M6 J23 post pinch assessment

National Highways Limited did not have the information requested.

Dear Highways England Company Limited

Under Freedom of Information Act could you please supply the following information.

Modifications were carried out to J23 of the M6 at Haydock in 2015 since it was described as a ' pinch point ' and received government funding.

Could you please supply me with the details of the 'Post Opening Project Evaluation' to compare the junction before and after 'Pinch Point'.

Could you please ensure that details are provided with relation to how queueing on the A580 has been affected, particularly from Liverpool.

There also appears to have been more accidents at the junction since the modification, so could you provide details of all the accidents for each of the three years before and after 'pinch point' at the junction.

Also, I personally have had to queue on the hard shoulder, twice in the past few weeks when leaving the M6 travelling North when coming off at J23.
Are you aware of this happening and what could be the reason.

Yours faithfully,
Barry Greenall.

Highways England,

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Highways England Company Limited | General enquiries: 0300 123 5000
|National Traffic Operations Centre, 3 Ridgeway, Quinton Business Park,
Birmingham B32 1AF |
[5]https://www.gov.uk/government/organisati... |
[6][Highways England request email]

 

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6. mailto:[Highways England request email]

Beaumont, Julie,

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Greenall

 

I am writing to confirm that we do hold the information you requested on
25 March 2018 but have decided that some of this information cannot be
disclosed.

 

Your request for information is as follows:

 

1.    Could you please supply me with the details of the 'Post Opening
Project Evaluation' to compare the junction before and after 'Pinch
Point'.

 

2.    Could you please ensure that details are provided with relation to
how queueing on the A580 has been affected, particularly from Liverpool.

 

The information requested in questions 1 and 2 is being withheld as this
falls under the exception in regulation 12(4)(d) “Material in the course
of completion, unfinished documents and incomplete data”
 [1]https://ico.org.uk/media/for-organisatio...
of the Environmental Information Regulations 2004.

 

In applying this exception we have had to balance the public interest in
withholding the information against the public interest in disclosure. The
key public interest factors for and against disclosure are attached.

 

3.    There also appears to have been more accidents at the junction since
the modification, so could you provide details of all the accidents for
each of the three years before and after 'pinch point' at the junction.

 

This information is available via [2]http://www.crashmap.co.uk/Search. The
data includes all incidents up to the end of 2016 together with
provisional information for the period January to September 2017 and is
updated as soon as the latest data is released by the police

 

4.    Also, I personally have had to queue on the hard shoulder, twice in
the past few weeks when leaving the M6 travelling North when coming off at
J23. Are you aware of this happening and what could be the reason.

 

We are not aware of any reasons that specifically caused queueing on the
hard shoulder at this location.

 

If you are unhappy with the decisions made by us in relation to your
request, you may ask for an internal review.
[3]https://www.gov.uk/government/organisati...

 

If you require a print copy, please phone the Information Line on 0300 123
5000; or e-mail [4][Highways England request email]. You should contact me if
you wish to complain.

 

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have
the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a
decision. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:

 

            Information Commissioner’s Office

            Wycliffe House

            Water Lane

            Wilmslow

            Cheshire

            SK9 5AF

 

If you have any queries about this letter, please contact me. Please
remember to quote reference number 761308 in any future communications.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Julie Beaumont

Divisional Management Team – Operations Directorate
Highways England | Piccadilly Gate | Store Street | Manchester | M1 2WD
Tel: +44 (300) 4705127
Web: [5]http://www.highways.gov.uk

 

 

 

This email may contain information which is confidential and is intended
only for use of the recipient/s named above. If you are not an intended
recipient, you are hereby notified that any copying, distribution,
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strictly prohibited. If you have received this email in error, please
notify the sender and destroy it.

 

Highways England Company Limited | General enquiries: 0300 123 5000
|National Traffic Operations Centre, 3 Ridgeway, Quinton Business Park,
Birmingham B32 1AF |
[6]https://www.gov.uk/government/organisati... |
[7][Highways England request email]

 

Registered in England and Wales no 9346363 | Registered Office: Bridge
House, 1 Walnut Tree Close, Guildford, Surrey GU1 4LZ 

 

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References

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4. mailto:[Highways England request email]
5. http://www.highways.gov.uk/
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7. mailto:[Highways England request email]

Dear Beaumont, Julie,
Thankyou for your reply,
Could you please give me an estimated date of when the evaluation is expected to be complete.

Yours sincerely,

Barry Greenall

Beaumont, Julie,

 

Thank you for your email, I am out of the office until 27 April. Any
urgent queries should be directed to [email address]

If you would like to make a request under the Freedom of information Act
or Environmental Information Regulations Act please contact
[1][Highways England request email]

 

This email may contain information which is confidential and is intended
only for use of the recipient/s named above. If you are not an intended
recipient, you are hereby notified that any copying, distribution,
disclosure, reliance upon or other use of the contents of this email is
strictly prohibited. If you have received this email in error, please
notify the sender and destroy it.

 

Highways England Company Limited | General enquiries: 0300 123 5000
|National Traffic Operations Centre, 3 Ridgeway, Quinton Business Park,
Birmingham B32 1AF |
[2]https://www.gov.uk/government/organisati... |
[3][Highways England request email]

 

Registered in England and Wales no 9346363 | Registered Office: Bridge
House, 1 Walnut Tree Close, Guildford, Surrey GU1 4LZ 

 

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3. mailto:[Highways England request email]

Beaumont, Julie,

Dear Mr Greenall

 

Thank you for your email of 24 April.

