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2 Draft Roads Implementation Plan

Contents

1. Introduction 3

2. Role of Roads 4

3. A Key Route Network for the Tees Valley 7

4. Aspirations for the Key Route Network 11

5. Current Investment Priorities and Funding 14

6. Action Plan 20

Draft Roads Implementation Plan 3

1. Introduction

Tees Valley Combined Authority is the local transport authority for the Tees Valley. This is the Tees Valley Roads Implementation Plan, part of the first Strategic Transport Plan for the region, for the period up to 2029. It has been developed by the Combined Authority in collaboration with our five constituent Local Authorities, Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar & Cleveland and Stockton-on-Tees.

The Combined Authority has ambitious plans to grow the region’s economy and our Strategic Economic Plan aims to create 25,000 new jobs and deliver an additional £2.8billion into Tees Valley by 2026. We are also developing a Local Industrial Strategy, an agreement between us and the Government on how we will improve our economy over the next ten years and how this will feed into the Government’s overall UK strategy.

In order to ensure that everyone in Tees Valley is able to work, study, enjoy and fully participate in these ambitious plans for the future, we need a world-class transport system that also encourages inward investment. Transport is about connecting people and businesses in Tees Valley and beyond. Delivering a world-class transport system that is fit for the future is a critical enabler for the success of the area.

In preparing the Strategic Transport Plan, a framework was developed based upon six themes, which are closely linked and will all require improvement in order to meet the overall transport vision for the Tees Valley. The six key themes are:

National Rail.

Major Roads.

Connecting Economic Centres.

Unlocking Key Sites.

Local Journeys.

Deliver Social Equality and Protect and Enhance the Environment

To support the Strategic Transport Plan itself, a series of Implementation Plans have been prepared which go into more detail on the current and future issues, and the interventions needed, across the six themes listed above.

This Roads Implementation Plan covers issues relating to the second theme in the above list in particular, but also links to the third and fourth themes as well. It explores the importance of roads to the transport network and introduces the concept of a Key Route Network for Tees Valley and an Area Action Plan for delivering improvements, as well as setting out the strategic approach to be taken in relation to asset management.

As with the Strategic Transport Plan, we are looking for feedback on this supporting document, before it is finalised towards the end of 2019. Please visit our website to provide your input.

www.teesvalley-ca.gov.uk/consultations

Our vision for Tees Valley is:

To provide a high

quality, clean, quick, affordable, reliable and safe transport network

for people and freight to move

within, to and from Tees Valley.


2. Role of Roads

The importance of the road network to the economy and economic growth is well understood. As highlighted in Highways England’s Road to Growth (2017) the road network can:

Support business productivity and competitiveness by reducing costs and facilitating agglomeration (clustering of businesses);

Strengthen business performance through partnership, competition, and efficiencies;

Improve access to suppliers, helping businesses to strengthen their supply chains to get faster access to better components and services;

Provide efficient routes to global markets through international gateways by facilitating deliveries to customers and connections to new markets, helping businesses to satisfy and expand their customer base; and

Stimulate and support the sustainable development of homes and employment spaces by improving access of workers to employers, improving people’s access to job opportunities, and helping employers to access skilled labour markets.

The Strategic Transport Plan provides more detail on how the major roads within the Tees Valley are key to supporting our economic aspirations.

The Tees Valley is a polycentric city region with significant movements between the five urban centres and to neighbouring city regions including those of the North East and Leeds. Currently, 87% of Tees Valley residents work within Tees Valley, creating substantial inter-district flows at peak times. The journey to work patterns that sustain the economy of Tees Valley, show 73% of all commuters travelling by car, compared to the average for England of 62%, and car ownership is forecast to rise further. As employment grows, these demands will increase.

There are significant freight and logistics traffic flows across Tees Valley serving both local and pan-Northern needs, and this sector is key to realising our economic ambitions. Current DfT projections suggest that the costs of congestion to the freight industry alone could be up to £14 billion in 2040.

The Tees Valley does not have the levels of city centre congestion seen in other areas but does have key pinch points of congestion across key freight routes which affect network efficiency and resilience for freight.


Busiest HGV routes Average number of

vehicles per day

Ranking by HGV traffic

Volume Route Section HGVs All Vehicles

% of lorries

1 A19 Tees Viaduct 7,439 107,585 7%

2 A66 East of A19/A66 IC 4,705 87,431 5%

3 A19 South of 174 IC 4,362 30,270 14%

4 A19 North of Wynyard IC 4,088 50,395 8%

5 A66 West of Cargo Fleet Lane Roundabout 3,570 47,261 8%

Source: Local Traffic Counts

Access to international gateways such as the port facilities on the Tees and Teesside International Airport, is key for international trade and therefore for the UK economy, and ports and airports are dependent on the quality of connecting infrastructure. A survey by the British Chambers of Commerce found that only 19% of businesses in England believed international transport connections were a barrier to exporting, but that 24% believed the quality of domestic connections were a barrier.

