It is only one poll, but it's detailed at constituency level. The YouGov MRP poll has these estimates of the share for Lewes...
Conservative 47%
Libdems 41%
Labour 8%
Green 3%
Others 2%
Thursday, 28 November 2019
Thursday, 21 November 2019
Wet
Conservative Transport Secretary Grant Shapps says there'll be a review of the proposed £3.5bn Oxford-Cambridge expressway, if he gets back to the job after the election.
“I am not at all anti-roads and we have got a massive road investment project. I am just not satisfied that this scheme is going to provide the benefits that we first thought. Specifically, a lot of it is on flat land which is prone to flooding so the mitigation measures to protect against that will massively add to the cost of the project. I am disappointed with the speed of progress of east-west rail and I think it is by far the better solution to boost the Oxford-Cambridge-Milton Keynes link-up.”
Anyone else know of roods planned for areas prone to flooding ?
“I am not at all anti-roads and we have got a massive road investment project. I am just not satisfied that this scheme is going to provide the benefits that we first thought. Specifically, a lot of it is on flat land which is prone to flooding so the mitigation measures to protect against that will massively add to the cost of the project. I am disappointed with the speed of progress of east-west rail and I think it is by far the better solution to boost the Oxford-Cambridge-Milton Keynes link-up.”
Anyone else know of roods planned for areas prone to flooding ?
Wednesday, 13 November 2019
Up in the air
It seems the creation of new roads in this country is not necessarily the job of experts - from this extremely Civil Service response to my latest Freedom of Informaton enquiry, directed at the Department for Transport. The author is Serumun Biam, Correspondence Team, Strategic Roads, Economics and Statistics
Dear Mr Rogers,
Thank you for your request dated 8 October 2019, made under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000, for information on the A27 and proposal for enhancements to
the route between Lewes and Polegate. You specifically asked:
Can you confirm that you have a positive business case and supporting papers for
an option to improve the existing A27 with RIS2 funding, as Ms Caulfield claims ?
Can you say who has written them?
The development of the second Road Investment Strategy (RIS2) is not dependent
on an organisation (Highways England or otherwise) having made a bid to the
Department for a specific, detailed proposal in order for a scheme to be included in
the investment plan or our pipeline of proposals to be explored or developed for a
future RIS.
Rather, the Department works with Highways England and other organisations to
develop a robust evidence base covering the current performance of the whole of the
strategic road network and future pressures on it. As well as Highways England's
own data and research, the evidence base encompasses our understanding of
stakeholder views (including from road users and local communities) assembled
through a process of engagement and consultation. The Department uses this
evidence base to decide how best to allocate the funding available, including the
operation, maintenance, renewal and enhancement of the network.
As Highways England has informed you, the output of the study investigating the
need (or otherwise) for an off-line improvement between Lewes and Polegate forms
part of that evidence base. And, as mentioned in our previous response to you, it
also includes the comments of Maria Caulfield MP as reported in the press. No
similar study for an on-line improvement to the A27 on its current route has been
undertaken, but as explained above, that would not prevent a decision being made
as part of RIS2 to explore or develop such an option.
In short, no options for how to proceed in relation to the A27 between Lewes and
Polegate have been ruled in or out of consideration at this stage beyond the
interventions already funded through the first RIS.
Dear Mr Rogers,
Thank you for your request dated 8 October 2019, made under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000, for information on the A27 and proposal for enhancements to
the route between Lewes and Polegate. You specifically asked:
Can you confirm that you have a positive business case and supporting papers for
an option to improve the existing A27 with RIS2 funding, as Ms Caulfield claims ?
Can you say who has written them?
The development of the second Road Investment Strategy (RIS2) is not dependent
on an organisation (Highways England or otherwise) having made a bid to the
Department for a specific, detailed proposal in order for a scheme to be included in
the investment plan or our pipeline of proposals to be explored or developed for a
future RIS.
Rather, the Department works with Highways England and other organisations to
develop a robust evidence base covering the current performance of the whole of the
strategic road network and future pressures on it. As well as Highways England's
own data and research, the evidence base encompasses our understanding of
stakeholder views (including from road users and local communities) assembled
through a process of engagement and consultation. The Department uses this
evidence base to decide how best to allocate the funding available, including the
operation, maintenance, renewal and enhancement of the network.
As Highways England has informed you, the output of the study investigating the
need (or otherwise) for an off-line improvement between Lewes and Polegate forms
part of that evidence base. And, as mentioned in our previous response to you, it
also includes the comments of Maria Caulfield MP as reported in the press. No
similar study for an on-line improvement to the A27 on its current route has been
undertaken, but as explained above, that would not prevent a decision being made
as part of RIS2 to explore or develop such an option.
