Highways Agency - Safe roads, Reliable journeys, Informed travellers
Transport 2010: The 10 Year Plan Stakeholder Document
- Foreword
- A better service
- Easing congestion
- Effective maintenance
- Safer travel
- Smarter network management
- Smarter roads
- Better information
- Quieter roads
- Delivering in partnership
- Resources
Foreword
What we do
The Highways Agency, part of the Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions, maintains, operates and improves the strategic road network in England. This covers nearly all of the motorways and the more important A roads. These strategic roads form only about 4% of the total road network in England, but carry 34% of all vehicles and over 67% of heavy lorries.
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Foreword
I very much welcome this document, "Strategic Roads 2010", which sets down the Highways Agency's high level strategy for our national roads over the next ten years - in response to "Transport 2010: The 10 Year Plan".
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Across all forms of transport, the Government's priorities for those ten years are reduced congestion, better integration and a wider choice of safer and more reliable travel. The 10 Year Plan will deliver the integrated transport system this country needs and deserves. A system fit for the new millennium and of which we can be justly proud.
The Highways Agency has a key role in the delivery of this Plan. The strategic roads, operated by the Highways Agency, provide the commercial backbone of our country and the central part of an integrated transport system. By 2010, we intend to reduce congestion on these roads below present day levels.
These roads will continue to be maintained to a high standard and made safer for all those who use them. Road users will be able to plan their journeys with better information and greater confidence. People will find our strategic roads quieter, with less impact on the environment. Achieving these outcomes will require the progressive introduction of innovative new technology and traffic management techniques throughout the network.
"Transport 2010: The 10 Year Plan", sets out a clear vision for transport and some demanding challenges for the Highways Agency. As network operator for our strategic roads, the Agency will play a vital role in delivering the plan and in modernising travel in our country over the next decade.
This document, "Strategic Roads 2010", identifies the challenges in operating our strategic roads for the next ten years and how the Agency will go about meeting them. Of course, the Agency does not act alone in delivering the 10 Year Plan. One of the keys to successful implementation will be how the Agency works in partnership with a wide range of organisations, including colleagues in the Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions, other Government Departments, regional planning bodies, emergency services, contractors and consultants, transport operators, representative organisations and customers in general.
With the publication of "Strategic Roads 2010", the Agency will look to build further on the many positive relationships it has already developed with stakeholders. In this way, the Agency will deliver a better service for all its customers, motorist and non-motorist alike, with innovation and new technology having an ever-higher profile.
The Agency will use to full advantage its professionalism to ensure it delivers a strategic road network that provides for safe and reliable travel, and one that is developed and maintained in a way which is responsive and sensitive to the needs of the communities it serves.
A better service
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A better service
Delivery of the 10 Year Plan sets real and welcome challenges for the Highways Agency, in active partnership with many other organisations. The 10 Year Plan offers considerable opportunities and the resources that we need to enhance progressively the services we provide to our customers.
This document, "Strategic Roads 2010", explains in greater detail how the Highways Agency will go about playing its part in delivering the 10 Year Plan, in close partnership with our stakeholders. It gives a high level overview of what the Agency will do over the next 10 years. We will follow it up with more detailed discussions with specific stakeholders on what the plan means for them.
The Highways Agency has a major role to play in delivering six of the key outcomes described in the 10 Year Plan.
Easing Congestion
Reduction in congestion on inter-urban trunk roads to 5% below current levels (compared with present forecast growth of 28%) by 2010.
Effective Maintenance
Road condition maintained to a high standard, so that the proportion requiring maintenance in any future year is held at an optimum level (between 7% and 8%).
Safer Travel
A 33% reduction in the number of people killed or seriously injured on the strategic road network and a 10% reduction in the slight casualty rate by 2010.
Better Information
Greater confidence for road users in planning their journeys as a result of instant access to information about conditions on the network.
Quieter Roads
Reduction in traffic noise benefiting 3 million people living within 600m of trunk roads.
Delivering in Partnership
A more effective roads programme, with better evaluation of needs, and options, quicker delivery and lower impacts on the environment. In addition, the 10 Year Plan anticipates that the Highways Agency will make increasing use of new technology to provide more reliable journey times, improve safety and control traffic flows. This will allow smarter network management and operation - our Smarter Roads of the future.
