Highways Agency

A34 Chieveley / M4 Jct 13 Improvement

A34 Chieveley/M4 Junction 13 Improvement

Background Information

Draft Orders for the scheme were originally published in January 1992. Public Inquiries into the Orders were held in July/August 1992 and the Secretaries of State for Transport and Environment subsequently confirmed the Orders. In December 1994, following a successful High Court Challenge, parts of the Side Roads Order were quashed.

Following the Government's Review of the Roads Programme in 1994 the scheme was placed on hold. Since then the time limit for the validity of the Compulsory Purchase Order has expired. All the other Orders, except those parts quashed following the High Court Challenge, remain valid.

In July 1998 the scheme was included in the Government's Targeted Programme of Improvements as set out in 'A New Deal for Trunk Roads in England', published by the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions.

In March 2000 The Secretary of State republished the Side Roads Orders and a draft Compulsory Purchase Order for all the land required for the scheme. These Orders were considered at a Public Inquiry held between 19 September 2000 and 1 June 2001.

Why the scheme is needed

The A34 is the main route between the ports of Portsmouth and Southampton, and the Midlands. Following the opening of the Newbury Bypass in November 1998, the A34 between M3 Junction 9 and M40 Junction 9, north of Oxford, is dual carriageway throughout. The A34/M4 junction is the only at grade roundabout on the route.

During an average day the A34 in the vicinity of Junction 13 carries approximately 60,000 vehicles, of which about one third are A34 through traffic. Approximately 16% of these vehicles are Heavy Goods Vehicles.

Congestion often occurs at the junction during peak hours, with traffic queues extending back onto the M4 motorway and for a considerable distance along the A34. The current congestion at Junction 13 results in 'rat-running' through local villages.

Predicted traffic growth will further increase the present delays and lead to more severe congestion at the roundabout.

The main objective of the scheme is to improve the free flow and safety of traffic on the A34, by providing unimpeded flow for the north-south through traffic. This would help to alleviate congestion on the roundabout and the slip roads forming Junction 13 of the M4.

The proposed scheme

The proposed scheme is for a 3.0km (1.9miles) length of dual carriageway located approximately 4kms (2.5miles) north of Newbury, in Berkshire. At the southern end it would divert from the existing A34 route corridor, directly north of Curridge Road Bridge, and tie in to the recently constructed Newbury Bypass. The carriageway would then continue northwards under the M4 motorway, to the west of the existing Junction 13 roundabout. Beyond the M4, the route would pass to the east of Radnall Farm before rejoining the existing A34 at Chieveley Crossroads Bridge, at the northern end of the scheme.

North and south of the M4, connections between the proposed A34 and the roundabout at Junction 13 would be provided by slip roads. The existing traffic signals at the Junction 13 roundabout would remain.

An underpass would take the A34 under the M4. In addition, four major bridges would be required to the south of the M4 and one to the north.

South of the M4, the re-aligned A34 would follow the existing ground level before entering a cutting up to 7 meters deep. North of the M4, the route would be in a cutting up to 16 meters below the existing ground level, before climbing to rejoin the existing A34. Access to the local highway network south of the M4 would be provided via the proposed local Oxford Road. This road would replace the existing slip roads connecting Arlington Lane and Curridge Road with the A34.

The local Oxford Road would be a new two-way road from Arlington Lane to a roundabout, south of Hilton Hotel. The roundabout would provide connections to the trunk road network.Two new roundabouts, to the south west of the Chieveley Service Area, would also provide connections to the trunk road network. A two-way carriageway, between the two roundabouts, would complete the local road network.

To assist road user safety, advance directional signs would be provided on four overhead gantries. These gantries would be located between the southern end of the scheme and the M4. New road lighting would be provided at the Junction 13 roundabout, on the approach roads to the roundabout and the two roundabouts at Hilton Hotel and Chieveley Services. Lighting would also be provided within the M4 underpass. The duration of the construction works would be approximately two years. The start of construction depends on the progress of the statutory procedures and the availability of funds.

Measures taken to reduce environmental effects

The proposed scheme has been designed to minimize, as far as possible, any adverse effects to the environment whilst still considering other factors such as road safety, engineering design and cost.

A range of mitigation measures would be provided to further reduce the effect of noise and the visual impact of the scheme on the surrounding area. These measures include extensive round modeling, the use of carefully sited planting and a 500m long environmental barrier, tapering from 2 to 1m high, north of Chieveley Crossroads Bridge.

The proposed route has been optimized to reduce the land take required and minimize the number of properties to be demolished. There are no direct impacts on any Sites of Special Scientific Interest or Wildlife Heritage Sites.

The Secretary of State's Decision

The Secretary of State, in his Decision letter of 27 February 2002 on the Public Inquiry held between 19 September 2000 and 1 June 2001, accepted the Inquiry Inspector's recommendations that the Orders for the scheme should be modified to allow for the following:

• Revised access arrangements for Chieveley Service Area and the adjacent maintenance depot, as shown in alternative AP5A;
• The provision of a dedicated bridleway bridge that would allow non-motorised traffic to pass over the new A34, the slip roads to J13 and the Local Oxford Road as alternative AP6;
• Reduction of planting and deletion of ground modelling on land in the south west corner of the junction owned by Legal and General.

In accordance with the Decision Letter the parties likely to be affected have been consulted on the proposed modifications. Comments or representations were due to be returned by 31 May 2002. After that date the Secretary of State will make the final decision on the draft Orders in the light of any comments received.