North Fringe to Hengrove package
See our sister website travelplus.org.uk where all you can find out about all our major transport schemes and where all new infomration on the progress of the North Fringe Hengrove package will be published from January 2010 onwards.
At the end of 2008 all the 39 local, unitary, county and city councils including Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Gloucestershire and the four West of England councils went through a process of prioritising major transport schemes for the region and allocating money to these schemes. Each recommendation for funding is made on the understanding that it will have to meet Department for Transport (DfT) requirements. This is the RFA or Regional Funding Allocation process.
The regions priorities were submitted to government in February 2009 and approved by the Secretary of State in July 2009. This has set aside approximately £450 million of government funding for eleven major transport schemes across the West of England sub-region. If these schemes achieve full DfT approval construction will start by 2019.
One of these transport schemes is the North Fringe to Hengrove Package and was allocated £168 million towards its cost. As part of the agreement the local authorities are required to provide at least 10% match funding. This makes the total cost of the Package at least £180 million.
The North Fringe to Hengrove Package links existing housing with business and tackles current traffic and congestion issues, as well as helping to encourage investment into the area.
It is aimed at improving the quality of life for people in the area - tackling congestion, improving road safety, making schools, shops, healthcare and jobs more accessible to people, and improving air quality.
Timescales
The process of making a full, detailed, major scheme bid to the DfT has to be completed before the much needed funding is actually granted to the West of England to implement the package.
The West of England councils are working on submitting a Major Scheme Business Case to the DfT by March 2010 which is the first step to receiving the money.
The details of the project are being developed by Bristol and South Gloucestershire councils.
The Package
The Package is composed of three projects drawn together that will make a positive difference to travelling in the North and East Fringes of Bristol and improve links with the south of Bristol via the city centre.
It aims to tackle congestion and reduce dependency on the car, to improve access to job opportunities, help tackle deprivation and link with the proposed new business and housing developments.
The three interrelated projects which make up the Package are:
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The Package has no set routes or plans at the moment - at this stage nothing is ruled in or out and work needs to be done on all the parts to make sure they are deliverable.
Technical appraisal of routes and plans looking at viability and deliverability has started and in due course these will be made available for comment. As the work progresses we will inform local residents and business of our plans and there will be an opportunity to comment. The full range of statutory consultations will also be held.
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Working together at a strategic level as the West of England Partnership has made local cross council transport schemes such as the £70 million investment in the Greater Bristol Bus Network across the four authorities possible. |
Each council is responsible for the work in their area. The individual councils ( Bristol and South Gloucestershire) will be managing their projects within the package, investigating the options and carrying out the technical work, sharing information and keeping their projects on track. The West of England Partnership is co-ordinating the pulling together of the three projects to form the package.
For more information on the North Fringe to Hengrove Package follow the links to
Consultation on different aspects of the package is taking place during November and December follow the links to take part
Read the Bristol City Council consultation and take part in the questionnaire
Read the South Gloucestershire Council consultation and take part in the questionnaire