy whose core goal is to encourage car users to switch one journey a week to public transport, walking or cycling whilst asking people who don’t have access to a car to continue to travel sustainably. By doing this, 200 million unnecessary car trips can be removed from our region’s roads.

The strategy can be found on our website at https://www.transportnortheast.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Making-The-Right-Travel-Choice-FINAL-WEB-VERSION.pdf 

In view of the policies we have set out above, we  welcome a road investment programme that helps to create jobs and facilitate economic growth while also supporting the Government’s wider plans for decarbonising road transport. It is crucial however that the road network works for all users and the Designated Funds allocated under the RIS programmes offer the opportunity to support the creation of better facilities for walking, wheeling and cycling around the network, and make it easier for people to access public transport where it uses the Strategic Road Network (SRN). We also welcome the commitment to install around 6,000 high powered electric vehicle chargers on the motorway network by 2035 which will help to ensure that, where car/van travel is essential for a journey, it can be easily made using a zero emission vehicle.

As a region, we are, however, aware of concerns that local authorities seeking to deliver government objectives for housing growth are having attempts to do so frustrated by issues and delays arising out of the consideration of individual planning applications by NH’s Spatial Planning Team.

Further uncertainty around delivery timescales can also flow from ‘holding directions’ issued in respect of individual planning applications which prevent the Local Planning Authority from determining applications until such matters are resolved. This can take a considerable amount of time and can cause delays in delivering on our policy objectives around economic growth, which means that the needs of consumers and businesses in the region are not being met in such cases.

Specific concerns have been raised by Northumberland County Council in respect of developments in South East Northumberland which are being held back with an associated impact on the growth aspirations for the county.

Currently National Highways are recommending that planning permission not be granted for the following developments as a result of ongoing concerns around the capacity at the A19 Moor Farm roundabout:

• Outline Application For 'Lifetime Neighbourhood' Comprising the Erection of Approximately 327 Dwelling Houses (C3 Use) Plus Approximately 2000 Square Metres of Commercial Floor Space (A1 Use) With Parking and Landscaping on Land North of High House Farm, Furnace Road, Bebside, Blyth.

• Location: Rear of Central Garage, Furnace Road, Bebside, Blyth, Northumberland Proposal: Outline Application for the Construction of up to 124 Dwellings with Associated Access Off Front Street.
• Erection of a warehouse (Use Class B8) with ancillary office, associated vehicle parking, van storage, plant, ancillary structures, lighting, landscaping and associated infrastructure including earthworks to provide flood compensation measures | Land South Of Broad Law Broad Law Annitsford Northumberland.

In addition, as stated previously, assessment work carried out by National Highways in relation to the A19 Moor Farm roundabout has stated that any further housing or economic growth in this area of North Tyneside would be constrained until a scheme was in place/agreed.

As a region, we have therefore begun the process of initiating a more broad and strategic conversation with NH regarding this issue and intend that this dialogue should reflect a larger economic geography enabling us to collectively identify solutions / funding to address barriers to growth rather than working on an individual local authority or individual scheme basis. Our aspiration to work in closer conjunction with National Highways and to help determine shared priorities for its Strategic Road Network is recognised in the proposed devolution arrangements for the North East.

Whether the Government’s roads investment programme aligns with other

policy priorities, such as decarbonisation, levelling up, productivity and growth

The road investment programme aligns with our North East Transport Plan, whose vision is one of “Moving to a green, healthy, dynamic and thriving North East’, as well as with wider Government policy in several ways, but there are also some potential areas where contradictions may occur.

The Government’s plans for growth and levelling up emphasise the need to improve connections between places and for growth and opportunity to be equitably distributed across the country. High quality infrastructure is cited as being a crucial enabler of economic growth and of boosting productivity and competitiveness through greater connections between places. The RIS programme therefore aligns with wider government policy as investing in major roads helps to improve transport connectivity between places.

In the North over 80% of commuting trips and 87% of freight movements use the road network so continued investment is fundamental for growth and to achieving levelling up. The dualling of the A1 between Morpeth and Ellingham, that has been proposed through RIS2 but is still awaiting a final decision, is a key example of how wider growth-based policies align with the road investment programme. As mentioned in the North East Transport Plan, the A1 is our main road link to Scotland and vital to our regional economy.

There is, however, more that could be done through Government investment in order to achieve the aims of growth and levelling up agendas. Transport for the North (TfN), in their Strategic Transport Plan, identify that creating greater connectivity between assets in the North is fundamental to allowing it to realise its full economic potential. These assets include ports and airports, major centres of tourism and enterprise zones.

An example of this in the North East would be improvements to the A69 between the North East and Cumbria, which have the potential to unlock significant economic growth in the manufacturing, renewables, tourism and life science industries. In a forthcoming brochure advocating investment in the route, soon to be jointly published by Transport North East and Cumbria County Council, we estimate that a minute of journey time saving on the road would lead to between £2–5m in economic benefit per annum. [6]

Transport for the North recently concluded consultation on their Socially Inclusive Transport Strategy, which highlights the fact that 3.3 million (21.7%) of the North’s citizens live in communities where transport related social exclusion is a significant risk, partly as a result of high levels of car dependency and car-dominated environments. This is a key contributing factor to the underperformance of the North’s economy and its levels of productivity. It is important therefore that the RIS programme helps to improves provision for all users together with complementary investment in public and active modes of transport. Major investment in ZEV charging infrastructure will also be necessary, including sites on or close to the SRN. The North East ZEV policy predicts that as many as 28,000 publicly available charge-points will be needed to meet demand for the next 15 years in the North East alone.

Transport North East has been working with National Highways in completing a framework for looking at how the SRN interfaces with urban areas, known as the Urban SRN study. Piloted on a section of the A1 in the region, this is a helpful exercise to test concepts and identify funding priorities. We look forward to discussing this project further with NH and how it can be rolled out more widely.

Its importance includes the ability to plan in a coordinated function to address local connectivity on and around the SRN to ensure sustainable transport connections are available. Through regular dialogue strategic planning matters can be raised.

How RIS3 should take account of technological developments, and evidence on

ways of increasing capacity on the Strategic Road Network (such as smart

motorways and potential alternatives to them).

Given the likely budget constraints of RIS 3, there is a limit to what can realistically be achieved in the way of technological developments. Nevertheless, developing technology and data should be considered when thinking about how the impacts of road investment can be maximised.

In terms of decarbonisation and the environment, technology can be used to ensure that the environmental impacts of schemes are minimised, to reduce waste, generate power through renewable energy and to allow the installation of new infrastructure to be as efficient as possible.

NH’s current 5-year Delivery Plan sets out a number of ways in which technology is being used to improve traffic flow and capacity, enhance communication and assist in safe operation – for example, through the use of radar technology to detect stationary vehicles.

The potential role of connected and autonomous vehicles and how they can be safely trialled on the SRN is an issue that will become more prominent and is an area we commit to in the North East Transport Plan, where we say that we will ‘deliver digital connectivity upgrades to make the network ready for connected and autonomous vehicles at scale’.

The region has already hosted a connected and autonomous project led by Sunderland Council, which has trialled the use of 40 tonne trucks to deliver parts and assemblies at the Nissan plant as part of a proof-of-concept.

February 2023

Endnotes