1. Alan Shepherd
Highways England

2. Better journeys on better roads North West

3. The strategic road network
4,300 miles of motorway and major A-roads
2% of England’s road network
4 million people drive on the network every day
The strategic road network
4,300 miles of motorways and major A roads in England
The length of the SRN represents only around 2% of the total length of England’s road network, but it carries roughly one third of the total motor vehicle traffic in England
1 billion tonnes of freight transported each year
4 million people drive on the network every day
What are the issues the SRN faces?
The network is struggling to cope in face of increasing traffic and customers demanding better information
Delays to journeys constrain business growth and stop-start funding has made it difficult to plan
Carbon emissions and noise impact significantly on local communities

4. Introducing Highways England
We are Highways England – the new public company responsible for the maintenance, modernisation and operation of the Strategic Road Network in England
We were formed in April 2015.
We are a public service company, operating a public network – owned by government, but operating with commercial freedom.
We’re monitored by the Office of Rail & Road Regulation and Transport Focus
What does having this new company mean?
We have a big brief - to deliver the biggest road investment programme for a generation.
We have a 5-year investment plan which is set out in our Delivery Plan - £11 billion of capital investment in five years (roads period one)
More certainty of funding & flexibility which means we can improve the way that we work As a government-owned company we will move away from the constraints of being an executive agency. The move towards long term funding certainty, away from stop start decision making and greater commercial flexibility will enable us to respond positively to customer demands and speed up delivery. This will ensure we work alongside our suppliers to gear up to delivering the considerable uplift in investment together with realising the level of efficiencies required.

5. Roads reform and strategic road investment
The government published it’s Road Investment Strategy in December last year. It sets out a long term programme for motorways and major roads. It sets out a strategic vision, funding plan and performance specification.
We published a response to the RIS in December through our Strategic Business Plan. This sets out how we intend to delier the investment plan and performance requirements set out in the RIS over the first road period.
In March we published our Delivery Plan which sets out in detail how we will deliver our strategic outcomes and measure success against the performance specification.

6. Our vision and strategy
Supporting economic growth
Safe and serviceable network
More free flowing network
Improved environment
More accessible and integrated network
What we will deliver
The increased investment in the SRN over the next five years will deliver substantial benefits for road users, communities and the nation as a whole.
We have set out five strategic outcomes in our strategic business plan, which form the basis of our delivery plan:
The following slides give more details about each of these outcome areas.

7. Supporting economic growth
Delivering significant growth in investment
112 major improvements
£7.7bn of capital investment
£4 of benefits to the economy for every £1 spent
Reducing average delay
Route Strategies
At the heart of our plans for delivering the RIS for RP1 is a drive to support and encourage economic growth across England and the wider UK. We will do this by modernising the network to relieve congestion and reduce delays, helping businesses to grow, encouraging investment and creating jobs, as well as opening up new areas for investment.
Investment in the strategic road network has progressively grown over the past few years. Investment in major improvements has grown from around £450 million in 2012/13 to more than £750 million this year.
When our programme completes at the end of RP1 we will have delivered more than 300 miles of additional lanes, including junction, road widening and 286 lane miles of smart motorways. Our agreed programme of major improvements for the next five years totals around £7 billion.
We will be focussing on reducing average delay times. Many factors influence this, some of which aren’t within our control, but we’ll be seeking to reduce delays as far as possible.
Underpinning the way in which we plan and coordinate future interventions on the network, from an operational, maintenance and modernisation perspective, is our route strategies. Working closely with Local Enterprise Partnerships and other local partners and stakeholders we use route strategies to identify current and future constraints to economic growth that the performance of the SRN causes, and identify how future delivery and investment plans might address them.
We have completed our first set of Route Strategies. Looking forward to RP2 – route strategies will be fundamental, from a evidence-gathering perspective. We are currently developing a revised approach to them for agreement with the SofS, and we will be engaging with key stakeholders regionally and nationally.

8. A safe and serviceable network
Investment to improve the network
More than 90% of travel on the network will be on roads with a safety rating of EuroRAP 3*
Not just our infrastructure - also individual behaviour and vehicle technology
Maintaining pavement condition to at least 95% without need for further investigation
£3.7bn renewing and maintaining the network
Reducing the number of people killed or seriously injured on the network by 40% (by end 2020)
England’s strategic road network is currently one of the safest in the world. The HA always put safety at the core of its work, and as Highways England we will build on this legacy, working towards the goal of bringing the number of people killed or seriously injured on the network as close as possible to zero by 2020, but as a minimum reducing them by 40%.
Investment to improve the network will make a significant contribution
Through the investment and wholesale modernisation of the network we will ensure that by the end of 2020 more than 90% of travel on the network will be on roads with a safety rating of EuroRAP 3* (or equivalent).
Not just investing in our infrastructure - also individual behaviour and vehicle technology - more detailed plan in August 2015
Maintaining pavement condition to at least 95% without need for further investigation
Over the next five years we will invest more than £3.7bn renewing and maintaining the network – to keep it in good condition. This will include an ambitious resurfacing programme. We will be taking a longer term and more integrated view of modernisation and maintenance, based on better asset knowledge