Therefore it is clear that the ability of the road network to support growth in the future will be essential to achieving the objectives of the Tees Valley Strategic Transport Plan and the Strategic Economic Plan. As identified above, many vehicle journeys tend to cross local authority boundaries and utilise all types of roads, and so the importance of ensuring a consistent and well performing network across these different local authority areas and organisations is paramount to ensure that the network supports the Tees Valley economy.

The two busiest sections of the Tees Valley road network, particularly for freight, are the A19 Tees Viaduct and the A66 east of the Viaduct.

The table below highlights the difference in flow on the A1(M) and the A19 at the crossing points of the River Tees, emphasising the relative importance of the A19 for both strategic and local traffic.

A1(m)(between J57 & J58) A19

Average number of vehicles per day

39,811 111,866

Trip proportions

Internal Tees Valley 0.06% 38%

Tees Valley to outside 3% 21%

Outside to Tees Valley 3% 20%

Passing though Tees Valley

93% 19%

Vehicles on routes between the Teesport and Wilton area and the A19 / A689 interchange at Wolviston are experiencing between 30-40 seconds of delay for every kilometre travelled at the AM and PM peaks.

https://www.dft.gov.uk/traffic-counts


Average Delay at Peak Periods (Minutes) Compared with Free Flow Journey Time

From To Journey

Time (m) Delay

Included (m) Delay per Km

(sec/km) Peak

Period

Wolviston Interchange Haverton Hill 16 8 49 AM

Haverton Hill Wolviston Interchange 15 7 40 PM

Wolviston Interchange Wilton 27 12 37 AM

Wolviston Interchange Teesport 27 11 35 AM

Teesport Wolviston Interchange 26 11 33 PM

Wilton Wolviston Interchange 27 11 33 PM

Wolviston Interchange Wilton 26 10 31 PM

Wolviston Interchange Teesport 25 10 30 PM

In November 2015, the average delay on the Strategic Route Network in England was 9.4 seconds per vehicle mile, which shows the current problem with congestion on the A19 and the A66, before the potential impact of economic growth is even considered.

But the Combined Authority and the Tees Valley Local Authorities recognise that for some people and businesses, roads represent more than just an economic artery. More than any other type of transport infrastructure, roads serve a number of purposes and accommodate a number of different modes.

Roads are used for people to access jobs, health, leisure, education and retail facilities – they are fundamental to people’s lives. They are used for people to interact with people on a social basis, or as part of the healthcare system. They are also used to move goods around – goods that we buy, goods that we sell, and goods that we make.

Within the space allocated for roads, people move around on foot, on bicycles, on motorcycles, on buses, in taxis, in vans and in heavy goods vehicles as well as cars. Unlike the fixed track nature of a rail network, there can be conflicts between all these movements and modes all across the road network, making it a complex and ever-changing network.

The road network across the Tees Valley is significant, and this supporting document does not seek to provide a strategy for all of that network. What is does do, however, is recognise that roads will continue to be an essential part of the everyday lives of our residents, workers and visitors, and so there is a need to invest in the maintenance and improvement of the road network in Tees Valley, particularly those elements of the network that are most important to economic and social needs.


3. A Key Route Network for the Tees Valley

Current Road Network Designations

In part recognising the wide range of functions that roads serve, and the different demands placed on them, the road network in England is currently organised through three main systems:

The strategic road network (SRN);

The primary route network (PRN); and

A local road network.

Major national roads form the SRN and are operated by Highways England on behalf of the Secretary of State. The SRN comprises approximately 4,200 miles of road (some 2% of the road network in England) and carries, on average, four times as many vehicles each day per mile of road than locally managed major roads. As part of their remit from Government, Highways England has a series of key performance indicators to meet across the SRN.

In Tees Valley, the SRN accounts for 4% of the road network and comprises the following routes – A1(M), A19, A66 (west of the A19), A174 (between the A19 and the A1053) and the A1053 itself.

Important routes for medium-to-long-distance navigation, including the SRN, form the PRN, covering around 12,000 miles in total. The PRN is derived from a series of locations (primary destinations) selected by the Department for Transport (DfT), which are then linked by roads (primary routes) selected by the local highway authority.

