National Productivity Investment Fund for the Local Road Network Application Form The level of information provided should be proportionate to the size and complexity of the project proposed. As a guide, for a small project we would suggest around 10 -15 pages including annexes would be appropriate. One application form should be completed per project and will constitute a bid. Applicant Information Local authority name(s)*: Slough Borough Council *If the bid is for a joint project, please enter the names of all participating local authorities and specify the lead authority. Bid Manager Name and position: Savio DeCruz, Head of Transport and Highways Name and position of officer with day to day responsibility for delivering the proposed project. Contact telephone number: 01753 875640 Email address: [email protected] Postal address: Slough Borough Council 51 Bath Road, St Martins Place, Slough SL1 3UF Combined Authorities If the bid is from an authority within a Combined Authority, please specify the contact, ensure that the Combined Authority has provided a note ranking multiple applications, and append a copy to this bid. Name and position of Combined Authority Bid Co-ordinator: Contact telephone number: Email address: Postal address: When authorities submit a bid for funding to the Department, as part of the Government’s commitment to greater openness in the public sector under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004, they must also publish a version excluding any commercially sensitive information on their own website within two working days of submitting the final bid to the Department. The Department reserves the right to deem the business case as non-compliant if this is not adhered to. Please specify the weblink where this bid will be published: https://www.slough.gov.uk/parking-travel-and-roads/plans-for-the-future.aspx 1 SECTION A - Project description and funding profile A1. Project name: A4 London Road Improvements, Slough A2 : Please enter a brief description of the proposed project (no more than 50 words) The A4 London Road improvements: • London Road widening on westbound approach to M4J5; • London Road link widening to 2 lanes westbound between M4J5 and Sutton Lane; • Signal provision at Sutton Lane gyratory, including pedestrian facilities; and • Public realm improvements at the Foxborough Estate to create a ‘Gateway Park’. Scheme drawings are provided in Appendix A2. A3 : Please provide a short description of area covered by the bid (no more than 50 words) The scheme covers the A4 London Road corridor between High Street Langley to the northwest and Sutton Lane Gyratory to the southeast - a key strategic route connecting Slough, the M4 and Heathrow Airport. The area largely comprises a mix of low density residential, small businesses and hotel uses. OS Grid Reference: between (500950,178200) and (501900,177600) Postcode: SL3 A map is provided in Appendix A3. Please append a map showing the location (and route) of the project, existing transport infrastructure and other points of particular relevance to the bid, e.g. housing and other development sites, employment areas, air quality management areas, constraints etc. A4. How much funding are you bidding for? (please tick the relevant box): Small project bids (requiring DfT funding of between £2m and £5m) Large project bids (requiring DfT funding of between £5m and £10m) A5. Has any Equality Analysis been undertaken in line with the Equality Duty? Yes No In line with the Equality Act 2010 and the Public Sector Equality Duty, SBC is aware of its commitment to ensuring that a project will not have a disproportionate positive or negative impact on any group with the following characteristics: - Age; - Disability; - Gender reassignment; - Marriage/civil partnership (but only in respect of the requirement to have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination); 2 - Pregnancy and maternity; - Race - this includes ethnic or national origins, colour or nationality; - Religion or belief - this includes lack of belief; - Sex; or - Sexual orientation (whether being lesbian, gay, bisexual or heterosexual). Whilst a full Equality Impact Analysis has not been undertaken at this stage, a preliminary qualitative equality screening is provided in Appendix A5. This screening suggests that this scheme which represents improvements on the current highway and public realm will not disadvantage any of the protected characteristic groups. SBC will, in line with its equality duty, progress a thorough analysis during the detailed design stage. SBC’s commitment to Equality Analysis can be found at: http://www.slough.gov.uk/council/strategies-plans-and-policies/equality-impact- assessments.aspx A6. If you are planning to work with partnership bodies on this project (such as Development Corporations, National Parks Authorities, private sector bodies and transport operators) please include a short description below of how they will be involved. N/A – All work is to be delivered by SBC A7. Combined Authority (CA) Involvement N/A Have you appended a letter from the Combined Authority supporting this bid? Yes No A8. Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) Involvement and support for housing delivery Have you appended a letter from the LEP supporting this bid? Yes No A letter of support from the LEP is included in Appendix A8. For proposed projects which encourage the delivery of housing, have you appended supporting evidence from the housebuilder/developer? Yes No A letter of support from Slough Urban Renewal (SUR) is included in Appendix A8. The SUR is a partnership between SBC and Morgan Sindall Investments Limited. 3 SECTION B – The Business Case B1: Project Summary Please select what the project is trying to achieve (select all categories that apply) Essential Ease urban congestion Unlock economic growth and job creation opportunities Enable the delivery of housing development Desirable Improve Air Quality and /or Reduce CO2 emissions Incentivising skills and apprentices Other(s), Please specify - (1.) Minimise stop/start travel conditions along the A4 London Road and improve journey time reliability and extend the current SMaRT service to Heathrow providing improved connectivity. (2.) Remove the severe traffic bottleneck at Sutton Lane gyratory, which will mitigate congestion impacts of future development. (3.) Improve the quality of the highway verges, make better use of redundant highway space and enhance the landscape and public realm to address poor quality visual impact, to improve people’s perception and enjoyment of Slough, to attract businesses and enhance the Foxborough estate to support infill development and improve permeability. B2 : Please provide evidence on the following questions (max 100 words for each question): a) What is the problem that is being addressed? The A4 corridor forms a key link connecting Slough Trading Estate, Slough town centre and Heathrow Airport. Physical capacity constraints on the A4 London Road between High Street Langley and Sutton Lane gyratory cause particular congestion and delays at peak times. Annual Average Daily Flow (AADF) in the area have increased around 1.5% per year since 2010 and if traffic growth continues, traffic congestion will worsen. The figure below shows AADF along two links of the A4. 4 Annual Average Daily Flow (DfT Traffic Counts) 25000 24000 23000 22000 Vehicles 21000 20000 19000 18000 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 A4 London Road (between M4 and Sutton Lane) A4 Colnbrook Bypass (between Sutton Lane and M25) b) What options have been considered and why have alternatives been rejected? This scheme is a component of the larger aspirational Slough Mass Rapid Transit (SMaRT) package elements, which had been developed through public consultations, engagement with local resident and businesses, and incorporating feedback from LEP bids. A Statement of Reasons document setting out the design rationale for the highway elements and ‘Pre-Concept Landscape Design’ produced for the Gateway Park fronting the Foxborough Estate are included in Appendix B2. c) What are the expected benefits/outcomes? For example, could include easing urban congestion, job creation, enabling a number of new dwellings, facilitating increased GVA. Widening the A4 London Road and Sutton Lane gyratory improvements will support anticipated job growth and employment development, and improve local air quality by • Easing congestion; • Smoothing traffic flow; • Reducing queuing and delays; and • Improving surface access to Heathrow. The public realm improvements and ‘Gateway Park’ will improve local residents’ quality of life, encourage walking and cycling, and support infill housing development on the Foxborough estate by: • Creating new local amenity and green space for local residents; • Reducing crime and the fear of crime; and • Improving the visual appearance of a prominent area on a key corridor into central Slough. d) Are there are any related activities that the success of this project relies upon? For example, land acquisition, other transport interventions requiring separate funding or consents? The project is not dependent on any other transport intervention requiring funding. The majority of the package is within the highway boundary and scheme consents will be obtained during 5 preliminary design (outstanding consent requirements are summarised in Question B8). Potential land take requirements have been identified and will be confirmed during preliminary design: • Land at north side of A4 London Road, at SSE Electricity substation between Tweed Road and M4 J5; • Land along north side of A4 London Road, Colnbrook Parish Council, between the electricity substation and 559 London Road; • 524-526 London Road land to be adopted as public highway. e) What will happen if funding for this project is not secured - would an alternative (lower cost) solution be implemented (if yes, please describe this alternative and how it differs from the proposed project)? This scheme is the lower cost alternative to SMaRT Phase 2. SMaRT Phase 2 remains on the LEP priority list (number 18), but the Growth Deal 3 award was not large enough to enable it to proceed at present.