We intend to deliver these outcomes through a wide range of measures and improvements, which are outlined in the following sections. There is a great deal to do. But in meeting these challenges we will work with other transport service providers to ensure better choice, and more seamless journeys for travellers.
These activities will be underpinned by continuous improvements in the delivery of our services, making them more modern and efficient.
Many improvements are already underway; others will take more time. We will make real changes over the next ten years to provide:
- less stressful, more reliable journeys
- best value from our strategic road network
- a safer strategic road network
- better information for drivers
- roads that are easier to live with
- more effective delivery
In short, a better quality service for all our customers.
Easing congestion
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Key outcome
By 2010, reduction in congestion on inter-urban trunk roads to 5% below current levels (compared with present forecast growth of 28%)
Our response
We know a key concern for our customers is congestion on the busiest parts of our strategic roads.
To help tackle the problem, we will ensure that we are ready to deliver quickly any road widening or improvements to major junctions that are identified by the Regional Planning Bodies within the strategic multi-modal, road-based or other studies.
We are working with the multi-modal study teams to identify solutions to congested transport corridors. We are also working with the regional planning bodies on solutions to other problems - for example, building new bypasses for hard pressed local communities, or easing bottlenecks at key junctions on our strategic roads.
Where the need for road improvement is agreed, we will continue to ensure that the major schemes we are asked to complete are subject to rigorous appraisal using the New Approach To Appraisal process - and are carefully fitted into the local environment.
In addition, we will continue to deliver the schemes announced in the targeted programme of improvements. By the end of this year, we will have awarded contracts on 13 schemes in the targeted programme of improvements.
By 2005, we will have started work on all 40 schemes currently in the programme, subject only to the completion of outstanding statutory procedures. These schemes will widen around 100 miles of the strategic network and provide bypasses to 19 communities, benefiting nearly 3000 households.
But, not all problems will need to be solved by major schemes. We will also ensure that we are making best use of the existing strategic network through a wide range of measures including: introducing new technology such as the Highways Agency Traffic Control Centre mentioned in the Better Information section; and programmes which tackle the smaller bottlenecks that cause delays. We already have underway a programme of 51 smaller improvements, amongst our 100 Early Action Schemes, that will target these more localised congestion problems over the next three years.
We will develop Route Management Strategies for the strategic road network. Work on the first phase of these will start this year. These strategies will identify, as part of a rolling programme, further smaller, but effective, road improvements aimed at local congestion hot spots.
We will work hard to ensure that the safety record of our roads continues to improve. We want all our customers, motorists and non-motorists, to use the strategic road network in safety. Safer roads will also have fewer of the incidents and accidents that cause major delays.
We will do more to reduce congestion and provide reliable journeys for motorists. We will reduce problems by operating the strategic network more effectively - and clearing up delays faster when things do go wrong.
We will continue to develop better, more effective ways of maintaining the strategic road network. More effective construction and maintenance will mean fewer hold-ups while essential repairs are carried out.
These innovative approaches will allow us, working in close partnership with our stakeholders, to tackle congestion on our strategic roads and deliver the key outcomes anticipated by the Plan.
| Targets | |
|---|---|
| 2002 |
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| 2005 |
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| 2010 |
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Further information
To obtain further information use the links below to visit other sections in the Highways Agency website.
- Route Management Strategies - Factsheet
- Stress 2000 (581KB PDF)
- Budget 2000 Schemes (724KB PDF)
- Multi Modal Studies (786KB PDF)
- North East Region (167KB PDF)
- North West Region (294KB PDF)
- Yorkshire & Humberside Region (244KB PDF)
- East Midlamds Region (268KB PDF)
- West Midland Region (309KB PDF)
- Eastern Region (268KB PDF)
- South East Region (366KB PDF)
- South West Region (451KB PDF)
Effective maintenance
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Key outcome
Road condition maintained to a high standard, so that the proportion requiring maintenance in any future year is held at an optimum level (between 7% and 8%)
Our response
The strategic road network is a key national asset with an estimated current replacement cost of around £65bn. Our first priority is to ensure that we retain the value of that investment and maintain it in optimum condition.
The importance of this task is reflected in the additional £150m (including London) that has been spent on maintenance since 1997.