The primary destinations designated within the Tees Valley are Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Stockton (with ‘Teesside’ also being used in locations outside the city region instead of these two) and Teesport. As a result of these designations, the PRN in Tees Valley comprises 8% of the road network, of which 4% is managed by the five local highway authorities.

There is no official maintenance standard for routes on the PRN, however, these roads are intended to perform an important role in regional and national travel, and it is expected that these roads will be maintained in good order for all classes of vehicle traffic.

The common theme for both the SRN and the PRN is the level of central Government influence in the designation of routes and destinations – the previous consultation on changes to the list of primary destinations was undertaken in 2011, with the changes implemented in April 2012. This lack of local influence and ongoing flexibility means that there are some key economic assets in the Tees Valley, such as Teesside International Airport, that are not designated as primary destinations, and, as such, the A67 is not classified as part of the PRN.

The local road network includes the remaining roads under local authority control that are not part of the PRN. This includes the remaining A roads, all B roads and other classified unnumbered or unclassified roads that are maintainable at the public expense.

The local road network in Tees Valley comprises 3,513 miles of road, all managed by the five local highway authorities.


Developing a Major Road Network

Recognising that the SRN only accounts for about 2% of the total road network across the North of England, a report published in October 2016 by the Rees Jeffreys Road Fund made the case that the busiest and most strategically important local authority A roads deserve special recognition because of their importance to the economic wellbeing of regions and the country as a whole.

In late 2018, the DfT published its own MRN proposals across England which drew on the work of the Rees Jeffreys Fund and TfN to set out a tier of roads managed by local highway authorities that would now be able to access funding for improvements and maintenance through the National Roads Fund from 2020 onwards.

The routes within the DfT’s MRN are shown below. Whilst it is disappointing that not all of the TfN own MRN network is included, particularly for routes such as the A172, it is a welcome recognition from DfT of the role that these roads play and the need to identify a sustained funding stream for them.

The DfT has undertaken to review its MRN on a regular basis, in consultation with TfN and local highway authorities, and TfN has stated that it will continue to make the case for its larger network as part of any further review.

Whilst this approach provides a much more comprehensive coverage of those roads that are important to a local areas, it does not necessarily account for key public transport routes, nor links within local highway authority areas that serve the social needs of the Tees Valley.

A Key Route Network for the Tees Valley

To address this, in line with a number of other combined authorities across England, we have taken the TfN approach one step further and defined our own Key Route Network (KRN) – the network of roads that is seen as vital to the future growth aspirations of the Tees Valley from both and economic and social perspective.

The criteria that we have used to develop the KRN are as follows:

Complements the Major Road Network for the North developed by TfN, but includes additional links of regional importance;

Builds upon the nationally recognised PRN;

Connects the major towns within Tees Valley to each other, to other local centres in Tees Valley and in adjacent authorities and to the rest of the country via the SRN; and

Provides access to existing and future strategic housing and employment sites including Enterprise Zones, Teesside International Airport and Teesport (and neighbouring employment zones such as Aycliffe Business Park); and

Includes bus priority corridors and high frequency bus routes.

The proposed KRN that results is shown below – it covers 888 miles or 22% of the all the roads in Tees Valley.


Defining a KRN in this way will ensure that the Combined Authority can more effectively plan and manage a programme of road improvements to support the delivery of economic growth. Our KRN enables a coordinated approach to investment. Joint working on the KRN by partners, including Highways England, reflects the strong interdependency between the performance of the SRN and the proposed KRN in supporting growth and productivity. The clear, co-ordinated focus of the KRN will bring significant benefits in managing traffic in support of the aspirations of economic growth of Tees Valley.

Improving the KRN will help us influence conditions on local roads, as increased congestion on main routes often leads to traffic re-routing onto more minor roads and/or the minor roads being impacted by vehicles queuing to join main routes. These more minor roads are not intended to accommodate the volume of traffic being placed on them, and as such have not been designed or equipped sufficiently. One of the reasons for this is that local roads are not exclusively for moving traffic, they may also be for shopping, leisure, pedestrian movement or parking. Improving the roads on the KRN will therefore benefit the quality of life of local residents.

The focus on improving the performance of the KRN will assist in the delivery of other priorities contained in additional daughter documents that support the Tees Valley Strategic Transport Plan. For example, this Roads Strategy will support the Freight Strategy given that the majority of road freight movements will utilise this network. The freight sector is a key enabler in terms of investment, jobs and economic wellbeing. The Tees Valley does not have the levels of urban area congestion seen in other city regions but does have key pinch points of congestion across key freight routes which affect network efficiency.