9. More free flowing network
At least 97% of the network available to traffic
Organise road works to minimise disruption
Improving the overall response to incidents
Improving information to help people make better decisions on their journeys
Operational strategy - to be published by December 2015
At least 85% of all motorway incidents cleared within one hour
We aim to provide a more free flowing network, where journeys are easier, safer and more reliable & delays are less likely.
We have a challenging target for network availability - 97%
To achieve this we will:
Organise road works to minimise disruption
Improve the overall response to incidents, critical to work with our partners to achieve this
Improve information to help people make better decisions on their journeys: we’re putting in place measures to ensure the information we provide to traffic England is correct and accurate – by looking at the process which informs Traffic England, and the accuracy of the data. Next year we’re planning to implement a new system (NOMS) which will make it easier for more accurate information to be inputted and validated. In the longer term we’re looking at transforming our NTIS system with the ambition of including more information on TE website such as the time after incidents when the road will return to normal
Operational strategy to be published by December 2015, setting out how we will manage demand and increase availability of the network

10. Improved environment
Delivering long term benefits to the
natural and built environment
£300m of investment specifically targeted
Mitigate from noise 1,150 important areas
Ten pilot schemes to improve air quality
Improving resilience to flooding and water quality
Biodiversity Action Plan - published
We are committed to ensuring that all activity on the network is delivered in a manner than does not harm the environment, but instead delivers long term benefits to the natural and built environment, creating a sustainable future for all.
We will deliver:
£300m of investment specifically targeted at improving the environment
Install noise mitigation measures at 1,150 important areas
Undertake ten pilot schemes to improve air quality
Install measures to improve resilience to flooding and water quality
Take targeted action to improve biodiversity – HE BDP now published

11. Accessible and integrated network
Integrate with other networks
Specific schemes to integrate with local road development, existing and emerging rail links, ports and airports.
Support for park and ride schemes
New and upgraded crossings to help cyclists, walkers and other users
Our ambition is that people should be able to travel across and alongside our network. We particularly need to improve the provision for walkers, cyclists and other users.
We will:
Provide at least 150 new and upgraded crossings to help cyclists, walkers and other users
Work to integrate crossings better with other networks, for example we will be undertaking:
Specific schemes to integrate with local road development, existing and emerging rail links, ports and airports.
Including support for park and ride schemes

12. Customer focus We will have an increased customer focus
Up to 85 billion miles of journeys per year
Communities, road-users, stakeholders
Customer experience through roadworks trial
We will have an increased customer focus
We recognise that customers are at the heart of what we do:
Up to 85 billion miles of journeys per year
We recognise that we impact on a number of different groups and audiences and we’re looking to improve our customer service across the piece.
Currently we’re trialling a new approach to customer experience through roadworks which is based on experience from the airline sector. Trials such as these, and an increase in the capability of our workforce to manage customer issues will help us to become a more customer focussed organisation
The Government has rightly set us a clear target to achieve a 90% satisfaction score by 31 March 2017.

13. Key measurements
Making the network safer
At least 40% less KSIs by end of 2020
Supporting the smooth flow of traffic
97% available in any one rolling year
85% motorway incidents cleared
within 1 hour
Improving user Satisfaction
90% by 31-Mar-17 and maintain/improve
Achieving real efficiency - meet delivery plan forecasts
£1.2bn cost savings on capital expenditure
Encouraging economic growth Report time lost per vehicle per mile
Keeping the network in good condition
95% of pavement in safe/serviceable condition
Delivering better environmental outcomes
1,150 noise important areas mitigated
- Reduce net biodiversity loss annually
Helping cyclists, walkers, and other vulnerable users
Report number of new/upgraded crossings
Source: DfT RIS Dec 2014
This is a summary of the key measures which we’ll be working to

14. Our regional challenges
Cheshire, Merseyside South Lancashire & Greater Manchester
120 miles of motorway
130 miles of All Purpose Trunk Road
Cumbria & Lancashire
270 miles of motorway
50 miles of All Purpose Trunk Road
Our investment is within the context of the challenges specific to this region.
The North West is a very large a diverse region
In the Southern part of the region we have mainly urbanised motorway
Whilst the Northern section is home to the Lake District National Park
We have the key trans-Pennine links of the M62 and A66 which can present a tough challenge for our winter maintenance teams.
The North West has the greatest traffic flows outside of London and traffic flows are increasing.
Maintaining and improving these routes while continuing to sustain very high levels of traffic flow to support these cities is a daily challenge. In addition, the impact on air quality and noise from this traffic on communities near these busy routes is an increasing concern.
We need to continue working to bring forward safety and other improvements to reduce the number of road casualties, connect communities and better serve vulnerable road users, like pedestrians, cyclists and horse riders on routes like the A66, A69, A590 and A595.

