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SINGLE MEMBER APPROVAL

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NORTH MIDDLESBROUGH ACCESSIBILITY (NMA)

COUNCILLOR CHARLES ROONEY - EXECUTIVE MEMBER FOR TRANSPORT

ED CHICKEN – ACTING DIRECTOR OF ENVIRONMENT

25th June 2009

PURPOSE OF THE REPORT

  1. The purpose of this report is to give a progress report on the NMA project and to respond to a Department of Transport request to confirm that the Director of Resources or his deputy can accept terms and conditions of the Capital Grant under Section 31 of the Local Government Act 2003 on behalf of the Council. This is required by Department of Transport before they will make any payments for the grant claims submitted to date.

BACKGROUND AND EXTERNAL CONSULTATION

  1. In January 2007 approval was given to proceed with the detailed design of the NMA which would deliver improvement work in and around the A66:
  1. The project will reduce journey time and improve journey time reliability in the North Middlesbrough area. The new two-way link from Newport Interchange would provide a second access to and from Riverside Park/North Middlesbrough, alleviating the existing morning and evening peak period congestion problems. The major benefit of the project is that the majority of construction is off line and remote from existing highways and live traffic. Hartington Interchange would continue to operate with spare traffic capacity because some traffic will be diverted to the new access point.
  1. Work commenced on detailed design, and following planning approval on 15 August 2007 a business case was prepared and submitted to DfT to approve funding. The business case proposed a scheme cost of £15.411m with a proposed start on site of April 2008.
  1. In June 2008 the scheme received approval from the Transport Secretary but this was capped at £12.264m pending a separate application for £0.850M of preparatory costs, which totalled £1.88m. A single Executive Member report of 4th July 2008 set out proposals to address the risk of proceeding with construction. In July 2008 work started on site 3 months behind the original planned start date.
  1. Work on site has progressed well and in particular the following works are complete;
  • Widening of the A66 between A19 and Newport
  • Extra lane around Newport Roundabout
  • Bridge beams and deck in place over Darlington /Saltburn railway line
  • Eastbound on slip from Newport roundabout re-aligned
  • New embankments in place and settlement is being assessed
  • Roundabout on Riverside Park Road

7.Work is currently being carried out on the A66 between A19 and Newport to renew the central safety barrier. This work has been coordinated with the NMA scheme although it is being funded separately. Completion of the scheme is currently programmed for early 2010 but is now expected to be completed significantly sooner.

FINANCIAL, LEGAL AND WARD IMPLICATIONS

8. A separate bid was submitted for the preparation costs as DfT advice suggested that the scheme fell under the old rules and transitional rules for reimbursement of preparation costs should be used. The Council has now been informed that this bid has been successful and this releases LTP funding, which has previously been held pending approval. The table below indicates the funding for the project.

Preparatory Costs / Other costs / Total
2008/09 / 2009/10
(£m) / (£m) / (£m) / (£m)
DfT contribution requested / 0.850 / 6.312 / 5.952 / 13.114
LA Contribution / 0.797* / 0.797
Others (ERDF/ONE) / 1.030 / 0.470 / 1.500
Total funding requirement / 1.880 / 6.312 / 7.219 / 15.411

*Available from commuted sums budget and Major Bus Bid - approval awaited

9Following submission of the quarterly grant claims the DfT have belatedly requested specific authorisation for an officer to accept terms of the grant on behalf of the Council. This is usually the Director of Resources or his deputy and it is recommended that this authorisation be given. DfT will only pay grant claims submitted when they receive this.

RECOMMENDATIONS

  1. It is recommended that:
  1. The Executive Member note the progress of the project.
  1. The Director of Resources, or his deputy be authorised to accept terms and conditions of the Capital Grant under Section 31 of the Local Government Act 2003 on behalf of the Council.

REASONS

  1. The Council is responding to the DFT request to clarify the authorisation of a nominated officer to be able to accept the terms and conditions of a Capital Grant.

BACKGROUND PAPERS

12.Thefollowing background papers were used in the preparationof this report:

  • Individual Executive report of 22 January 2007, North Middlesbrough Accessibility Study
  • Individual Executive report 4th July 2008, North Middlesbrough Accessibility Study Full Scheme Approval

AUTHOR: Alistair Bolton

TEL NO: 728174

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Address:

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