The fact that principal bus routes have been included in the proposed KRN will also help deliver the Bus Vision supporting document.

The Tees Valley Bus Network Improvements project, implemented between 2010 and 2015, focused investment on around 20 key bus corridors across the Tees Valley where high frequency and high quality bus services have been concentrated. The KRN embeds these corridors and allows for further development of the Tees Valley bus network.

The designation of the KRN for Tees Valley will not involve any changes to the existing functions and responsibilities of Highways England or local highway authorities. However, the Combined Authority will undertake an annual review of the KRN to ensure that it evolves and is amended to take account of new developments, changing circumstances and new highway improvements.


4. Aspirations for the Key Route Network

Network Performance Aspirations

Recognising the key role that roads play in the economic and social fabric of the Tees Valley, our aspiration is for a reliable, resilient and safe road network for all users.

Reliability and resilience is important for all users – the ability to get where people want, when people want, with a high degree of certainty, is a key selling point for any area for both residents, workers and visitors. In developing our priorities for future road investment and management, we need to ensure that this applies across the KRN.

TfN has developed a series of pan-Northern conditional outputs against which the performance of Its MRN will be monitored as the data becomes available. These include:

Journey reliability – where 90% of journeys on the MRN should not be delayed by more than 15 minutes for a 60 minute travel time;

Network efficiency – aiming to optimise the efficient flow of passengers and goods on the MRN and through the improved flow of traffic, and support for new technologies to reduce emissions of pollutants and greenhouse gases;

Network resilience – aiming to reduce the number of incidences of closure of MRN routes leading to severe journey delay;

Journey quality – improving the customer experience of using the MRN, including the quality and availability of travel information.

We will be working with TfN to agree the exact details of these conditional outputs and using them to develop a corresponding series of metrics for the Tees Valley KRN.

Effective Asset Management

In developing future interventions across the KRN, and indeed all of the Tees Valley local road network, the starting point is to make best use of existing infrastructure and to ensure that all technological tools are used to provide the reliable, resilient and safe network to which we aspire.

TfN identifies that through influencing travel behaviour, supporting higher quality design and adapting to innovative technologies, such as electric vehicles, the MRN for the North can be improved, managed and adapted for the future to support a sustainable Northern economy. For example, this includes plans for investment in electric vehicle (EV) charging points, options for shifting more freight from road onto rail and support for bringing forward emerging technologies such as connected and autonomous vehicles. These aspirations are matched in the Tees Valley.

The Tees Valley Local Authorities are committed to investing in network management, road maintenance and asset management to address issues such as a backlog in maintenance work and increasing costs of undertaking repair work. Across the KRN, we will be exploring the opportunity to work jointly on road maintenance projects across the KRN to help with resource allocation and provide greater certainty for all users.

The local highway authorities are already implementing asset management principles as a means of delivering improved transport and highway services to the public, and again we will explore the opportunities to develop standardised approaches across the KRN. Each of the


Tees Valley Local Authorities has prepared Transport Asset Management and Network Management Plans in support of these activities.

Transport Asset Management Plans provide a framework for an integrated asset management approach to each authority’s transport assets. They are strategic documents that are intended to develop and improve the way that the highway management and maintenance functions are carried out. They allow the local highway authorities to take a longer term approach to highway management and allow for the optimal allocation of resources based on customer needs and demands. Future revisions of these plans will build upon any agreed standards and protocols for the KRN.

Network Management Plans demonstrate the arrangements for delivering the Network Management Duty by setting out the approach to managing the network to the benefit of users. They also provide evidence of the policies being actively pursued to ensure more efficient movement of traffic on the network. Again, future versions of these plans will reference any new agreed standards and protocols for the KRN.

The set of maintenance and management standards for the KRN could include road surfacing, bridges, street lighting, traffic control systems and public transport infrastructure such as bus priority measures.

Driving Efficiencies

The Tees Valley Local Authorities have already collaborated to harmonise practice as far as practicable, in areas such as a combined Urban Traffic Management and Control (UTMC) system. Future development of the UTMC system will build on the work done to date to drive further efficiencies within working practices and to make best use of the existing road network assets.

The Combined Authority and Tees Valley Local Authorities are also committed to ensuring that technology options are fully considered as a way of resolving some of the issues identified. There is a commitment to keep up to date with best practice in terms of intelligent transport systems and seeking to make optimal use of road traffic and travel data.

