In July 2020 government announced that under the Towns Fund programme they were offering Hereford a grant of £750,000 to fund capital projects that can be delivered this financial year. This grant will be used to support capital spend within the intervention framework as set out in the Towns Fund Further Guidance.
The St Owen Street scheme proposes the introduction of an informal on carriageway contraflow cycle lane along the length of St Owen Street, Hereford, a number of uncontrolled crossings with footway build outs, together with a new signal controlled crossing at the Bath Street end of St Owen Street.
There has been a stated desire for a contraflow cycle scheme on St Owen Street for many years. A number of previous designs have been developed and taken to public consultation as part of the Hereford City Centre Improvements. Feedback from these consultations, together with design reviews and safety audits have contributed to the development of the design over this period with a statutory consultation on Traffic Regulation Orders (TRO) undertaken in 2019.
Since the TRO consultation and the submission of the bid, national policy on cycling infrastructure design (LTN 1/20) has been updated and a new policy document published outlining its vision for walking and cycling (Gear Change). These will require a review of the existing scheme design to ensure compliance with the principles of the new guidance.
The design development for the scheme, including the TRO consultation, had been developed previously by Balfour Beatty Living Places (BBLP) under the Public Realm Services Contract. Given the requirement for an update of the design prior to delivery and the need to complete the work by the end of the financial year a review of the delivery route has been undertaken with commercial services. This identified that the delivery route that best mitigates the risk of not meeting the required spend deadline would be through the Public Realm Services Contract.
The identified lead officer will be responsible for delivery within the criteria set by government. A Towns Fund programme board has been set up to oversee project delivery.
The expenditure will be included within the medium term financial strategy and capital programme.
The business case details the revenue impact of the project which will be managed within current revenue budgets. There is no additional funding requirements, with all projects managed within existing teams for delivery.
Letting contracts or agreement of any external spend or grant awards proposed as part of project delivery will each require further records of decision.