Agenda item

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

The Executive Board:

(a)        NOTED the findings from the early Western Orbital technical report.

(b)        APPROVED the development of further work on the scheme for public consultation in February and March 2016 on the basis of the options set out in Appendix 1 of the report.

(c)        NOTED the progress made on assessing stand alone bus priority options for M11 Junction 11.

The Executive Board considered a report which set out the early development work that had occurred for the Western Orbital project, together with a proposed timetable for further work to link with the emerging A428/A1303 Madingley Road corridor scheme.

Stuart Walmsley, Head of Major Infrastructure Delivery at Cambridgeshire County Council, presented the report and reminded Executive Board Members that the Western Orbital had not been included in the list of prioritised schemes for tranche one of the City Deal, but was approved for early development as a tranche two scheme.  There were strategic links between the Western Orbital and the A428/A1303 schemes, so there was a case for bringing forward work for the Western Orbital in order that full consideration could be given to the preferred option for each scheme.

Mr Walmsley emphasised that the scheme was at a very early stage in its development and presented a map, set out as Figure 1 in the report, providing the key locations within the Western Orbital study area and outlining the merits of the scheme.  The report set out provisional options, including high-level key benefits and early estimated indicative costs.  It was noted that the purpose of the project at this stage was to test acceptance of the scheme in terms of viability, deliverability, its business case and whether there were any commercial opportunities.  A detailed feasibility assessment would form part of the next stage, including a public consultation on the principles of the scheme and further stakeholder engagement. 

Councillor Tim Bick, Chairman of the Joint Assembly, reported that the Assembly had considered this report at its meeting on 13 November 2015.  He highlighted the following points agreed with officers during discussion at the meeting in relation to the report:

·         it had been confirmed that the prospect of agreement to use the accommodation bridge over the M11 at Junction 11 for buses would be confirmed prior to any initial public consultation;

·         officers had agreed to consider how they could explain in the consultation the constraints that existed on varying individual traffic management measures solely to support traffic flow on and off the M11, as they each had a role to play within the broader system;

·         a study of home addresses of commuters to the Biomedical Campus had been carried out by employers, showing a concentration in the CB23 and CB24 postcode areas, implicitly strengthening the case for a western orbital bus route.  The results of this study would be shared with officers;

·         a suggestion was made for bus operators to be invited to meet with the Joint Assembly to discuss their approach to orbital routes of the kind proposed;

·         the potential contribution of a Park and Ride site on Huntingdon Road to intercept southbound traffic from the A14 would be evaluated alongside the options identified in the report.

Councillor Bick reported that a number of Joint Assembly Members had expressed support for encouraging cycling from Park and Ride sites or providing additional, specific Park and Cycle points. 

In terms of the proposed consultation, even given it was at the initial, conceptual stage, Members of the Assembly indicated that they would like to be satisfied that the above issues were addressed before the consultation was published in order that they could be confident that what was sent out to the public was clear and well explained.  He acknowledged that this would cause a slight delay to the start of the consultation, but the Assembly considered this should be tolerable given that the project was expected to be delivered only in tranche 2 and that there would still be sufficient time for development work during tranche 1.  The Joint Assembly supported the recommendations contained within the report, subject to the public consultation timetable being amended so that it commenced in the Spring 2016 in order that a draft of the consultation document could be considered by the Joint Assembly and Executive Board at their February and March meetings, respectively.

Mr Walmsley confirmed that consideration of a Huntingdon Road Park and Ride site would be included in the consultation as part of the overall package of measures.  He highlighted, however, that this would be dependant on Highways England in view of the fact that it owned the A14, although it was noted that this was not directly related to the Western Orbital corridor scheme.

John Bridge, representing the Local Enterprise Partnership, asked for an update on the stand alone project relating to bus priority options for Junction 11 of the M11, which the Board had previously agreed.  Mr Walmsley referred to a briefing note within the agenda pack for this meeting and said that officers had been in discussions with Highways England.  He gave an assurance that officers were committed to this project and that a great deal of work had been undertaken behind the scenes.  Mr Bridge responded and was frustrated with the delay in progressing this project further.  Graham Hughes, Executive Director of Economy, Transport and Environment at Cambridgeshire County Council, said that there were still a number of uncertainties with this project in terms of whether Highways England would agree that it was an acceptable scheme and whether the scheme’s business case would be sufficient enough to meet the very strict criteria set by the Department for Transport.  He confirmed that a more substantial report would be submitted to the Board as soon as any further information became available.

Councillor Steve Count, Leader of Cambridgeshire County Council, in discussing the Joint Assembly’s recommendation to delay the consultation, was of the opinion that any further consideration of the consultation document could become restrictive.  In view of it being a high-level, conceptual consultation he believed that it should go ahead in accordance with the originally proposed timetable.

Councillor Lewis Herbert, Chairman of the Executive Board, made the point that this scheme would undergo a minimum of two public consultations as part of the process and agreed that it should proceed as originally proposed.  He emphasised that there would be further opportunities as part of further stages of the scheme for Joint Assembly and Executive Board Members to have an input.  Councillor Herbert thanked Councillor Bick and the Joint Assembly for their comments and suggested that the draft document could be shared with all Executive Board and Joint Assembly Members prior to its publication. 

The Executive Board:

(a)        NOTED the findings from the early Western Orbital technical report.

(b)        APPROVED the development of further work on the scheme for public consultation in February and March 2016 on the basis of the options set out in Appendix 1 of the report.

(c)        NOTED the progress made on assessing stand alone bus priority options for M11 Junction 11.