Suffolk County Council Shaping the Future of England's Strategic Roads Response to DfT Consultation on Highways England's Initial Report – February 2018 1. Introduction 1.1. This report summarises Suffolk County Council’s response to the Department for Transport’s consultation on Highways England's Initial Report published in December 2017. 1.2. The Suffolk Growth Programme Board (SGPB) has commented on the Strategic Road Network Initial Report (SRNIR) and their views and support for the County Council’s response is attached as Appendix A. 2. Background Road Investment Strategy for Road Period 1 2.1. In December 2014 the Department for Transport published their first Road Investment Strategy (RIS1) for the 2015/16 – 2019/20 Road Period. The County Council was disappointed to note that there were no major projects in Suffolk. “No More A14 delays in Suffolk” campaign 2.2. In response to the DfT’s decision, the Suffolk Chamber of Commerce, working with the County Council and other key stakeholders in the county, launched the “No More A14 delays in Suffolk” campaign in March 2015. This campaign has the backing of many partners including businesses, all the county’s MPs and local authorities, and New Anglia and Greater Cambridge Greater Peterborough LEPs. As part of this initiative, the Chamber published a brochure entitled “The A14 Vital for the local and national economy”, which highlighted the locations on the A14 where congestion is a problem. The “No More A14 delays in Suffolk Strategy Board” was subsequently established and chaired by a Suffolk MP. 2.3. In April 2016 and as part of the preparations for RIS2, Highways England invited stakeholders to highlight problems, issues and challenges on the trunk road network. In May/June 2016 the County Council, Suffolk Chamber of Commerce and other stakeholders worked with Highways England to highlight areas of concern and develop a reasonable initial list of potential candidates for inclusion in RIS2. This focussed on the worst hotspots on the trunk road network in Suffolk, mainly junctions, and included major maintenance projects where there was evidence that the carriageway has or was failing. In addition, the submission included a proposed feasibility study of the A14 between the M11 at Cambridge and Felixstowe to pick up residual capacity issues around Cambridge, Bury St Edmunds and Ipswich (including Orwell Bridge), maintain access to the nationally important Port of Felixstowe, improve journey time reliability and support growth in general in Suffolk and at the Port of Felixstowe. The full list and diagram are attached as Appendix B and Appendix C. 2.4. The first meeting of the “No More A14 delays in Suffolk Strategy Board” on the 1 July 2016 agreed the list of potential candidates for inclusion in RIS2. In addition to much needed improvements to the A14, these requests include necessary projects on the A11 at Mildenhall and A12 south of Ipswich. The list of potential candidates, together with an evidence assessment report prepared by consultants, was formally submitted to Highways England on the 28 July 2016. 2.5. In the Autumn 2016, the County Council appointed consultants to develop possible options to address the areas of concern identified on the trunk road network. As before, key Suffolk stakeholders and Highways England were involved throughout this process and many of the options developed represent very good value for money with benefit cost ratios significantly higher than the highest category shown in the DfT WebTag guidance. It is also important to stress that some of the options developed were modest in scale and cost and could be delivered relatively quickly. The relevant reports have been shared with senior Highways England and DfT officials. Page 1 2.6. A meeting with Suffolk MPs and Senior DfT officials was held on the 11 September 2017 at Westminster to discuss the County Council’s RIS2 submission. There was strong support from all Suffolk MPs for the package of measures submitted for inclusion in RIS2. 2.7. In September 2017 the Suffolk Chamber of Commerce published an updated brochure as part of the No More A14 Delays in Suffolk campaign – attached as Appendix D. This sets out the business case for investment at the seven A14 'pinch points' and reinforces the collaborative campaigning approach and desire to secure: • improvements to key junctions on the A14 at Ipswich, Bury, St Edmunds and Newmarket; • improvements to the A11 at Mildenhall and A12 south of Ipswich; • major maintenance schemes on the A14 between Haughley and Woolpit and between Copdock and the Orwell Bridge; and • a comprehensive feasibility study of the A14 from the M11 at Cambridge to Felixstowe to address remaining concerns about the A14 and the impact of future growth in the county and across the UK. 2.8. The No More A14 delays in Suffolk Strategy Board has met on six occasions