A38 BREP - Questions raised over Bromsgrove scheme

THE LATEST updates on the A38 Bromsgrove Route Enhancement Programme (BREP) were given at a special webinar last Thursday.

The session, organised by Worcestershire County Council, detailed the schemes within BREP and gave people the chance to have their say on issues surrounding it.

The overall programme is due to be completed by the end of this year.

Scheme A – the Hanbury Road junction – is now complete and Scheme B – Buntsford Drive roundabout and Charford Road – is scheduled to be finished by July.
Scheme C – the A38 and Charford Road and Stoke Road junction – is due to be completed by September and Schemes D and E should be finished by December.
Scheme D focuses on the junction where the A38 meets New Road – an additional southbound lane is being added to increase capacity and an additional lane from New Road is being introduced, along with walking and cycling route improvements.
Scheme E centres on The Oakalls roundabout with additional lanes added, including an extra exit lane on Stratford Road. Pedestrian crossings are being upgraded, carriageways widened and additional signals to increase capacity.
Scheme F – to widen the Birmingham Road near the M42 island and close the School Lane junction, making it a left turn only – should be completed by October.

The rest of the programme is for active travel.

Regents Park Road on The Oakalls (scheme 6) is aimed at improving walking and cycling routes to and from the town centre and railway station and should be completed this month.
A similar active travel scheme for Harvington Road, Bant Mill, New Road and Fordhouse Road should be finished by August.
And safety will be improved on the route from the railway station to Bromsgrove town centre by reducing speed limits and improving it for cyclists and pedestrians. That should be finished by November.

Budget

The A38 BREP is funded by £43.2million from the Department for Transport, £1.3million from the Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership and £5.2million from Section 106 agreements from housing developers.

That totals £49,7million worth of funding and spending (up to the end of December) is £25.5million.

Tina McLaughlin, the BREP programme manager for Worcestershire County Council, said the scheme was on budget and spend was where it was expected to be at this stage – the remaining works are set to be the most expensive.

She added the scheme was value for money. According to BCR (Benefit to Cost Ratio) figures, every £1 spent on the scheme was set to generate £2.30 worth of benefits to the area.

Questions and Answers

More than 180 questions and comments were received from the public.

Some asked why multiple works in different areas were taking place and ‘none completed’. It was explained different agencies often had to undertake work at different times, such as Severn Trent and utility companies.

There had been delays, caused by a number of issues, including adverse weather and complications when areas had been dug up.

Some people asked why there were low numbers of workers who seemed ‘inactive’ while roads were closed.

Andy Bond, project manager from contractor Colas Ltd, said there were several reasons for on-site inactivity, such as waiting for utility companies, finding unexpected issues when roads were dug up, adverse weather and waiting for materials to arrive.

People asked how long drivers would save on their journey times once the work was complete. It was anticipated southbound journeys would be two minutes faster during the morning rush hour and one minute in the afternoons and northbound journey time-savings would range from 30 seconds to one minute.

The scheme is aimed at futureproofing Bromsgrove’s road network but it is anticipated these time savings would reduce by 2040.

Another question asked how the scheme would prevent residential rat-running and congestion, particularly with HGVs.

Catherine Tipton, from Jacobs, delivering the scheme for the county council, said, once the A38 completely reopened, it would offer the quickest main route both north and south to and from Bromsgrove, meaning it would be less attractive for drivers to use cut-throughs and rat runs.

This would also make the surrounding roads safer for pedestrians and cyclists as the main body of traffic would use the A38.

On active travel, Ms McLaughlin said it was predicted that, once completed, the new routes for walking and cycling would lead to 2,000 more journeys by foot or bike every day.

Another issue raised was frequent flooding by Morrisons Bromsgrove.

Mr Bond said 600metres of new drainage improvements were due to be installed on that stretch of road, including new gullies. These would not be connected until towards the end of the scheme.

But, he added, when they were, there would be a big improvement, thanks to the extra water capacity incorporated.

And the county council said it ‘ took all public feedback on board’.

Ms McLaughlin said one example was Regents Park Road where residents had expressed concerns about the changes and the authority was now looking into those fears and would be publishing a report on it.