The nine were approved after a total of 拢45.5m of savings were identified in them, reducing their aggregate cost by 14%. The savings聽 mean that additional schemes across the country can now be brought forward for consideration, Transport secretary Philip Hammond said.
A further 23 schemes have today been given the green light to bid for funding from a pot worth around 拢630m. These schemes have provisionally identified overall savings of 42%.
Mr Hammond said: 鈥淭he government is committed to delivering transport projects which improve journeys while also helping economic growth.
"Following the spending review we challenged local authorities to look again at the cost of proposed schemes to ensure we get maximum value for every pound we spend. The councils being awarded funding today have met that challenge by achieving a saving to the taxpayer of 拢45.5m on the original proposed costs.
鈥淭hat means more money is now available for other schemes across the country and I would urge other councils to follow this lead as they bid for funding. This will allow us to fund as many schemes as possible, delivering improvements to roads and public transport across the country.鈥�
The Department for Transport announced in October that it was seeking best and final offers from local authorities for 10 schemes which it was prepared in principle to support. Following this challenge the local authorities found overall cost savings of 14%. The schemes are worth more than 拢365m, with an overall DfT contribution of 拢275m.
The nine schemes are:
- Leeds Station Southern Access: Improving pedestrian access to Leeds station (拢12.4m DfT contribution towards a total cost of 拢14.4m)
- Midland Metro Extension: Extending Midland Metro tram line through Birmingham City Centre (拢75.4m DfT contribution towards a total cost of 拢129.2m)
- Mansfield Public Transport Interchange: A new bus station and associated transport improvements in Mansfield (拢7.2m DfT contribution towards a total cost of 拢8.9m)
- Thornton to Switch Island Link: A new single carriageway road which will take traffic away from communities in Sefton (拢14.5m DfT contribution towards a total cost of 拢18.6m)
- Ipswich Fit for the 21st Century: An integrated package of sustainable transport improvements in Ipswich (拢18.3m DfT contribution towards a total cost of 拢21.5m)
- East of Exeter: Improvements to M5 J29, east of Exeter, providing access to new housing and employment areas (拢10.4m DfT contribution towards a total cost of 拢14.4m)
- Heysham to M6 Link Road: A bypass to the north of Lancaster, connecting Heysham to the M6 (拢110.9m DfT contribution towards a total cost of 拢123.3m)
- A57 M1 to Todwick Crossroads: Improvements on the A57 east of M1 J31, near Todwick (拢11.8m DfT contribution towards a total cost of 拢14.7m)
- Taunton Northern Inner Distributor Road: A new road in Taunton to provide additional cross town capacity and access to areas of brownfield land (拢15.2m DfT contribution towards a total cost of 拢21.7m)
The Department announced in October that all other local transport schemes for which it had received funding bids had been assigned to one of two pools.
Schemes in the development pool were told that they would be invited to bid for funding later in 2011. Schemes in the 鈥榩re-qualification pool鈥� have been subject to further assessment to determine which of them can enter the development pool.
This work has now been completed and the DfT has announced that 23 schemes will move into the development pool after the local authorities indicated an overall 42% saving can be found. Nine schemes from the pre-qualification group and two schemes which have been withdrawn by the promoter have not been moved to the development pool and are no longer being considered for funding in this spending review period.
The department hopes to fund the majority of the schemes now in the development pool subject to the quality of their business cases. However, the total likely funding request to DfT is nearly 拢950m, so the process remains competitive and local authorities will need to look for further savings to stand a good chance of funding.
Decisions on these schemes will be made by the end of 2011, DfT said.
The schemes which have moved to the development pool are:
- A43 Corby Link Road
- Luton Town Centre Transport Scheme
- Darlaston Strategic Development Area Access Scheme (Walsall)
- Camborne-Pool-Redruth Transport Package
- A164 Humber Bridge to Beverley Improvement
- Northern Road Bridge (Portsmouth)
- Kingskerswell By-pass (South Devon Link Road)
- South Bristol Link Phases 1&2
- Worcester Integrated Transport Strategy
- A452 Chester Road Access Improvements
- Lincoln Eastern Bypass
- South Yorkshire Bus Rapid Transit (Northern Route)
- Morpeth Northern Bypass
- Tipner Interchange (Portsmouth)
- Coventry-Nuneaton Rail Upgrade
- South Essex Rapid Transit
- Bus Rapid Transit North Fringe to Hengrove (Bristol)
- Croxley Rail Link (Hertfordshire)
- Elmbridge Transport (Gloucestershire)
- A4184 Evesham (Abbey) Bridge Maintenance (Worcestershire)
- A45 Westbound Bridge Maintenance (Solihull)
- London Road Bridge Maintenance (Derby)
- Leeds Inner Ring Road Maintenance
The nine pre-qualification pool schemes which will not be funded in this spending review period are:
- A509 Isham Bypass (Northamptonshire)
- Watford Junction Interchange
- Castleford Town Centre Integrated Transport Scheme
- A24 Ashington to Southwater Improvement (West Sussex)
- A61 Penistone Road Smart Route (Sheffield)
- Stafford Western Access Improvements
- Tyne & Wear Bus Corridor Improvement - Phase 1
- A338 Bournemouth Spur Road Maintenance
- A38(M) Tame Viaduct Maintenance (Birmingham)
The two schemes withdrawn by the promoter are:
- Northern Gateway (North Tyneside)
- Sunderland Central Route
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