The Tees Valley Partners will maintain a watching brief over the emergence of innovations such as Connected and Autonomous vehicles, big data, smart infrastructure and the Internet of Things, and the impacts they will have on the highway network, so as to increase the capabilities of our existing network and improve its efficiency.


Road Safety

Road safety is also of paramount importance, and whilst all accidents are important to target, the nature of the KRN means that fatal and serious accidents, along with those involving non-motorised users will be those where we will aim to affect significant reductions. Therefore a key element of the design and prioritisation of new schemes should consider the safety of all road users.

Environment

The impact of roads on the environment cannot be overlooked. TfN will also explore options for reducing the impact of road-based travel on the environment, air quality and carbon emissions, including exploring how Highways England’s Air Quality Strategy could be expanded to cover the MRN for the North through future investment on the network.

Transport has been the UK’s biggest energy consumer since 1988 and, within the sector, road transport is the biggest source of emissions. Although personal car usage accounts for the greater share of road transport energy consumption within the Tees Valley, the most recent government data shows that freight vehicles consumed 28% of the total in 2015 and road freight is making a significant contribution to emissions in our area.

An articulated lorry over 33t gross will average 8 miles to the gallon and leave a carbon footprint of just under a kilogram of CO2 for each kilometre travelled (933.65g/km). This means that for the 129km average haul undertaken by Tees Valley-based HGVs, 120kg of CO2 will be produced. As stopping and idling increases fuel consumption, any congestion will add further to the level of CO2 emissions.

Noise and air quality impacts will be specific criteria used in the assessment of any future interventions in the Tees Valley, and we recognise that we will need to address both of these issues across the whole of the KRN in the future, particularly where there are specific locations where air quality issues have been identified such as the A66 around Middlesbrough.

Wherever possible we will aim to reduce emissions through improved traffic flow we will also explore the potential for alternative fuels such as Hydrogen and Gas, and develop a protocol for the introduction of EV infrastructure in the Tees Valley in a co-ordinated way.

171

266

179

194

176

15 8

175

237

166

18 8

239

279

235

2612

Car Vans HGVs

Accident Rate by Vehicle Type (per billion KM)

Darlington Hartlepool Middlesbrough

Redcar and Cleveland Stockton North East

Great Britain

http://visual.ons.gov.uk/uk-perspectives-2016-energy-and-emissions-in-the-uk/

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/532672/RT_2005_-_2014.xlsx


5. Current Investment Priorities and Funding

Context

Even with such effective asset management, there will still be a need to identify, develop and deliver significant highway infrastructure improvements to support housing and economic growth. There is is a longstanding collaborative planning process between Highways England, the Combined Authority and the Tees Valley Local Authorities to develop and maintain a pipeline of road investment priorities that has been in place since 2010.

To date, there have been two iterations of an Area Action Plan (AAP) document that set out how outputs from sophisticated transport modelling and development assessment techniques have been used to identify and prioritise transport schemes which will improve the movement of people and freight in Tees Valley.

The AAP has provided a pipeline of interventions that have a clear rationale, based on future growth aspirations. It has been used successfully to date in supporting funding bids for a number of improvements across the Tees Valley transport network in recent years, including:

Ramp metering improvements on the A66 allied to new housing proposals;

Strategic pinch-point junction improvements at the A174 and A689 junctions on the A19;

Local pinch-point improvements on the A174 in Stockton;

Improvements on the A68 corridor in Darlington;

Middlehaven Dock Bridge; and

A new rail station at James Cook University Hospital.

Given the changes to local rail franchise management set out in more detail in the Rail Strategy supporting document, in the future we are proposing that we will develop our pipeline of schemes that have an impact around the KRN separately. Through this new KRN Programme, we will aim to bring forward the right improvements at the right time to the KRN and provide a clear link to the overall Tees Valley Investment Programme

The aim of the KRN Programme remains as follows:

“Taking all of the predicted and aspirational future economic growth into consideration – develop a series of highway interventions and prioritise them by growth delivered, value for money, affordability, and timescale.”

To support the latest version of the KRN Programme, details of major developments expected to occur within Tees Valley over the next 20 years are included, providing a common set of development assumptions for all modelling then undertaken. The outputs from the modelling provide an indication of where congestion is likely to occur on the road network in the future if development goes ahead as planned.

The KRN Programme is concerned primarily with the facilitation of economic growth and maintaining the stability of the KRN in Tees Valley. To this end congestion measures have been used as a proxy for the quantity of growth and future development the existing Tees Valley transport networks can accommodate.


