Agenda item

To consider the attached report by Graham Hughes, Executive Director (Cambridgeshire County Council).

The Executive Board:

(a)        AGREED that improvements to Junction 11 of the M11, as set out in the options of the feasibility report, be investigated further as an urgent standalone project with Highways England in terms of initially assessing feasibility and whether a business case would be likely to be viable and that an update on progress with this issue be submitted to the next meeting of the Board.

(b)        NOTED the findings of the technical report.

(c)        NOTED that the outcome of the A428/A1303 (Madingley Rise and Madingley Road) corridor and Western Orbital scheme development work will be the key determinant in considering the future recommended bus priority options in the locations set out in the report, in respect of Junction 13 of the M11.

Councillor Tim Bick, Chairman of the Joint Assembly, provided the Board with a report following consideration of this issue at the meeting of the Assembly held on 16 September 2015. 

Councillor Bick informed the Board that Assembly Members discussed the report and had noted the advice from officers to return to these schemes when considering options for the Western Orbital scheme, the process for which was scheduled to commence in December 2015.  A number of Assembly Members were impatient with progress, in particular with changes to the M11 southbound exit at Junction 11 which they had regarded as a relatively inexpensive project that could be easily delivered.  Some Assembly Members had reservations about advancing one potential component of a Western Orbital scheme.  The Assembly agreed, however, that the Executive Board be requested to accelerate improvements to Junction 11 of the M11 as soon as possible, as a standalone project.  It also supported the other recommendations contained within the report, but only in respect of Junction 13 following the Assembly’s recommendation in respect of Junction 11.

Stuart Walmsley, Head of Major Infrastructure Delivery at Cambridgeshire County Council, reported that the Executive Board on 17 June 2015 requested a high-level feasibility report on a number of scenarios with regard to Junctions 11 and 13 of the M11, following a recommendation by the Joint Assembly.  He emphasised that the report made no recommendations and was solely a technical report or study on some options from an illustrative perspective for the Board’s consideration.  He referred to early advance work that was taking place around the Western Orbital scheme, scheduled to be reported to the Board at its meeting on 3 December 2015.  It was reported that a more detailed study of the whole corridor would take place in due course, subject to Board approval, which would provide an opportunity to look at these Junctions in more detail as part of that process.

Mr Walmsley also pointed out that, at this stage, the future of Junctions 11 and 13 of the M11 were unknown in the context of the City Deal and the Western Orbital scheme.  Options and proposals coming forward for the scheme may not mirror what had been included or identified as part of the high-level feasibility report so, if work progressed on this as a standalone project, it could be that some of the work may not be required as part of the Western Orbital scheme, resulting in it being aborted and the resources being wasted in the longer term.

The following points were made during discussion:

·         a project seeking to make improvements to Junction 11 should go ahead, despite there being a risk that in the longer term the works may not feature as part of plans or proposals for the City Deal Western Orbital scheme;

·         commencement of this project would indicate to people that the Board was listening, that it was working together with the Joint Assembly and that it was trying to do something to improve problems at that Junction;

·         Highways England needed to be content with whatever was being proposed as the M11 was a Highways England road;

·         lots more businesses and employers were arriving in the area, who had provided evidence that the Junction in its current state would not be able to cope with the level of employees expected to work on their sites;

·         there was no point in progressing with a project that may not be necessary as part of the subsequent Western Orbital scheme and there was a danger that this would solely divert both officer time and City Deal funding, only for Highways England to ultimately refuse approval of the project;

·         Highways England should be contacted to ascertain its views on the potential for delivering improvements for Junction 11 of the M11, as set out in the high-level feasibility report.

The Executive Board:

(a)        AGREED that improvements to Junction 11 of the M11, as set out in the options of the feasibility report, be investigated further as an urgent standalone project with Highways England in terms of initially assessing feasibility and whether a business case would be likely to be viable and that an update on progress with this issue be submitted to the next meeting of the Board.

(b)        NOTED the findings of the technical report.

(c)        NOTED that the outcome of the A428/A1303 (Madingley Rise and Madingley Road) corridor and Western Orbital scheme development work will be the key determinant in considering the future recommended bus priority options in the locations set out in the report, in respect of Junction 13 of the M11.