Cheshire & Warrington Local Transport Body Date of Meeting: Friday 6 April 2018 Report of: Roy Newton Subject/Title: Sustainable Travel Access Fund Report Summary The C&W LEP was awarded £5 million as part of Local Growth Fund (LGF) to fund projects as part of the sub-region’s Active Travel Investment Strategy. Local authorities were invited to submit bids for funding towards schemes in line with the intentions set out in the original LGF bid. Bids were received for 8 schemes totalling around £7.5 million. Following assessment of the bids and discussions with authorities on the scalability of some of the schemes to maximise the outcomes within the available budget, the following distribution of the is proposed: Scheme Name Promoting Authority Bid (£’000s) Proposed Allocation (£’000s) Wilmslow Strategic and Walking Route Cheshire East Council 850 500 Northwest Crewe Cycling and Walking Link Cheshire East Council 1200 1100 A5117 Cycle Route, Ellesmere Port Cheshire West & Chester Council 380 380 Sutton Way Boulevard, Ellesmere Port Cheshire West & Chester Council 640 640 Station View and Canal Towpath Enhancement Cheshire West & Chester Council 2739 680 Trans Pennine Trail upgrade Warrington Council 600 600 Chester Road promenade route Warrington Council 600 600 Burtonwood to Omega shared use path Warrington Council 500 500 Total 7509 5000 Recommendation The Local Transport Body is asked to endorse the proposed distribution of the sustainable travel access fund, subject to satisfactory business cases being developed.
Next Steps Following LTB endorsement of the schemes the Body wishes to support, the schemes will need to be taken forward in line with the LEP accountability framework. Funding distribution will be confirmed by the LEP Board in May and project sponsors will need to submit business cases when they are ready to the LEP’s Performance and Investment (P&I) Committee who will consider and approve detailed appraisal information for pipeline projects prioritised for funding. P&I committee will also provide feedback to project sponsors for any projects that fail to pass the investment gateway stage. The LEP executive team will be available to support project sponsors with advice on business case development. Appendix 1 Scheme Name Strategic Fit Outputs Funding/ VfM Deliverability Wilmslow Strategic Cycle and Walking Route Good strategic fit linking to key employment Good outputs in terms of supporting numbers of pedestrians and cyclists and linked to job growth Very high BCR. Council will underwrite any increase in scheme costs. No private land required, no planning permission required. Risk mitigation on land issues. Could start next Jan and complete by Aug 2019. Scheme is scaleable. Northwest Crewe Cycling and Walking Link Good strategic fit. Complements Bentley Masterplan. Good outputs in terms of supporting numbers of pedestrians and cyclists High BCR. Consultation already carried out as part of wider package of works. No land issues anticipated. Detailed design has already been undertaken on some elements and outline for others. Could be done in phases. Cycle Route, Ellesmere Port Good strategic fit, linking Ellesmere Port to Cheshire Oaks and Chester Good outputs in terms of supporting access to jobs but lacks quantification of numbers of pedestrians and cyclists Very high BCR Can be broken into phases. No Land or planning permission reqd. Milestones seem optimistic.
Sutton Way Boulevard, Ellesmere Port Good strategic fit linking town centre with the Western Fringe and residential areas and provide a link to Chester by joining up with Stanney Lane. Good outputs in terms of supporting numbers of pedestrians and cyclists Very high BCR May be issues securing the land around the flats. 5 phases to scheme. Not programmed to complete until March 2021 Station View and Towpath Enhancement Good strategic fit linking Ellesmere Port and Chester Good outputs in terms of supporting numbers of pedestrians and cyclists and supporting access to jobs High BCR. Very expensive scheme. Replace of bridge comprising a significant element of the costs. Need NR permissions and track access to build the bridge, therefore risks to delivery timetable. No land or planning Pemission required. Can be delivered in phases. Trans Pennine Trail upgrade Good strategic fit, linking residential and employment plus tourism route. Good outputs in terms of supporting numbers of pedestrians and cyclists Very high BCR Scheme can be broken down into two elements. No planning permission or land required. Not forecast to start until May 2020 Chester Road promenade route Good strategic fit linking to Centre Park Link and Trans-Pennine Way Good outputs in terms of supporting numbers of pedestrians and cyclists High BCR Design competition may delay scheme but could provide great innovation. No planning permission required, but unclear about land ownership. Consultation not yet undertaken. Burtonwood to Omega shared use path Good strategic fit linking to the Omega site which now employs 7000+ and the Gemini retail park that employs 2000+. Good outputs in terms of supporting numbers of pedestrians and cyclists Very high BCR Outline design completed, planning permission not required but multiple land owners.