‘Live’ KRN Programme Interventions

There are a number of ‘live’ schemes within the KRN Programme, as described below. For all of these feasibility and design work is being undertaken and business cases are being developed to illustrate the need for these schemes and how they can be delivered and funded. Some are in the process of being constructed.

New Tees Crossing

There are currently 10 crossings of the River Tees between the west of Stockton and the mouth of the estuary, however, only two of these crossings are capable of carrying large volumes of traffic: the A66 Surtees Bridge and the A19 Tees Viaduct. The Tees Viaduct in particular is carrying traffic volumes far in excess of its design capacity, and any incident on the A19 or A66 causes significant congestion on the local road crossings and the Local Road Network. A new strategic crossing of the River Tees will provide additional capacity for up to 72,000 vehicles per day, addressing the current issue with congestion and slow journey times and ensuring that new housing and employment sites across the Tees Valley can be brought forward. From a long list of 14 options, a preferred option has now been identified by the Combined Authority and its partners, providing a new route for local traffic to cross the river, freeing up capacity on the current A19 Tees Flyover. An Outline Business Case identifying the preferred option has been submitted to DfT for consideration and a public consultation exercise was held during Spring 2019.

Portrack Relief Road

The scheme would include the creation of a new 1.3km highway link parallel to Portrack Lane, by utilising the former Billingham Beck branch railway between Marston Road and the A1032 Newport Bridge Approach Road as an integral part of the New Tees Crossing scheme. The area is well served by highway infrastructure but the intersection of the A19 with the A66 is one of the most heavily congested parts of the Tees Valley network and Portrack Interchange experiences peak period congestion. It is recognised that to open up development opportunities in both Middlesbrough and Stockton, a package of proposals needs to be delivered which include a combination of improvements and management of the primary road infrastructure, additional secondary road infrastructure, improvements to public


transport and various traffic management measures. Implementation of the scheme could be standalone, or in association with the New Tees Crossing proposal.

A66 Darlington Northern Link Road

Access to and from Tees Valley is restricted at Junction 57 of the A1(M), where vehicles can only join the A1(M) and travel south from the A66, and vehicles from the north cannot leave the A1(M) to access Tees Valley. Strategic traffic therefore has to use local roads, such as the A1150 and A167, which pass through built up residential areas and are not suitable for the types and volume of vehicles travelling on them. This causes significant stress on the local roads in Darlington, causing conflict with local residents walking or cycling, and also causes delays to buses, with knock-on environmental concerns and issues of safety. A new route is being considered around the north of Darlington to accommodate strategic traffic movements between the A1(M) and the Tees Valley, and to provide economic and housing growth opportunities within Darlington. An Outline Business Case identifying the preferred option is being prepared in advance of submission to the DfT for consideration.

A19 grade separated junction, Elwick bypass and Hartlepool Western Link

This scheme will provide a new strategic route for road traffic to/from Hartlepool to the A19, thereby relieving congestion on the existing A179 and A689 routes and by creating a new grade separated junction with the A19, overcome safety concerns with regards to the existing at-grade junctions. The scheme will provide direct benefits to the residents of Elwick village through significantly reducing through traffic, helping to make it a safer environment, and it will also facilitate housing development in West Hartlepool. A Strategic Outline Business Case was prepared in Summer 2016 and detailed design is now underway.


A689 Wynyard Improvements

This package of works includes along the A689 corridor in County Durham, Stockton-on-Tees and Hartlepool is aimed at improving capacity, journey time reliability and facilitate housing and business growth. Current proposals include junction improvements to four current roundabouts at Wynyard, a capacity improvement at the A19/A689 interchange, pedestrian and cyclist bridge crossings of the A19 (just to the north of A689 interchange) and A689 to improve accessibility for active modes between Wynyard and Billingham and Hartlepool, localised junction and safety improvements in the Hartlepool urban area and a cycle route link between Hartlepool and Wolviston, parallel to the A689. The proposal complements the A19 Norton to Wynyard widening scheme being delivered by Highways England and the New Tees Crossing scheme.

Cargo Fleet Roundabout

This five arm, signalised roundabout is the first at-grade junction on the A66 travelling east towards Teesport after the Little Burdon roundabout in north east Darlington. As the intersection between the key east-west A66 route and the A171 running to the south, it is a major junction on the KRN and experiences peak hour congestion. A feasibility study completed in Spring 2017 recommended at “throughabout” solution to address existing issues and to help accommodate the forecast increase in traffic related to Teesport as the regeneration areas along the south bank of the River Tees. Detailed design work is underway.