We will continue to make maintenance our priority over the next ten years, with a maintenance programme of around £7bn between 2001-2010.
The present level of investment has ensured that the strategic network is retained in optimum condition, with about 7-8% of the network requiring maintenance in each year. We are currently conducting a research study to determine what percentage of the network will require maintenance each year when Whole Life Cost considerations are applied to maintenance. As a result of this study the optimum percentage may change.
Monitoring the condition of the road pavements is an essential part of planning maintenance work and new technology is widely used to identify carriageway deterioration at an early stage. The new TRACS vehicle (TRAffic-speed Condition Surveys) is capable of travelling at up to 70mph and uses video cameras and laser sensors to detect cracks and measure ruts and bumps on the road surface.
We have developed the use of computer based asset management systems to assist decisions on maintenance priorities. These systems are soon to be replaced by more sophisticated versions. For example, the Highways Agency Pavement Management System (HAPMS) takes advantage of modern computer technology to provide a better assessment of road maintenance needs. This system is gradually replacing its predecssor and will be in full use by 2001. A similar system - the Structures Management Information System (SMIS) - will also be in place by 2001 to ensure our bridges and tunnels are being maintained in optimum condition.
Routine and winter maintenance are vital activities for keeping the network in good working order, ensuring safety and minimising the need for more expensive maintenance at a later stage.
This annual round of activities includes: salting and snow clearance during the winter months; emergency work after incidents; keeping fences, barriers, road markings, signs, traffic signals, road lighting, emergency phones and communications systems in good order; cutting grass and vegetation at junctions and in central reserves to preserve safe visibility; prompt repair of minor carriageway, footway and structural defects; cleaning of drainage systems (without which our roads would not achieve their expected service life); effective management of landscaped areas and habitat sites; and the clearance of litter on motorways.
Computer systems are used to help here, too. The Routine Maintenance Management System (RMMS) is to be further developed over the next three years.
We take great care to ensure that maintenance works are carried out with the minimum impact on our customers. We are looking for ways to increase the proportion of the work that can be done when traffic flows are lighter, generally at weekends and at night. We will increase the use of mobile lane closures to minimise the time taken and disruption caused when we carry out short duration routine maintenance. Better information and signing, including initiatives like "zip merging", can minimise any unavoidable delays and make queuing more efficient and less frustrating. Where there is particular need we will continue to use incentives/penalties to get contractors to reduce the time taken to do the work, and thereby minimise the delays to road users.
| Targets | |
|---|---|
| 2001 |
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| 2002 |
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Further information
To obtain further information use the links below to visit other sections in the Highways Agency website.
- New Emergency Roadside Telephone
- Quieter Road Surfaces Leaflet (239KB PDF)
- Map - Location of Concrete Roads (760KB PDF)
Safer travel
Key outcome
A 33% reduction in the number of people killed or seriously injured on the strategic road network and a 10% reduction in the slight casualty rate by 2010.
Our response
Whilst the strategic road network in Britain is amongst the safest in Europe, we recognise that with increasing volumes of traffic, growing numbers of older and younger drivers, and its use by more diverse modes of transport, we need to continue to work hard at ensuring it stays that way.
We published the Highways Agency Safety Strategy in March 2000, which set our safety targets for 2010. Those targets, and their delivery, remain firmly in place.
As a first step, we are carrying out 49 local safety improvements as part of our programme of 100 Early Action schemes. These and other small safety schemes aimed at making best use that are carried out every year will save more than 100 people who would otherwise be killed or seriously injured each year.
We have recently announced a number of contracts to provide automatic warning of traffic queues on the M1, M62, and M25 motorways. By 2004, these systems will be in place on 30% of our motorway network and reduce by around 100 the number of people killed and seriously injured each year.
Not all our customers are travelling in motor vehicles on our roads. People live alongside and around our roads. Pedestrians, cyclists and other non-motorists use some of our roads. We want them all to do so in safety. Many of our safety projects are to safeguard these more vulnerable road users. For example, the Early Action list contains 9 schemes to help improve the safety of non-motorists.
Our work on safety goes wider than schemes themselves. We actively work with our partners to improve road safety awareness in schools and local communities.
| Targets | |
|---|---|
| 2002 |
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| 2010 |
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Further information
To obtain further information use the links below to visit other sections in the Highways Agency website.