In short, no options for how to proceed in relation to the A27 between Lewes and
Polegate have been ruled in or out of consideration at this stage beyond the
interventions already funded through the first RIS.
Thursday, 7 November 2019
Back to the 90s
Is there an election on ?
On the 13th March 2017, Maria Caulfield signed a letter to the Department for Transport, asking for £3m to investigate the building of a new road. "We believe that there is a compelling case for an offline dual carriageway between Lewes and Polegate, which will deliver substantial transport improvements and vast economic and environmental benefits to both the local and national economies".
Today a letter to my address. "I have always said I would only support a plan to dual the existing road, which would see the improvements we need but mitigate the environmental impact. We are expecting to hear the announcement about road funding at the end of the year and I wanted to reassure you that my position has still not changed.
"There is considerable political pressure from the Libdems in Eastbourne for a new superhighway which would cut through the heart of our countryside and I will not support this and would oppose it.
"If funding was agreed, work would start on the route options which would include the previous plans to dual the A27 from the 90s which had widespread support".
My reading ? The three offline options are still in play.
On the 13th March 2017, Maria Caulfield signed a letter to the Department for Transport, asking for £3m to investigate the building of a new road. "We believe that there is a compelling case for an offline dual carriageway between Lewes and Polegate, which will deliver substantial transport improvements and vast economic and environmental benefits to both the local and national economies".
Today a letter to my address. "I have always said I would only support a plan to dual the existing road, which would see the improvements we need but mitigate the environmental impact. We are expecting to hear the announcement about road funding at the end of the year and I wanted to reassure you that my position has still not changed.
"There is considerable political pressure from the Libdems in Eastbourne for a new superhighway which would cut through the heart of our countryside and I will not support this and would oppose it.
"If funding was agreed, work would start on the route options which would include the previous plans to dual the A27 from the 90s which had widespread support".
My reading ? The three offline options are still in play.
Monday, 14 October 2019
Word games
The 130-page Government document published today, which includes the full Queen's Speech, uses the word 'roads' (in the sense of road-building) just once. The new code word from the Conservatives is 'infrastructure', which appears 46 times.
It says one bit of HS2 Phase 2 will definitely go ahead, from Lichfield to Crewe. This will cut the fastest (and most expensive) service from London to Crewe from 90 minutes to 55 minutes.
Crewe has a population of just over 70,000. The railway is the biggest employer; the town is also home to the HQ of Bargain Booze and a manufacturer of ice-cream vans.
It says one bit of HS2 Phase 2 will definitely go ahead, from Lichfield to Crewe. This will cut the fastest (and most expensive) service from London to Crewe from 90 minutes to 55 minutes.
Crewe has a population of just over 70,000. The railway is the biggest employer; the town is also home to the HQ of Bargain Booze and a manufacturer of ice-cream vans.
Thursday, 10 October 2019
Working together.....
WSP, transport consultants, have taken the largest slice of the £3m set aside by former Transport Secretary Chris Grayling, to make the case for a new off-line dual carriageway between Lewes and Polegate.
Bosch are the biggest makers of car parts in the world.
Enterprise Rent-A-Car is the largest hire car company in the world, judged by fleet (2 million vehicles) and revenue.
Friday, 4 October 2019
On or off ?
At the end of June, we reported the written words of Maria Caulfield, MP for Lewes, on the A27 between Lewes and Polegate "I have made clear that I would like to see any funding to dual the existing road and improve access for all road users and not for a new road as some in Eastbourne would like".
Though Maria is currently PPS to Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, it's still not confirmed that a formal bid has been made to the Department for Transport to fund such a scheme.
In a masterfully-opaque response to a Freedom of Information enquiry, Mahmood Azam of Highways England says their strategic outline business case was present to the Government at the end of January.
"While the study considered off-line improvements which included small sections of online widening, it did not produce cost estimates or benefit cost ratios for an intervention to dual the existing A27 between Lewes and Polegate, or for an intervention which involved only online improvements to the existing A27 on its current route. "
Though Maria is currently PPS to Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, it's still not confirmed that a formal bid has been made to the Department for Transport to fund such a scheme.
In a masterfully-opaque response to a Freedom of Information enquiry, Mahmood Azam of Highways England says their strategic outline business case was present to the Government at the end of January.
"While the study considered off-line improvements which included small sections of online widening, it did not produce cost estimates or benefit cost ratios for an intervention to dual the existing A27 between Lewes and Polegate, or for an intervention which involved only online improvements to the existing A27 on its current route. "
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