A27 Feasibility Improvement Study – Current Position and Next Steps
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A27 Reference Group - 17 July 2015 A27 Feasibility Improvement Study – Current Position and Next Steps 1 A27 Feasibility Improvement Study Context 1.1 The A27 improvement study was one of a series announced by the Government in 2013 to help identify and fund solutions to tackle some of the notorious and long standing hotspots in the country. 1.2 The study focussed on the A27 corridor between Portsmouth and Pevensey. It considered and analysed the evidence available and the potential issues/future pressures that may arise, the priority needs for investment and reviewed a number of potential investment options, and also assessed the strength of the economic case of the potential options including whether they demonstrated value for money and are deliverable. Stage 1 – Evidence Gathering 1.3 Consideration of evidence and data, including from previous studies, identified a number of key issues with the A27 between Lewes and Polegate. 1.4 At present there is an inconsistency in the quality of the road compared to other parts of the A27 and the safety record shows that the A27 is in the top 10% worse sections in terms of total casualties per billion vehicle miles. This section of the A27 is in the top 20% in terms of network delay and there are significant journey time reliability issues. These existing problems will be further exacerbated with the planned growth in East Sussex, and without improvement to this section of the A27 the road will be over capacity in 2021 and 2031 leading to further congestion. 1.5 When presented together, this evidence clearly sets out there are major operational challenges with the A27 east of Lewes and that it needs to… be fit for purpose to provide greater connectivity to the A23/M23 corridor and Gatwick, the M25/London and beyond; ensure journey time reliability which is important for business in terms of the movement of people/goods; carry the long distance strategic traffic that it is supposed to cater for; accommodate future growth plans; and have greater resilience. 1.6 Therefore, the A27 was identified as a priority area for further consideration. Stage 2 – Options 1.7 Consequently a number of on and offline options were identified: 1. Off line dual carriageway between Beddingham and Cophall (£390 - 405m) 2. Off line single carriageway between Beddingham and Cophall (£290 - 310m) Page 1 of 6 1.10 In summary, whilst the larger scale schemes – dual and single carriageway options – scored well against the strategic, economic and social criteria, and would improve noise and air quality but have an adverse impact on landscape and biodiversity, their value for money in terms of journey time savings were poor to low (Benefit:Cost Ratio of <1.5) in the case of the dual carriageway, and low to medium for the single carriageway option (BCR of <2). 1.11 The other smaller scale schemes didn’t score as well as the single/dual carriageway options but the value for money in terms of journey time savings for the Folkington Link was above 2. 2 Narrative for Improvement 2.1 The improvement to the A27 between Lewes and Polegate was highlighted extensively throughout the East Sussex chapter of the LEP’s Strategic Economic Plan as vital to unlocking further growth opportunities in the county. It remains very much a high priority for the county and the LEP. 2.2 Both ACES, who undertook a comprehensive business and residents survey on the need for an improved A27, and the A27 Reference Group – which brings together local MPs and local authority leaders – provided evidence and lobbied Government and Highways England (formerly Highways Agency) in support of the offline dual carriageway option, as this was the only option which fully addressed the challenges identified at the evidence gathering stage. 2.3 The case made to Government and Highways England for an improved A27 was based on three pillars: a. Improved connectivity – Business has identified the accessibility and capacity issues on the A27 as major barriers to existing employers and disincentives to employers wishing to locate to the area thereby creating a massive adverse perception problem about the area. For example, in the ACES survey 55% of businesses said they would be likely to commit their long term future to the Eastbourne area if the A27 was improved whilst 67% believe that an improved A27 would encourage businesses to locate to the area. Therefore an improved A27 between Lewes and Polegate would strengthen the east-west links between our growth areas providing greater connectivity and assurance in journey time reliability for existing and new markets to flourish and driving economic growth across the county. In addition, the ability to connect the Sussex economy quicker across the region to Brighton and the A23/M23 corridor; a potentially expanding Gatwick Airport; and the wider markets of the south east and beyond is also important