- New Variable Message Signs - Factcheet
- New Emergency Roadside Telephone - Factsheet
- Using CCTA to Improve Safety on Roads - Storyboard (1.4MB PDF)
- Automatic Incident Detection - Factsheet (48KB PDF)
Smarter network management
* Note safety barriers and fencing are not shown for clarity but would be in place in reality.
Motorway Access Management
Access to the motorway from joining roads through the use of special signals on slip roads, to smooth the flow and reduce the effects of congestion
CCTV Cameras
On every gantry to provide a complete view of conditions on the motorway and help spot incidents and breakdown more quickly.
Lightweight Gantries
Aesthetic, less obtrusive gantries similar to those used in Holland. Spaced at 300-500m intervals.
New Variable Message
Signs/MIDAS
Next generation signs capable of showing text and pictograms to warn drivers of conditions on the road ahead, and provide back of queue protection.
Motorway Flow Management
Managing the flow of traffic once on the motorway through the use of individual lane and speed signals, to smooth the flow and reduce the effects of congestion.
Flexible Use of Roadspace
Providing the capability where appropriate, to run traffic on the hard shoulder in a controlled environment. For example during incidents or maintenance.
Safe Havens
Providing refuges for vehicles in trouble to pull off the hard shoulder & wait for recovery.
Emergency Phones
Providing an improved emergency telephone with better access for all road users. Likely to be sited at Safe Havens
Smarter roads
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Key outcome
Increasing use of new technology by the Highways Agency to improve the real-time management of traffic on our strategic road network. New systems will provide more reliable journey times, improve safety and control traffic flows.
Our vision
Whilst there will be a need for some targeted widening and focussed junction improvements, there is a great deal we can achieve by using new technology to manage congestion and make the best use of our strategic roads.
We have already piloted the use of speed controls to smooth traffic flows on the M25. We are now testing the use of traffic signals to manage flows on the accesses to the M27. By 2002, the HA Traffic Control Centre will start to provide up-to-date advice on traffic problems using a new traffic monitoring system.
By 2003, we will have driver information signs on all strategic points on the motorway network. By 2004, we will have in place automatic hold up warning systems on 30% of our motorways and 200 more motorway CCTV cameras.
There is more we can do. Each of these components can, and will, continue to be used to tackle congestion and provide safer, easier journeys. But they can be more effective if used together and added to new types of electronic signs, which will allow each lane to be operated individually. We will then be able to manage the available road space to best effect and make best use of the network.
For example, we can:
- use electronic signs to close lanes and safeguard broken down vehicles
- reserve lanes during peak hours for exclusive bus, lorry or other use
- slow down traffic over an area to ease flows through a critical bottleneck
- divert traffic to avoid a tail-back at an incident
- aim to carry out routine maintenance work in greater safety by closing lanes with electronic signing
And for the future we could expect to be able to:
- use electronic traffic signs and speed limits to permit the safe use of the hard shoulder when, for example, managing incidents and maintenance works
But this is not just about new technology. We will also work in close partnership with others to develop together the new systems we need for better operation of the strategic road network.
For example, we will discuss with the Police and the other emergency services how we can improve incident handling: to get faster care to the injured, recover stranded vehicles quicker and reopen the road as fast as possible.
In our vision of the future, these and other innovations will help to ensure peoples journeys are as safe and convenient as they can be. We are planning to trial new Operations Centres where our teams can work together with the Police to look at better ways to manage the network. The CCTV systems will quickly spot that someone is in difficulty, and traffic signs will be set to warn and move traffic over if they are in trouble in an active lane.
Where we are using these techniques, there will also be "safe havens" (new emergency refuges behind the hard shoulder and well clear of traffic) for people in trouble to pull into. The roadside information signs will keep drivers regularly informed of traffic conditions. We intend to trial these concepts at a number of suitable sites.
In this way, we will provide Active Traffic Management - smarter, more responsive, electronic motorways and a safer, better quality service for your motorway journey.
| Targets | |
|---|---|
| 2004 |
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Further information
To obtain further information use the links below to visit other sections in the Highways Agency website.
