Agenda item

Consideration was given to a report of the Director of Environment which sought to notify Cabinet of the value of a grant the Council Oldham Council had secured for additional funding for the refurbishment of Manchester Street Viaduct, via the Department for Transport (DfT) City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement (CRSTS) and to notify Cabinet of the intention to bring this additional resource into the transport capital programme to design and undertake refurbishment works to Manchester Street Viaduct.

The Greater Manchester CRSTS programme business case was submitted to the Department for Transport (DfT) in September 2021 by Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) on behalf of themselves and all 10 GM districts.

Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) received confirmation of the full CRSTS allocation of £1.07bn for spend across 2022/23-2026/27 on the 1st of April 2022.

On the 29 July 2022, the DfT, as the funders of the CRSTS, confirmed the delivery plans and funding allocations to each city region and sent a funding letter to each City Region Mayor.

One scheme included in the delivery plan, is the Strategic Maintenance scheme - Manchester Street Viaduct refurbishment.

This scheme had been developed over the past year and had now secured Strategic Outline Business Case (SOBC) assurance through TfGM processes to move to scheme design and delivery, utilising the now approved DfT CRSTS capital budget.

The next steps included

• The approval goes through GMCA on 27 January 2023.
• Oldham Council accept the grant offer of £4.5m to deliver the Manchester Street Viaduct refurbishment scheme.
• Oldham Council bring the additional resource into the transport capital programme in 2022/23 and programme across subsequent financial years, and commence design development for the scheme.
• Completion of design development in 2024/25.
• Construction of the Manchester Street Viaduct Refurbishment works in 2025/26.
• Monitoring and Evaluation Plus 1 Year Assessment completed in 2027/28.

External support required included:

• Structural investigations, testing, assessment and reporting.
• Procurement and commissioning of design consultants and Early Supply Chain Involvement (ESI) contractor.
• Surveys, site investigations and Traffic Management proposals.
• Preliminary design development of refurbishment works.
• Detailed design of refurbishment works.
• Procurement of main works contractor.
• Construction of refurbishment works.

Options/alternatives considered

Option 1 - Undertake works that would extend the life of the structure and retain the essential link

Option 2: Refuse the grant – leading to the eventual closure of the bypass with severe consequences to Oldham and the surrounding area.

1.    RESOLVED – That:

2.    The grant offer of £4.5m from the CRSTS for the refurbishment of Manchester Street Viaduct be accepted. This would contribute to the overall scheme budget of £6.5m (£4.5m CRSTS grant plus £2m local highways maintenance contribution from Oldham's allocation across 2024/25 and 2025/26).

3.    The intention to bring the additional resource into the transport capital programme in 2022/23, and profile across subsequent financial years, to complete development of the scheme in the appropriate timescales be noted.

4.    The approval to procure and make tender awards relating to the necessary external support required to design and deliver the Manchester Street Viaduct refurbishment scheme (examples listed in the report) be delegated to the Director of Environment.

5.    The use part of this resource to appoint temporary agency support within the Highways Team to progress the design and deliver the scheme be approved.