and during 2017 senior officials from DfT and Highways England have attended Board meetings to discuss the RIS2 process and the justification for the proposals submitted to Highways England. Orwell Bridge 2.9. There are specific issues relating to the Orwell Bridge and its closure due to incidents, high winds and planned maintenance works. This has a significant impact on the local community and businesses within Ipswich and on freight movements to and from the Port of Felixstowe and other key businesses. This has been discussed in meetings set up by the Police and Crime Commissioner for Suffolk. This resulted in high level summit meetings being held in Suffolk with key stakeholders and Highways England, i.e. on the 6 March 2014, 19 December 2016, 26 January 2017 and 18 October 2017. Although some progress has been made there is still a long way to go to address and resolve the frequency and impact of the closures. In addition, there is a need to consider alternative strategic options to deal with SRN traffic movements affected by the closures. Neighbouring Authorities 2.10. The County Council continues to work closely with Highways England and neighbouring local authorities on cross border issues. This includes ongoing work straddling the Suffolk/ Cambridgeshire boundary, which involves Forest Heath and East Cambridgeshire District Councils, Cambridgeshire and Suffolk County Councils and Highways England. It is noted that our neighbours in Cambridgeshire have reinforced cross border support for the inclusion of the following specific projects in RIS2: • the improvement of the A14/A142 Junction 37 Exning; and • an A14 Feasibility Study between the M11 at Cambridge and Felixstowe. Published Route Strategies 2.11. The County Council has expressed concern about the published Route Strategies and provided detailed reports on the Felixstowe to Midlands and East of England Route Strategies to the DfT and Highways England, attached as Appendices F and G. Page 2 Sub-National Transport Body 2.12. The County Council is working with a range of transport, planning and other organisations with the intention of developing a Sub-National Transport Body. This is at a very early stage of development and DfT and Highways England have been involved. Strategic Road Network Initial Report 2.13. In December 2017 Highways England published their “Strategic Road Network Initial Report”, which sets out their vision and priorities for the second road period (2020-2025) and is underpinned, and driven, by their aim to accelerate the delivery of government’s ambition, as set out in the Road Investment Strategy, to “revolutionise our strategic roads to create a modern SRN that supports a modern Britain.” 2.14. We welcome the opportunity to respond to the DfT consultation on Highways England’s SRN Initial report and support many of the proposals and recommendations contained in the report for Road Period 2. The remainder of this report sets out Suffolk County Council’s response to the specific questions in the DfT’s consultation on Highways England's Initial Report. 3. Response to questions about the Initial Report: Question 1 Do you think Highways England's proposals will deliver what users of the SRN want? If not, what could be done differently? 3.1. Although we welcome publication of the SRNIR, the answer to this question is “the proof of the pudding is in the eating”. Suffolk did not get any major projects in RIS1 (a point made to the Department of Transport and Highways England on several occasions). There is clear evidence to indicate that there are significant existing problems on the SRN in Suffolk. Hence, unless the reasonable projects, developed in conjunction with Highways England, the Suffolk Chamber of Commerce representing businesses, District Councils and other key stakeholders, as submitted to Highways England in July 2016, are taken forward into RIS2, then the proposals set out in the SRNIR are unlikely to deliver what the users of the SRN in Suffolk want both in the short term and into the future. It would be unacceptable in our view to wait until 2030 (RIS3) or beyond to see meaningful improvements implemented to address the existing significant problems on the SRN in Suffolk. 3.2. The diagram showing forecast 2041 daytime delay change on page 53 of the SRNIR shows significant increases on the A14 between the M11 at Cambridge and Junction 38 north of Newmarket, at Bury St Edmunds and around Ipswich and the A11 at Mildenhall and A12 south of Ipswich. This supports the County Council’s proposed list of projects to be included in RIS2. 3.3. The emphasis on a long-term spatial and corridor approach to improving the national network is welcomed and reinforces our call for a feasibility study to underpin a full route strategy for the A14 between the M11 and Felixstowe, which is also supported by our neighbours in Cambridgeshire.