- New Variable Message Signs - Factsheet
- CCTV Monitoring - Factsheet
- Smoothing the Flow on to motorways - Factsheet
- Traffic Control Centre - Factsheet
- Controlled Motorways - Factsheet
- Automatic Incident Detection - Factsheet (48KB PDF)
- The National Roads Telecommunications Services Project - Factsheet (60KB PDF)
- Using CCTV to Improve Safety on Roads - Storyboard (1.4MB PDF)
- Map - Rollout of Automatic Hold-up Warning System (MIDAS) (751KB PDF)
Better information
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Key outcome
Greater confidence for road users in planning their journeys as a result of instant access to information about conditions on the network.
Our response
Providing better travel information is the key to improving people's journey planning, as well as their actual travel. People will be able to plan their journeys more effectively if there is a single contact point where they can access the latest information on costs, timetables, scheduled delays and real-time conditions for different modes of transport. With this information, they will be able to make an informed choice about which travel option best meets their needs.
In collaboration with transport service providers, the DETR is developing an internet based service, called Transport Direct, which will enable travellers to make informed travel choices. The Highways Agency will be playing its part by providing the new system with up-to-date information on the planned and actual conditions on the strategic road network. We will also be working with local authorities and their information systems to improve the travel information available to our customers.
We can do more to provide drivers travelling on our roads with information about real-time conditions on the network and advise them of alternatives when problems occur on their chosen route. By 2003, the Agency will have opened a national Traffic Control Centre, which will deliver this information through variable message signs and in-car systems.
As part of this work, we will also be establishing a Travel Information Highway, which will make available a common pool of data about conditions on the strategic road network, for use by both the public and commercial companies providing services to drivers and transport operators. It will also provide basic information to Transport Direct.
Providing better information and enabling people to make more informed travel choices will help to reduce the impact of incidents on the network and to reduce congestion.
| Targets | |
|---|---|
| 2002 |
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| 2003 |
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| 2010 |
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Further information
To obtain further information use the links below to visit other sections in the Highways Agency website.
- The Travel Information Highway - Factsheet (40KB PDF)
- Traffic Control Centre - Factsheet
- New Variable Message Signs - Factsheet
- PDF Map - Rollout of Automatic Hold-up Warning System (MIDAS) (751KB PDF)
Quieter roads
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Key outcome
Reductions in traffic noise benefiting 3 million people living within 600m of trunk roads.
Our response
The strategic road network helps to support a healthy economy by providing the backbone for effective distribution of goods and services, and easy movement of people. But it is not without its disadvantages. People living close to major roads sometimes experience the effects of increased noise, whilst expansion of the road network inevitably disturbs the local environment. A balance has to be struck which satisfies both our economic and our environmental needs, and indeed much can be done to minimise any negative impact on the environment.
We know that many of our customers are concerned about noisy roads. We have put in place a Quieter Roads programme that will provide, by 2010, lower noise surfaces on around 60% of the network, including resurfacing of all the concrete trunk roads. Not all of these roads can be resurfaced at once. We are currently drawing up this programme which will assign priority to the noisiest roads which cause the greatest nuisance, but will also take account of other factors such as the whole life costs of the road. This programme will start in 2001/02.
In addition, we will continue a programme of other noise reduction measures including noise fencing and similar provisions - at other sites where people living nearby are disadvantaged because the road is not subject to the latest noise mitigation standards. Again, not all can be improved at once. A programme is being developed which will address the noisiest sites in priority order over the ten year period.
| Targets | |
|---|---|
| 2010 |
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Further information
To obtain further information use the links below.
Map - Location of Concrete Roads (760KB PDF)
Delivering in partnership
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Key outcome
A more effective roads programme, with better evaluation of needs, and options, quicker delivery and lower impacts on the environment.
Our response
The commercial needs for reliable road transport must also be balanced with other wider interests. For example, we will take good care to address the local impacts on 5 million people living alongside or near our busy strategic roads. They, too, are our customers and we will continue to seek improvements in their quality of life.
Our network passes through internationally and nationally environmentally sensitive areas and locally valued areas too. For the sake of present and future generations, we must tackle the harmful impacts from heavily trafficked and congested roads.
We will set ambitious positive objectives towards minimising emissions and pollution, protecting and enhancing England's unique resources.
