Agenda item

-        Strategic Director of Environment and Development Services to report.

Councillor Smith, Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Development Services, introduced a report by the Strategic Director of Environment and Development Services, which outlined the Highways Agency’s (HA) proposed Managed Motorways proposals on sections of the M1 motorway within South Yorkshire, which were due to commence in April, 2013. The proposals involved the introduction of a new All Lane Running standard which would see the conversion of the Hard Shoulder to a permanent running lane. The report also set out the risks associated with the proposals and the views of the emergency services.

South Yorkshire Police (SYP) and South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue (SYFR) have considered the proposed MM-ALR standards and have raised their concerns regarding the new standard. These views have also been shared by ACPO and CFOA and have been expressed to the Highways Agency

From an operational experience perspective the emergency services suggested that the risk of collisions involving stationary vehicles during non-peak times was an unacceptable risk and one which would have serious and potentially fatal consequences.  This risk also involved those personnel who worked on the motorways along with the public. There were also significant issues relating to the ability of the Police to conduct pursuit and enforcement activities on this stretch of motorway as it was currently designed.

As a result of the above, and given that South Yorkshire will be the first area that would see the new standard introduced, representatives from South Yorkshire Police, South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue and the South Yorkshire Local Transport Plan Team have been meeting with the Highways Agency to consider these concerns with the aim of reaching a way forward that can be accepted by all parties.

Over the last couple of months the Highways Authority have explained, in significant detail, their position regarding the safety predictions for this new scheme. They have talked through the detail of their predictive risk registers and the rationale they have used for modelling and testing the scheme design.  At this stage they predict an overall decrease in risk of up to 15% although it was worth noting that this reduction in risk was not reflected in the objective for Killed and Serious Injuries (KSI’s) on this new design, which stated the safety objective to be ‘no worse off’.  This was against a local objective of reducing KSI’s by 4% per annum to 2020. However, the Highways Agency also accept that within the overall decrease in risk of 15% that the risk of a collision with a vehicle stopped in a running lane outside of peak periods increases by 200%.

In order to ensure that specific risks relevant to the section of the M1 between 32 and 35a were mitigated, the Highways Agency would continue to work collectively with the South Yorkshire Safer Roads partnership as part of a technical working group to understand what further solutions might be employed that would enable further evidence to be gathered to support the operation of All lane Running. It was understood that in order to progress with the scheme that an agreed way forward would need to be reached at the end of January, 2013.

It was anticipated that construction of the scheme would commence in Spring, 2013 and take approximately two years to complete. The construction would be undertaken in phases starting with amendments to the central reserve and then in co-ordinated sections of the motorway.

Cabinet Members noted the concerns already expressed about this stretch of motorway and also the information shared about the investments to the motorway network in South Yorkshire.

Resolved:-  (1)  That the Highways Agency’s proposed Managed Motorways All Lane Running (MM-ALR) programme be noted.

(2)  That further work be undertaken to mitigate wherever practicable the safety risks associated with the new MM-ALR standard.