Highways Agency

The Project

Route Management Strategies is a technique that has been developed by the Highways Agency to manage individual trunk roads as part of the wider transport network. The final Route Management Strategy, which will help the Highways Agency in planning of and optimising investment in the M3 over a ten-year period has now been ppublished.

This study gave road users the opportunity to comment on where problems lie and where investment may be needed over the next ten years. Feedback from a wide spectrum of users was received. Follow the publications link above to see the Consultation leaflet and the Consultation Report.

This RMS has been undertaken in parallel with four Multi-Modal Studies

1. ORBIT, covering orbital movements around London
2. Thames Valley Multi-Modal Study, broadly looking at transport in the London to Reading corridor
3. South Coast Corridor Multi Modal Study broadly looking at east - west movements along the south coast from Southampton to Thanet in Kent
4. SWARMMS, the London to South West and South Wales Multi-Modal Study
   These four studies have now reported their recommendations. Those which are pertinent to the M3 are discussed in the Route Management Strategy.

What are Route Management Strategies?

Background

The way we think about planning roads and other transport has changed. We now need to look at the regional picture, focus on local needs, and consider how we can integrate roads planning with other transport and planning decisions.

The Route Management Strategy (RMS) process has been developed to help the Highways Agency to do this, by taking a strategic approach to the maintenance, operation and improvement of its network, and involving regional stakeholders and the public in the decision-making process. Each RMS will lead to the adoption of a ten-year strategy for each of the routes comprising the strategic road network.

How will we do it?

Route Management Strategy means we can take a ten year forward look covering the maintenance, operation, and improvement projects for each of the routes that make up the core trunk road network.

It looks at areas such as:

• Route Functions and Performance
  What does this road do now?
• Route Objectives
  What do we want this road to do in the future?
• Route Problems
  The issues we need to tackle.
• Route Management Plan
  Our ten-year vision for the road and the improvements we'd like to make.

The Stages of an RMS

The RMS is not a final Strategy until it is adopted. Adoption of the Strategy takes place after a period of Public Consultation and a Seminar where Key Stakeholders will have the opportunity to agree the Route Functions, Policy Objectives, Problems and Issues and possible solutions within the Route Outcomes.