15. Major schemes in construction
Investment
(1) A556 Improvement –Knutsford to Bowden
c. £192 million
(15) M60 Jct 8 – M62 Jct 20
c. £202 million
Investment in the strategic road network across England has progressively grown over the past few years
We’re extremely proud that we’ve been able to deliver this investment and customers are now experiencing the benefits.
In April 2015 we started a five year investment period – called Road Period 1. This spans the period 2015/16 to 2019/20 – and during this period we have plans to sustain our current level of regional investment, by investing £1.5 billion in the region’s strategic road network. That means starting or completing 16 major road schemes.
Our schemes which are currently in construction:
A556 Knutsford to Bowden.
Will be open to traffic in Winter 2016/17. We are constructing a 4.5 mile (7.5km) improvement of the A556 trunk road between Knutsford and Bowdon to create a modern dual carriageway road. The new road will address the significant congestion problems and will reduce accident numbers within the area.
(15) M60 Jct and M62 Jct
We are working to improve the M60 by making it a smart motorway between junction 8 of the M60 and junction 20 of the M62. It is an integral part of the main east-west transport corridor in the north west, linking Merseyside and greater Manchester with Yorkshire and the Humber.
Smart Motorways
Smart motorways help relieve congestion by using technology to vary speed limits. They deliver these benefits at a significantly lower cost and in less time than conventional motorway widening and with less impact on the environment during construction.
We already have evidence of the benefits that a smart motorway scheme can bring. The first smart motorway scheme opened to traffic on the M42 motorway in Recent analysis of the data gathered since opening has found that journey time reliability improved by 22 per cent and reduced emissions by up to 10 per cent due to traffic flowing more smoothly. In addition, personal injury accidents have reduced by more than half.

16. Schemes due to start by 2019/20
Investment
(21) M6 Jct smart motorway
£192 - £274 million
(33) M6 Jct 21a-26 smart motorway
£100 - £250 million
(34) M60 Jct 24-4 smart motorway
(40) M62 Jct smart motorway
(49) M62 Jct smart motorway
(41) M56 Jct 6-8 smart motorway
£25 - £50 million
(50) A585 Windy Harbour - Skippool
c. £41 million
(51) A5036 Princess Way
£250 - £500 million
(52) M6 Junction 22 upgrade
(53) M53 Jct 5 – 11 smart motorway
£50 - £100 million
(54) M56 new junction 11a
(55) M6 Junction 19 improvements
c. £191 million
Several of our schemes aren’t yet in construction, but we’re planning to start them before the end of this road period – by 2019/20. This includes 7 Smart Motorway schemes which is part of a £1.5 billion national investment to build 10 smart motorways. Our long term goal is to have a smart motorway spine linking London, Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds.

17. Northern Powerhouse
Three feasibility studies
Trans-Pennine tunnel
Northern trans-Pennines
Manchester North West quadrant
As part of the Norther Powerhouse we are undertaking three feasibility studies to develop the next generation of major road improvements in the North. This work will feed into the second roads investment period from to 2025 and will represent the second phase of the plan to realise the vision for the roads in the North of England.
New studies being undertaken include;
Trans Pennine tunnel – Study the viability of a tunnel under the Pennines to link Manchester and Sheffield. Completing a ‘triangle’ of major roads between Manchester, Leeds and Sheffield; taking HGVs and other traffic out of the Peak District National park and protecting our natural heritage
A66/A69 – Northern trans-Pennines – Looking at significant upgrades on both routes between the M6 and A1 to improve the east-west connections.
Manchester North West quadrant – Exploring options for resolving congestion on the M60 (Junctions 8 – 18) and on the M62 between Manchester and Warrington. This would look at a range of options for improving the transport network in this area and resolving a key blockage on the strategic road network between the North West, West Yorkshire, Hull and Humber and the North East.

18. Maintaining the network
129 lane miles of new road surface
488 lane miles of road markings
63,000 metres of vehicular barriers
60,000 metres of drainage
152 technology renewals and upgrades
Nobody should be harmed when travelling or working on our roads. We believe that safety comes first and we are determined to continue driving up safety standards across our network. To help keep people safe we need to keep the network in good condition which is why we’ll be investing more than £100 million in the region this year. This slide gives you a flavour of what that will include for 2015/16.
We are working towards a much better forward-plan of maintenance and small improvement works. Previously we’ve had annual programmes, but we’re developing a longer term view.
Minimising impact of our planned work on road users
We take customer satisfaction very seriously, and the challenging target we have been given around this by government of a 90% satisfaction rating.
We will continue to carry out roadworks wherever possible when they have least impact on customers. In fact we typically carry out 80% of our routine maintenance work at night.
We are currently planning our 2016/17 and 17/18 programmes of smaller improvements and maintenance work – taking into account the 97% lane availability target. This means we’re looking for opportunities to deliver larger schemes where we will carry out a variety of improvement and maintenance work. This will contribute to minimising the need to return to the same section of the network to carry out further works at a later date.

19. Any questions?