to facilitating growth in East Sussex. b. Delivering Planned Growth – Improvements to the A27 east of Lewes is a vital component to facilitating and accelerating our economic growth plans, LEP’s Strategic Economic Plan and the borough and district local plans. Across our three growth areas over 20,000 new homes and over 250,000sqm of employment space will be delivered over the next 15 years. c. Benefits to local communities – An improvement to the existing A27 will open up considerable benefits for local communities in enhancing their quality of life by: encouraging long distance journeys and inter-urban traffic to more readily use the A27 rather than using other less suitable routes through local villages or through the South Downs National Park; if substantial improvements are made, the existing A27 could to be used to provide enhanced facilities for vulnerable road users, addressing existing community severance issues; Page 3 of 6 addressing the significant safety issues with the A27 which currently affects journey time reliability and results in transfer of traffic onto less suitable routes to avoid delays. 3 Feasibility Study Outcomes/Roads Investment Strategy 3.1 The outcomes of the studies were announced as part of the Chancellor’s 2014 Autumn Statement and are set out in the Department for Transport’s (DfT) Roads Investment Strategy: Investment Plan. 3.2 In relation to the A27 east of Lewes, the Road Investment Strategy identifies that around £75m of funding has been set aside pending further work on capacity following review of the long term growth plans in light of any recommendation made by the Airports Commission and that sustainable transport measures would also be developed. 3.3 The Secretary of State for Transport, Patrick McLaughlin, subsequently clarified in January 2015 that the £75m investment is not linked to the outcomes of the Airports Commission’s report. 4 Next Steps/Future Direction Short term investment 4.1 The County Council met recently with DfT and Highways England to understand what further work is required to unlock this funding and enable the delivery of initial improvements to the A27 east of Lewes. 4.2 Highways England/DfT has appointed consultants Atkins to take forward small scale capacity improvements and sustainable transport improvements on the A27 corridor using the £75m. Atkins will be engaging with the County Council and other stakeholders over the next few months on potential options for how the available funding could be spent. 4.3 East Sussex County Council (ESCC) has made its position clear to DfT and Highways England that although ESCC will work with them on taking forward these small scale improvements, ESCC along with other partners – business and political – will still continue lobbying Government for further funding towards delivering an offline dual carriageway between Lewes and Polegate. ESCC have also stated that they would not want to see any of these short term improvements negate our wider ambitions for more comprehensive improvements to come forward. Medium/long term investment 4.4 Over the next 2 to 3 years, Highways England (HE) and DfT will be reviewing their Roads Investment Strategy for the five year funding period 2015 – 2020. This presents us with an opportunity to strengthen our case for further investment in the A27 beyond the £75m. Economic Study 4.5 Due to the time constraints DfT and HE had placed on undertaking the feasibility study, one of the elements where there was little analysis by the consultants was consideration of the wider economic and regenerative benefits that an improved A27 between Lewes and Polegate would bring, primarily to the Eastbourne & South Wealden and Newhaven area but also to East Sussex as a whole. Page 4 of 6 4.6 Because the feasibility study work undertaken by DfT/HE is currently showing that an offline improvement to the A27 represents poor to low value for money, to help strengthen the evidence base for a business case for further investment, ESCC are considering commissioning consultants to undertake further work on assessing the economic and regenerative benefits of an improved A27 would bring to the county. 4.7 The County Council has undertaken a similar piece of work with Hastings and Rother to identify the wider economic benefits that running high speed services to Bexhill, Hastings and Rye would bring; this will be used to support the overall business case being developed by Network Rail for improvements to the Marshlink line and their subsequent negotiations with Government on their funding package for 2019 -2024. 4.8 The study would need to involve both the business community through TES and the political leaders via the A27 Reference Group in taking it forward. This will also need to consider the growth plans which may come forward as part of Wealden’s Local Plan review or if the Government goes against the Airports Commission’s recommendation for a third runway at Heathrow and favours a second runway at Gatwick.