Highways Agency

ENVIRONMENT

MINIMISING THE IMPACT OF THE MOTORWAY AND TRUNK ROAD NETWORK ON BOTH THE NATURAL AND BUILT ENVIRONMENT.

BALANCING THE NEEDS OF ROAD USERS WITH THE NEED FOR AN ENVIRONMENTALLY SUSTAINABLE MOTORWAY AND TRUNK ROAD NETWORK CONTINUES TO BE A TOP PRIORITY FOR THE AGENCY IN PLANNING MAINTENANCE AND IMPROVEMENT OF THE NETWORK. THIS IS REFLECTED IN OUR NEW ENVIRONMENTAL STRATEGY, TOWARDS A BALANCE WITH NATURE, PUBLISHED IN NOVEMBER 1999.

This strategy sets out new techniques to minimise our impact on the environment while delivering a better service for road users. It covers air pollution, waste management, noise reduction, water pollution, bio-diversity and heritage protection.

Our commitment to reducing and controlling the impact of the network on the environment is reflected in many aspects of our work - none more so than in a £1.5 million project to relocate a 400-year old woodland alongside the route of the M2 widening scheme in Kent. Over 10,000 tonnes of ancient woodland soil was moved to new locations and more than 100 ancient hazel trees were dug up carefully and replanted at the new site. 60,000 additional trees grown from local seed have been planted to link with other fragments of the ancient woodland and allow woodland animals and plants to colonise the area.

Environmental work has continued to improve the quality of life for urban communities. The A12 Hackney to M11 Link Road has relieved the residential streets of Wanstead, Woodford and Leytonstone of through traffic and it is estimated the road will prevent 100 accidents a year on local roads. Much of the route runs in a cutting and noise reducing walls were used to lessen the effect on the local community. The structures have been given attractive finishes designed to integrate with the built environment, and new landscaping with trees and shrubs has been provided. A small park has been laid out, a new bus and rail interchange provided, and separate provisions made for pedestrians, cyclists and horse riders.

Similarly, great care was taken during construction of seven miles of the new A13 in East London to minimise the impact on the urban and rural environment. The Agency worked with English Nature to relocate plants and insects in watercourses in Rainham Marshes, including the successful relocation of the rare emerald damsel fly.

The Agency has also reviewed its own internal activities to consider whether better environmental solutions and processes should be adopted. In September 1999 we published our own Green Policy Statement and Action Plan which set out the targets we needed to achieve to reduce waste and our use of energy, paper and water as well as looking at our procurement and travel. The Agency also appointed representatives in all its offices to support the work of promoting recycling and to monitor paper, water and energy consumption.

The Agency has continued to work towards more sustainable procurement in maintenance, operation and improvement of the network by contributing to a Sustainability Action Plan within the Government Construction Clients' Panel. We will continue to feed into this work by reviewing our core business and setting targets for more sustainable construction in the procurement and management of the network.

The Agency has continued to develop its Green Travel Plan launched in April 1999 by encouraging staff to develop and adopt local travel plans. Green travel road-shows at our offices have raised awareness levels about travel habits and local co-ordinators have helped form bicycle and public transport user groups. We have already seen an increase in staff using public transport, and walking and cycling journeys are also showing a small but steady increase.

Case Study

A Roman horseshoe, which would have been tied to the horse's foot, found near the A417 between Gloucester and Cirencester.

As a major sponsor of archaeological investigations the Agency is committed to heritage protection. When road improvements are carried out, the Agency commissions archaeologists to carry out detailed assessments of each site. Precise records are kept, ensuring that the data is preserved for posterity. Ancient jewellery from the West Country and a 1940's prisoner of war camp in Lancashire are just some of the finds that the Agency has uncovered and preserved in the past three years.

Wessex Archaeology excavated 13 areas along the route of the A35 in Dorset. Finds included a Middle Bronze Age settlement and an ancient cemetery, dating from the end of the Roman occupation (fifth century) to the seventh century one of very few such sites discovered in Dorset. During work on the A13 in East London significant archaeological finds were discovered such as the bones of a jungle cat, never before found in the British Isles, and a those of the aurochs (giant ox) which are now on public view in the Natural History Museum.

The heritage finds are chronicled in a Highways Agency booklet, "Roads to the Past".