Highways Agency

• A57/A628 Mottram in Longdendale, Hollingworth and Tintwistle Bypass

What happens next?

The Highways Agency appointed Mowlem PLC under the Highways Agency’s Early Contractor Involvement (ECI) initiative, to take the scheme forward. This allows for detailed planning work to be carried out while the scheme is taken through the statutory procedures.

On 31st January 2006 The Secretary of State published the proposals in the form of Draft Orders. The published Orders included proposals to;

• Bypass sections of the A57 and A628 passing through the villages of Mottram, Hollingworth and Tintwistle within the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside and the County of Derbyshire. The bypassed sections are between the M67 eastern Terminal Roundabout at Hattersley and Townhead Farm on the east side of Tintwistle over a distance of approximately 5 kilometres [Draft Line Order];
• Provide route restraint measures on the bypass and at Flouch;
• Provide for a length of the A57 and the A628 that is to be superseded by the bypass, to cease to be a trunk road [Draft Detrunking Order];
• Provide for the stopping up of existing highways and private means of access, to improve and alter existing highways and to construct new highways and accesses that may be necessary for the construction of the new bypass and the route restraint measures at Flouch [Draft Side Roads Orders];
• Compulsorily purchase land and rights required for the construction of the scheme including essential mitigation works [Draft Compulsory Purchase Order].

The public and other interested organisations were allowed a period of 13 weeks until 5th May 2006 to express their support, comment on, or object to the proposals. A large number of people have written in with their views and each person or organisation expressing a written view will receive a full response to the points that they have raised.

The Government has, for the first time, given regions a say in decision-making about transport schemes that affect them at regional and local levels. The Mottram to Tintwistle Bypass is one of those schemes that is considered at a regional level. The North West Regional Assembly presented advice to Ministers in January 2006 and provided a revised sequencing of priority schemes in June 2006. On 6th July 2006 The Secretary of State for Transport responded to this advice and confirmed that funding provision should be made for the A628 Mottram –Hollingworth-Tintwistle bypass beyond 2010/11. Accordingly, the Highways Agency will continue to progress the scheme through the statutory procedures so that it is ready to start works as soon as funding is available within the Regional Funding Allocation.

The change to the proposed timing of construction and funding for the project required a review of the published Environmental Statement and its re publication together with the associated draft Orders. Revised traffic modelling was undertaken to represent the new opening (2015) year for the scheme and the incorporation of additional route restraint measures. The Secretary of State therefore published the revised draft Orders and Environmental Statement on 9th February 2007.

The publication of the revised draft Orders allowed interested parties to examine the revised proposals and to offer comments in the form of support, objections or other representations. The period for these comments ended on 30 March 2007. Further letters of objection and support were received during the Objection period.

Following the end of the Objection period the Highways Agency issued a letter to all parties who have provided comments on the original and republished proposals. This confirmed the intention to hold a Public Inquiry commencing on 26 June 2007. The letter confirmed the appointment of Mr Chris Banks of Persona Associates as Programme Officer for the Inquiry. His role is to provide the interface between the Inspector and those who participate in the Inquiry, to arrange the Inquiry programme and to maintain the Inquiry library.

On 27 April 2007 the Highways Agency published its Statement of Case. This is a written statement which contains full particulars of the case which the Highways Agency proposes to put forward at the Public Inquiry. In addition to the Statement of Case, the Highways Agency provided details of the deposit points where a copy of every document or relevant part of any document which is referred to or put in evidence may be inspected free of charge. These deposit locations are as follows:

• Stalybridge Civic Hall Trinity Street, Stalybridge, Cheshire SK15 2BN
• Stocksbridge Library, Manchester Road, Stocksbridge, Sheffield S36 1DH

A Pre Inquiry Meeting was held on 1 May 2007 at Stalybridge Civic Hall. Its purpose was to help all involved prepare for the Inquiry. A copy of the notes produced following this meeting can be obtained by contacting Chris Banks, the programme officer on 01403 217799. Chris can also be contacted for details of the website that has been sent up for the Public Inquiry.

The Public Inquiry commenced at 10 am on 26 June at Stalybridge Civic Hall, Trinity Street, Stalybridge, Cheshire, SK15 2BN.

After the discovery of a number of inconsistencies within the traffic forecasts prepared by the Highways Agency’s consultants the Public Inquiry was adjourned. The further discovery of more inconsistencies led to a number of further adjournments. Following the discovery of the anomalies a comprehensive set of checks has been carried out on the network representing the scheme. Further details of what these checks revealed can be found by referring to HA document reference HA/73. This document is available by following the link for the External Public Inquiry website found under the publications page of this scheme. Once into the Public Inquiry website the document can be found by following the link available in the news update for 4 December 2007.  These findings mean that an adjustment was required to the traffic model.

Whilst carrying out the corrections to the traffic model it has been decided to incorporate an updated version of TEMPRO,version 5.3 which was issued in October 2006 and to incorporate revised National Traffic Model growth information which was issued in October 2007. Work is progressing on the production of revised traffic forecasts which will incorporate these two changes.

As a result of the above issues all documents submitted as part of the September 2007 revision no longer have any relevance and should be disregarded.

After a further adjournment to assess the impact of an anomaly with the Highways Agency evidence which affected the traffic model for the scheme the Public Inquiry reconvened on 6th November 2007. A further adjournment took place until 18th December after the Project Leader confirmed further errors had been found in the consultant's traffic forecast information.

The Public Inquiry was adjourned on 18th December 2007 as the Highways Agency was unable to be in a position to give any further information until late February 2008. The Inspector was informed in March 2008 that initial revised traffic forecast information for the Scheme and the Glossop Spur will be produced by the end of May 2008, and that a firm programme will be available then.

In further updates in June, August and September 2008, we reconfirmed to the Inspector that it is planned to submit the revised Environmental Statement, the Statement of Case, Economic Appraisal Report and Proofs of Evidence to the Inquiry in May 2009. More information about these updates can be found by referring to HA document reference HA/CLA/18INSP, HA/CLA/19INSP, HA79A and HA80. These documents are available by following the link for the External Public Inquiry website found under the publications page of this scheme.

Following the Inquiry the Inspector will produce a report making a recommendation based on the evidence presented by the Highways Agency, the objectors, the supporters and anybody who has made a representation during the Inquiry.