We will work in close partnership with other organisations that are stakeholders in the operation of our strategic roads. Working together, we will address the environmental and social impacts of the strategic road network.
We will start work this year on 11 route management strategies that will, in close consultation with local communities, address the needs of the whole route and set out all the actions that will be taken to address the problems in a 10 year plan. By 2003, these route management strategies will be in place for the complete core network.
There will also be considerable local involvement in the multi-modal and other studies. Out of these could come proposals for a targeted programme of bypass improvements, around 30 of which could be funded under the 10 Year Plan.
These are in addition to the 19 bypasses due to start by 2005, as part of the current targeted programme of improvements. We will begin work on developing these proposals as soon as they are identified by the Regional Planning Authorities and accepted into the programme.
We plan to involve people earlier in the design and development of road proposals. We will carry out as much as possible of that preliminary work in parallel, rather than in sequence. That will allow local people to play their part in the development of the scheme before plans become more firmly drawn up.
We will introduce new, faster ways of appointing engineering consultants to carry out initial design work. We also expect to involve very early on the "design and build" contractor, who will eventually construct the job - as we are piloting on the A500 Stoke Road/City Road scheme. We expect that as well as speeding up delivery, earlier involvement of the contractor will lead to schemes that are significantly cheaper to build.
Altogether, we aim to cut 3 to 5 years off the time taken to deliver less complex road building schemes, once they are added to the targeted programme of improvements. And, by speeding up our delivery, we will reduce the planning blight and uncertainty that can result from road improvement proposals.
We will develop new forms of contract to speed up delivery of both publicly and privately financed projects. PPP/PFI contracts, in various forms, will provide 25% of the major schemes funding needed to deliver these challenges, harnessing private sector finance disciplines to Agency objectives.
In parallel, we will be actively working with local communities to resolve local problems. We will bring forward a rolling programme of smaller, local improvements that will make our roads easier to live with.
These focused schemes will take early action to enhance the environment on and around our strategic roads, help restore local communities that are separated by our busy roads and make safer provision for recreational activities - like horse riding, cycling and rambling.
Where road improvements are taken forward, we will ensure that each is carefully assessed using the New Approach To Appraisal. The environmental, social and economic issues will then be brought together, using the new approach, before an investment decision is taken. To ensure that our contractors are as committed as we are to protecting the environment we will, where appropriate, make possession of an accredited Environmental Management System, a requirement to secure work in future.
We also recognise our duties as stewards for the land around our roads. We manage an overall area of diverse landscape that is the size of the Isle of Wight. We will play a full part in ensuring the continued success of the wildlife and plants that live around our roads. We will work closely with partners like English Nature, the Countryside Agency, English Heritage and the Environment Agency to develop biodiversity, landscape and heritage action plans.
Resources
In Transport 2010: the 10 Year Plan published by DETR, table A3 on page 99 shows a total planned future public expenditure on strategic roads of £22.5bn. Clearly there is a degree of uncertainty as to exactly how this level of funding will be spent over the next 10 years. However the following table and charts provides an illustration of how the funding could be used (all figures are in £million).
The dates referred to in targets in this document relate to the start of the financial year in which they will be delivered. For example a target with a date of 2001 will be delivered by the end of financial year 2001/02. These targets and outcomes will be delivered through the Agencys 'family' of operational strategies, and the Corporate and annual Business Plans.
Select a thumbnail to view these charts. (They will open in a new browser window)
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- Improvements
refers to work which might add new capacity to the strategic road network, improve safety, reduce environmental impact or improve journey time reliability; - Maintenance
refers to the work required to keep the strategic road network safe, tidy and in optimum condition; - MBU
refers to the Making Better Use work carried out by the Agency to enhance our existing strategic road network and make better use of it; - HA Resources
refers to the internal resources the Agency needs to deliver the work in the 10 Year Plan. The targets and outcomes set out in this document assume that this level of resource is made available to the Agency during the 10 year period.
Contact
National Roads in general - Highways Agency Information Line: 08457 504030
The Highways Agency Information Line provides details of planned roadworks and conditions on the strategic road network (motorways and trunk roads).
Calls are charged at local rates and our service is available from 8am to 8pm Monday to Friday, and from 9am to 5pm at weekends and public holidays.
Callers outside those times can hear recorded details of any planned works on our roads.