Highways Agency

M5 (J9 to 15)

The Strategy

Introduction

What is a Route Management Strategy?

• A new approach to road investment planning that looks fully at the service a road is delivering from the users point of view.
• Focus on better use of existing roads, rather than building new roads.
• Uses performance indicators to measure service delivered.
• Delivers a ten year vision for the road and the improvements the HA would like to make.

Strategic Aim

To contribute to sustainable development by maintaining, operating and improving the road network in support of the government's integrated transport and land use planning policies.

The Route Management Strategy (RMS) embraces the five key policy objectives:

Policy objectives

• To protect and enhance the built and natural environment
• To improve safety for all road users
• To contribute to an efficient economy to support sustainable economic growth in appropriate locations
• To promote accessibility to everyday facilities for all, especially those without access to a car
• To promote the integration of all forms of transport and land use planning, leading to a better, more efficient transport system

Why have a Route Management Strategy?

The Highways Agency has a set of strategic plans for the road network. The RMS has been designed to ensure that these plans are used to develop roads that better serve the people who use them.

The process involves consultation with a wide variety of organisations from local councils to public transport operators. It will also involve contributions from users of the route and those communities alongside each route. This will be essential part of developing the strategy.

Finally, the RMS will ensure that transport improvements are integrated with other Studies and Plans, such as Multi-Modal Studies and Local Transport Plans.

How do we develop the Route Management Strategy?

The structure of the RMS and its development is determined by the issues raised through consultation. The timetable sets out the key dates in the development of the strategy.

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Route Functions and Objectives

Route Functions

The following are the M5 J9-15 Route Functions as identified and agreed at the Value Management 1 Workshop:

• To connect the North West and West Midlands to the South West;
• To provide access to ports and airports, including Avonmouth, Bristol and Birmingham;
• To provide access to the peripheral regions of Devon and Cornwall, sustaining tourism and the economy;
• To provide a network management alternative to access Wales during incidents on the M50;
• To access major conurbations; and
• To provide a bypass for settlements on routes such as the A38.

Route Objectives

The following are the M5 Route Objectives as agreed at the Value Management 1 Workshop held in September 2002:

Safety and Accidents

To maintain the current safe standard of the route and seek to reduce accidents where possible.

Economy

To support sustainable economic activity in the South West Region generally and more particularly in designated areas of development relatively close to the motorway and to maintain journey time reliability at the current high levels achieved for most of the year whilst seeking to manage/minimise the delays caused by congestion at peak times (holiday periods in particular).

Environmental Impact

To protect the natural environment via Biodiversity Action Plans and Landscape Management Plans, especially where the route passes Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs); and

To protect the built environment, for example, by resurfacing sections of the carriageway with low-noise bituminous surfacing.

ACCESSIBILITY

To improve access to public transport and encourage high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) use of the motorway; and

To reduce the community severance caused by the motorway in some places.

Integration

To create opportunities for interchange between different modes of transport facilitating more efficient use of the motorway particularly and the transport network generally

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Possible Problems

The following section includes issues and problems identified by Atkins plus others as raised by Stakeholders and consultees at the RMS seminar. Major issues are identified on a route section by section basis below:

Section 1 - Junction 9 to 10

• Aschurch Station Park and Ride at junction 9 is not signposted from the M5.
• There are new services on the A46 which are not signed from the M5. (Signing must be balanced with sign clutter).
• Community severance at Junction 9. There are local worries about crossing the slip roads.
• Lack of multi-modal interchange areas off junction 9 and junction 10.

Section 2 - Junction 10 to 11

• Safety concerns at Junction 10 southbound off-slip merge with A4019
• Limited access at Junction 10 results in increased HGV trips through Cheltenham.

Section 3 - Junction 11 to 11a

• Junction 11 has a high accident rate - fast slip approaches and poor visibility (perceived) - (Failing to give way and signage).
• Arle Court Park and Ride off Junction 11 is not signed from the M5.
• Limited access for cyclists across Junction 11.

Section 4 - Junction 11a to 12

• Barnwood Park and Ride off Junction 11a not signed from M5.
• Noise problems through Hucclecote.
• Stroud/Tewkesbury Air Quality Management Area (levels of Nitrogen Dioxide).
• (Signage, noise and development issues).
• Concerns with complex junction layout at Junction 11a in the light of new development.
• Development pressures (Junction 11a Brockworth Trading Estate).

Section 5 - Junction 12 to 13

• Limited access at Junction 12 (North facing slips missing)
• Severnsider Park and Ride of Junction 12 not signed from M5
• Services on A419, not signed from M5
• Development pressures (Junction 12 - Housing).
• (Housing issues - resulting in 50,000 trips per day which are not all on the motorway).

Section 6 - Junction 13 to 14

• Safety issues at Junction 13. (Has the perception of being a dangerous junction, although statistics do not confirm this. Slip road work will help change the perception of this area).
• Unofficial Park and Share activities in lay-bys at Junction 13
• Limited parking for lorries
• Reported noise problems at Stinchcombe (Junction 13 - Junction 14) - noise levels do not meet Government criteria
• Michael Wood Services - limited parking for lorries (lorries using hard shoulder for overflow parking).

Section 7 - Junction 14 to 15

• South Gloucestershire Air Quality Management Area (levels of Nitrogen Dioxide)
• Slow moving HGV's south of Junction 14 (HGV accidents are increased here).
• Unofficial Park and Share activities in lay-bys at Junction 14.

Along the whole Route

• No real-time information regarding alternative modes.
• Development pressures (Green belt between Gloucester and Cheltenham) - 24 large sites where development may occur.
• Improvements in infrastructure to support future regional development - long term development is unsure.
• Limited Motorway Service Areas - (application for a new MSA adjacent to J11A has been dismissed within the last fortnight at enquiry stage as it would affect the greenbelt area) There is now an application for improvements to Michael Wood Services.
• Surface run-off from the carriageway/hard shoulder.
• Sign clutter can act as visual obstruction - trade off with too little information in other areas.
• Lorries using lay-bys for overnight breaks etc. (Needs to be addressed because a rest area for the drivers is a necessity)

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Possible Actions

Download the Final Report (620KB PDF)