Transport Insights

Campaigners have declared a partial victory over National Highways’ M60/M62/M66 Simister Island scheme, despite the award of a development consent order (DCO) by the transport secretary.

Transport Action Network (TAN) said it is “very pleased to see that [Heidi Alexander] agreed with us that National Highways must improve the Haweswater Underpass as part of the M60 Simister Island scheme”.

The underpass featured in a National Highways Watch piece that I wrote for TAN about the company’s use of “designated funds” on roadbuilding schemes. National Highways claimed that improving the underpass as an active travel route under the motorway was not part of its scheme, but TAN argued that it should be.

The decision letter on the scheme does not resolve this dispute but does say clearly that Alexander considers that a proposed addition to the DCO  of a “requirement” for the company to deliver the scheme of improvements to the Haweswater Underpass “is necessary and proportionate to impact from the Proposed Development”.

It also criticises National Highways for leaving the improvement out of its scheme:

She also notes that the design process did not fully integrate opportunities for active travel infrastructure, particularly in relation to the Haweswater underpass (see traffic and transport section) and considers that a more holistic design approach could have better addressed severance and community connectivity.

I have previously covered National Highways’ statement that it intended to make a bid to itself for funding to improve the underpass, despite the current absence of a designated fund in the road investment strategy that is due to begin in April.

The decision letter makes clear that with National Highways unable to confirm that any such funding will materialise:

She also considers the inclusion of requirement 12 to be necessary as she is not sufficiently convinced by the Applicant’s recent representation that improvements would be secured through designated funding sources.

Wait till she finds out that National Highways is promising a huge number of fixes that it has no money for on toxic road runoff.