Seventeen new transport schemes in England – including major local roads in Kent, Essex and Yorkshire, and a new bus system serving Greater Bristol – have been backed by transport secretary, Douglas Alexander.
A further five local authority schemes have won final approval, clearing the way for a start on the first phase of Metrolink’s expansion in Greater Manchester, two road schemes in the East Midlands, and a smartcard joint-ticketing pilot in Yorkshire.
Announcing the Government’s regional funding allocations, Alexander broadly endorsed the regions’ priorities for the next 10 years, with only a few, mild criticisms of their shortlisting processes.
Only in the West Midlands were schemes explicitly rejected - a Hertfordshire access road and Wolverhampton station upgrade - on value-for-money grounds.
However, plans to extend Sheffield’s Supertram have been all but ruled out, while funding for a bus-based alternative to light rail in Leeds is expected after 2009.
The announcement commits transport investment to schemes of regional importance for the next three years. Updated advice from the regional bodies will be taken within two years, before decisions on the ‘indicative list’ of schemes for 2009/10 to 2015/16.
Responding to calls from several regions, the Department for Transport will explore options for including rail in future regional funding allocations. Alexander also promised to consider proposals from the Southwest for a dedicated regional fund for infrastructure to be topped up by the regional development agency.
Overall, 35 major council schemes and a dozen Highways Agency schemes on routes of regional importance were under way. The five given final approval include Cambridgeshire’s £116M guided busway (Surveyor, 6 July 2006).
A further 91 new schemes got a provisional go-ahead. ‘The Government will consider (the schemes) for appraisal in future, once further work has satisfactorily been completed.’
Many of the 17 schemes which have gone straight into regional programmes will require statutory powers. The 91 are due to be added over the next 10 years.
The Government has also agreed to downgrade six schemes in the HA’s targeted programme and nine council projects, despite their earlier approval.
All others should go ahead, although eight have been significantly postponed. Alexander said the regions had, ‘for the first time’, helped make decisions on transport investment.