Swan’s Corner Roundabout/Flatts Lane Improvements

Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council has developed improvement schemes at these two junctions – the first a re-aligned roundabout and the second a new traffic signal junction – aimed at addressing existing congestion on the network and allied to housing growth proposals in Redcar & Cleveland. Detailed design work is underway.

Darlington Growth and Enterprise Zone Connectivity

This package of improvements to the east of Darlington will see the widening of the Yarm Road/McMullen Road roundabout, traffic signals at the Yarm Road/Lingfield Way junction and a reconfiguration of the junction between the B6279 and Haughton Road to accommodate housing and mixed use development in this area of the town. Implementation of these improvements is now underway.

Yarm Road Roundabout

Highways England has identified a short term improvement to capacity at the A66/A67 Roundabout to the east of Darlington in response to existing congestion issues, and implementation of this improvement was completed in 2018. Work is ongoing to identify longer term solutions for the junction in line with the Darlington Northern Link Road proposals.

Greystones Roundabout

Highways England has identified a short term improvement to capacity at the Greystones Roundabout on the A174 in response to existing congestion issues and the importance of the junction in providing access to Teesport and the Wilton site. However, the roundabout is likely to experience congestion in future years even with this short term improvement and further work is required to ascertain how the junction could accommodate the anticipated increase in traffic flows on the A174 allied to housing growth proposals in Redcar &


Cleveland. Work is ongoing to identify additional solutions, including grade separation of the junction, and to develop the business case for this further investment.

Future KRN Programme Interventions

Further interventions are now being identified and developed for inclusion in the KRN Programme in order to provide a pipeline of interventions. These interventions will aim to address a range of issues including congestion, connectivity and access to labour markets, road safety, the journey experience, and the facilitation of housing development in suitable locations.

The interventions will include the development of highway improvements to support individual large scale planning applications, such as those for significant housing developments at Wynyard, West and South Stockton, South Middlesbrough and in West Hartlepool. We will also work with relevant partners to develop multi-modal proposals to improve known congestion hotspots, such as the parts of the A172 around Marton.

There will be a need to bring forward a series of improvements on the A66 between the A19 and the South Tees Development Corporation (STDC) site and along the DfT MRN section of the A174 east of the A1053, to support the Masterplan being proposed for this site, as well as enhancing access for public and private vehicles to Teesside International Airport.

We are currently examining the feasibility and viability of an Eastern Tees Crossing associated with the STDC site, albeit recognising that current Government policy on estuarial crossings suggests that this would need a different funding mechanism should it be pursued.

In developing future interventions within the KRN Programme, the following principles will be considered:


Schemes should be targeted where they are most needed and where they deliver greatest value;

Schemes should seek to reduce the impact of the transport network on the environment and enhance the natural and built assets of Tees Valley;

The use of technology and behaviour change initiatives will be considered to tackle identified problems in addition to physical infrastructure measures;

The needs of all road users will be considered in developing schemes, although it is recognised balancing conflicting demand for road space will be necessary and be dependent on the road and location in question; and

Schemes will consider the impacts of complementary public transport measures

The KRN Programme will have a ‘light touch’ review annually, with a major review every five years.

There are also a number of interventions at key locations associated with the SRN that are important to support the development of the Tees Valley economy and the delivery of our Strategic Economic Plan. These include:

A66 Blands Corner/Neasham Road improvement;

A66 Morton Palms to Little Burdon dualling;

A66 Elton to Stockton widening;

Elton Interchange improvements;

A19/A689 Wynyard improvements;

A19/A67 Crathorne interchange roundabout;

A19/A174 Parkway junction.

The first four schemes are part of an overall package to improve east-west connectivity along the A66 corridor from the A1(M) to Teesport and the STDC site identified in the Tees Valley Investment Plan.

We will continue to work closely with Highways England via the KRN Programme process to explore interventions and secure funding in these and other parts of the network.

.


6. Action Plan

What? How?

Action Description Outcomes Milestones Timescale Lead

1) Develop an Outline Business Case for a new Central Crossing of the Tees

Further development of the Outline Business Case for a new Tees Crossing in order to secure funding for this new piece of infrastructure via the Road Investment Strategy process

Improved capacity and reliability of the A19

Improved journey times

Contribution to economic growth

Proposition to DfT

December 2017

TVCA

SBC

Outline Business Case prepared

March 2019 (Draft)

Autumn 2019 (Final)

Road Investment Strategy 2 finalised

Autumn 2019

2) Develop an Outline Business Case for the Darlington Northern Link Road

Further development of the Outline Business Case for the Darlington Northern Link Road in order to secure funding for this new piece of infrastructure via the National Roads Fund process

