Highways Agency

• Executive summary
• 1 introduction
• 2 existing conditions
• 3 description of proposed route
• 4 engineering assessment
• 5 environmental assessment
• 6 traffic and economic assessment
• 7 consultation
• 8 conclusions

Executive summary

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

At a meeting in Scarborough on 3 March 2004 with the local MP and stakeholders, the Minister agreed that the HA should undertake additional study work on the A64 to allow adecision to be made on whether preparation work should proceed on improving the substandard links between York and Scarborough. This request followed the publication of the Broad Based Study and Economic Impact Report (EIR) that Steer Davies Gleave (SDG) completed in August 2003. This report identified two options worthy of further consideration, improving the route between York and Seamer to a dual two-lane carriageway or partial dualling, with the remainder of the route being improved to modern single carriageway standards. Two dualling options have been considered in the study, both options are the same between York and Malton, but a online and offline option have been considered from Malton to Seamer.

Capita Symonds was commissioned by The Highways Agency in June 2004. The brief required Capita Symonds to review existing, relevant information to determine if either of the above options is sufficiently robust in terms of current highway economic and environmental standards of achieving entry into the Targeted Programme of Improvements. The work has involved developing a robust cost estimate and economic assessment so that a decision can be made on the value for money that the options would provide. This could then be balanced against the likely job creation highlighted in the EIR. In addition an environmental impact assessment on the route corridor has been carried out to establish what constraints exist and the measures to mitigate any impacts identified.

Between York and Scarborough the A64 comprises a mixture of carriageway standards and measures approximately 55km in length. The route is predominantly rural in nature and is used as a holiday route. Flows vary significantly through the year and are estimated to be between 15,100 and 28,000 vehicles per day (2003 AADT figures). The analysis of accident locations suggests that the majority of safety issues can be attributed to junctions. The existing RMS currently proposes measures to "improve the safety and operational efficiency of the route over the next 10 years in a way consistent with the Governments key objectives and targets for transport investment".

Scheme cost estimates have been produced for the options being considered. These estimates contain a significant amount for the mitigation of cultural heritage, which has been identified as a major constraint to the proposals. The total estimated costs for the dualling options are £535m and the estimated cost of the partial dualling option is £220m.

The traffic and economic appraisal of the improvement of the A64 between York and Seamer has demonstrated that both dualling and the partial dualling options considered are economically justified. Improving the entire length to dual carriageway standard, as opposed to leaving some sections east Malton single carriageway, would provide the greatest benefits and economic justification. The level of traffic flow predicted in the scheme-opening year also indicates that dual carriageway improvement is appropriate.

As well as bringing economic benefits to road users, upgrading the A64 has the potential to bring wider economic benefits. The SDG Economic Impact Report estimated that a dual carriageway improvement could potentially result in the creation of up to 800 new jobs and the safeguarding of between 200 and 500 existing jobs.

Given the above, it is concluded that there is an economic justification for the proposal to upgrade the A64 to dual carriageway standard between York and Seamer.

However, there are major environmental impacts expected particularly with the full dualling that might mean that the statutory bodies would object to some elements of the proposals. The route passes through the Howardian Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (ANOB) to the west of Malton, and affects a Site of Interest to Nature Conservation (SINC) at Gillylees; it runs close to the River Derwent SSSI. However the most severe impacts are to all aspects of cultural heritage. Aside from the routes running through a registered park and adjacent to the Castle Howard estate and numerous listed buildings, the study area is particularly rich in archaeological remains. The key constraint is the statutory nature afforded to these features and the irreplaceable resources that may be affected.

An important aspect of this commission has been the consultation with the statutory consultees and stakeholders. This was to keep them both informed of the scope of the study and allow them to contribute and comment on the findings of the study as the work progressed. To facilitate this a number of meetings have been held with all interested parties.

At this stage the study suggests that there is economic justification in progressing the scheme to the next stage of assessment to identify a preferred route, however this needs to be balanced against the major environmental constraints identified, the potential risk these pose to the progress of this scheme and its high cost. In light of the extent of environmental impacts and the likely objection to proposals from the Statutory Bodies,there would be merit in carrying out further work to establish more accurately the impacts of a scheme, especially upon archaeology. This would then allow mitigation proposals to be developed that could reduce the risk of potential environmental objections. The offline dualling option would affect the proposals for the Rillington Bypass, which is currently in the TPI and therefore further assessment work should be undertaken to fix the line between Malton and Scarborough before the Rillington Bypass is progressed.