Improved network capacity

Removal of unsuitable traffic from the local road network

Improved east-west connectivity

Contribution to economic growth

Proposition to DfT

December 2017

TVCA

DBC

Enhanced Strategic Outline Business Case prepared

Autumn 2019

Initial National Roads Fund allocations finalised

Autumn 2019

3) Investigate the economic case for an Eastern crossing of the Tees

Explore the economic case for an eastern crossing of the Tees linked to the proposals for the South Tees Development Corporation and the potential for dynamic changes in land-use

Economic case established for an eastern crossing option

Evidence base established in order to understand potential sources of funding

Study work commissioned

Summer 2019

TVCA

HBC/RCBC

What? How?


4) Develop and maintain a pipeline of KRN Interventions

Maintain a central database of KRN interventions and introduce a process for prioritising these and assisting in their further development

Provide co-ordination of proposals to the TVCA Investment Plan, and national funding sources such as Highways Maintenance Challenge Fund and the National Productivity Investment Fund

Pipeline of schemes is kept current and up to date

Extra resource assists in ensuring information is current

Schemes are sifted to ensure they meet the priorities of the TVCA

Preliminary work ensured the TVCA is prepared for competitive bidding rounds

Co-ordinate improvements to the KRN

Initial pipeline developed

Autumn 2019

TVCA

5) Understand the road network requirements of the South Tees Development Corporation masterplan

In collaboration with the STDC and Highways England develop the proposal for a new spine road, new entrance to Teesport and associated road infrastructure required to deliver the masterplan for the site.

Contribution to the success of the economic masterplan for the STDC

Engage with Highways England

Spring 2018

TVCA

STDC

Co-commission work with STDC

Summer 2018

6) Incorporate the needs of strategically important sites into the development and maintenance of the KRN

Incorporate the needs of the Enterprise Zones, other strategic employment and housing development sites; Teesside International Airport and Teesport into the prioritisation of the development and maintenance of the KRN Programme.

Contribution to the success of the Strategic Economic Plan

Engage with Highways England

Ongoing TVCA


What? How?


7) Establish a co-ordinated approach to the provision of Electric Vehicle infrastructure In the Tees Valley

Develop a protocol for the introduction of EV infrastructure in the Tees Valley, developing a joint approach with Tees Valley local authorities for:

Maintenance;

Infrastructure standards;

Planning protocols; and,

Pricing mechanisms.

An improved EV charging offer in the Tees Valley.

A greater take-up of electric vehicles.

Improved local air quality.

Commission specialist support

2019 TVCA

Agree common standards and protocols

2019 TVCA

Delivery of a new network of EV charging points

2020 -2023

8) Refresh and expand the Tees Valley Urban Traffic Management and Control System

Upgraded the ‘back office’ function of the UTMC system to utilise the latest software and I.T.

Review the infrastructure currently on the network to further expand the system across the Tees Valley and improve the operation of the Key Route Network

Increased ability to intervene in the network

Reducing congestion

Improving the reliability of the network

Better management of major events

Improved parking guidance

Potential to assist in improving Air Quality and Bus priority

Commission back office refresh

Spring 2019

TVCA

MBC

Tech refresh complete

Summer 2019

Review existing infrastructure

Summer 2019

Commence roll-out of improved on street infrastructure

Spring 2020

What? How?


9) Influence wider road strategy development affecting infrastructure provision in the Tees Valley

Recognition of Tees Valley road issues and priorities in a range of key strategies and funding programmes including:

TfN’ss Strategic Transport Plan and Investment Programme

Highways England’s RIS2

North’s MRN priorities for 2020-2025

TfN’s Connecting the Energy Coasts Strategic Development Corridor and Yorkshire to Scotland Studies

Highway’s England’s North Transpennine Routes Study

Better reflection of Tees Valley priorities in a range of key policy and strategy documents and funding programmes

More funding allocated for investment in Tees Valley rail schemes

TfN STP February 2019

TVCA

RIS2 Autumn 2019

TfN Investment Programme Update

February 2020

Preferred route announcement

Spring 2020

10) Increase safety for all road users

Incorporate the needs of all road users when delivering new, and improving existing, infrastructure. A respect campaign will be developed to educate all road users into the constraints of different modes and the safest way to share the road.

A reduction in KSI Ongoing Ongoing Local Authorities

11) Develop and adopt best practice in the design, implementation and maintenance of the network

Ensure consistency and continuity of the schemes delivered, incorporating the needs of all road users

Improve and maintain the quality of the KRN

Ongoing Ongoing Local Authorities

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