 

I am writing to advise you that, following a search of our records, I have
established that the information you requested is not held by Highways
England.

 

If you are unhappy with the way we have handled your request you may ask
for an internal review. Our internal review process is available at:
[1]https://www.gov.uk/government/organisati...

 

If you require a print copy, please phone the Information Line on 0300 123
5000; or e-mail [2][Highways England request email]. You should contact me if
you wish to complain.

 

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have
the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a
decision. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:

 

            Information Commissioner’s Office

            Wycliffe House

            Water Lane

            Wilmslow

            Cheshire

            SK9 5AF

 

If you have any queries about this letter, please contact me. Please
remember to quote reference number 761308 in any future communications.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Julie Beaumont

Divisional Management Team – Operations Directorate
Highways England | Piccadilly Gate | Store Street | Manchester | M1 2WD
Tel: +44 (300) 4705127
Web: [3]http://www.highways.gov.uk

 

 

 

 

This email may contain information which is confidential and is intended
only for use of the recipient/s named above. If you are not an intended
recipient, you are hereby notified that any copying, distribution,
disclosure, reliance upon or other use of the contents of this email is
strictly prohibited. If you have received this email in error, please
notify the sender and destroy it.

 

Highways England Company Limited | General enquiries: 0300 123 5000
|National Traffic Operations Centre, 3 Ridgeway, Quinton Business Park,
Birmingham B32 1AF |
[4]https://www.gov.uk/government/organisati... |
[5][Highways England request email]

 

Registered in England and Wales no 9346363 | Registered Office: Bridge
House, 1 Walnut Tree Close, Guildford, Surrey GU1 4LZ 

 

Consider the environment. Please don't print this e-mail unless you really
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2. mailto:[Highways England request email]
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4. https://www.gov.uk/government/organisati...
5. mailto:[Highways England request email]

Barry Greenall

Dear Beaumont, Julie,

Thank you for your prompt reply.

Unfortunately I am not sure what your reply means and that it answers my question.

Your previous reply stated that the 'Post Opening Project Evaluation' has not yet been completed as stated in the PIT Results.

So in answering my follow up question are you saying that HE does not have an "estimate" of when the Evaluation is expected to be completed ?

If so then can you tell me what is the typical time taken to complete a Post Project Evaluation for a junction improvement of this type by referring to similar previous modifications carried out elsewhere since this one was carried out several years ago and I would have thought that an Evaluation would normally have been carried out by now.

Also, will an Evaluation of this modification be carried out before any further modifications are considered for this junction in the future ?

Yours sincerely,

Barry Greenall

Beaumont, Julie,

Dear Mr Greenall

 

Thank you for your email of 3 May about Post Opening Project Evaluations.
I am sorry that we have not acknowledged your email sooner.

 

We will aim to provide a reply within fifteen working days and if this is
not going to be possible we will advise you of this within the fifteen day
period.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Julie Beaumont

Divisional Management Team – Operations Directorate
Highways England | Piccadilly Gate | Store Street | Manchester | M1 2WD
Tel: +44 (300) 4705127
Web: [1]http://www.highways.gov.uk

 

 

 

 

This email may contain information which is confidential and is intended
only for use of the recipient/s named above. If you are not an intended
recipient, you are hereby notified that any copying, distribution,
disclosure, reliance upon or other use of the contents of this email is
strictly prohibited. If you have received this email in error, please
notify the sender and destroy it.

 

Highways England Company Limited | General enquiries: 0300 123 5000
|National Traffic Operations Centre, 3 Ridgeway, Quinton Business Park,
Birmingham B32 1AF |
[2]https://www.gov.uk/government/organisati... |
[3][Highways England request email]

 

Registered in England and Wales no 9346363 | Registered Office: Bridge
House, 1 Walnut Tree Close, Guildford, Surrey GU1 4LZ 

 

Consider the environment. Please don't print this e-mail unless you really
need to.

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3. mailto:[Highways England request email]

Dear Beaumont, Julie,

I have still not received a reply to my response that I sent to you on 3rd May 2018.

Yours sincerely,

Barry Greenall

Beaumont, Julie,

Dear Mr Greenall

 

I’m sorry for not replying to you sooner.

 

My last reply on 24 April under Environmental Information Regulations 2004
 was to state that we don’t hold the information you were asking for as we
didn’t and still don’t have a date for when the evaluation will be
completed and published.

 

Unfortunately there is no typical or average time to undertake Post
Project Evaluation. The evaluation currently being conducted includes a
number of schemes that were delivered as part of the ‘Pinch Point’
programme. We currently expect that the report will be published later
this year. However, this may be subject to change.

 

We regularly review our network to identify improvement needs so it is
possible that we could consider further modifications at this junction
before the evaluation is completed and published.

 

I hope this clarifies the current situation for you.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Julie Beaumont

Divisional Management Team – Operations Directorate
Highways England | Piccadilly Gate | Store Street | Manchester | M1 2WD
Tel: +44 (300) 4705127
Web: [1]http://www.highways.gov.uk

 

 

 

 

This email may contain information which is confidential and is intended
only for use of the recipient/s named above. If you are not an intended
recipient, you are hereby notified that any copying, distribution,
disclosure, reliance upon or other use of the contents of this email is
strictly prohibited. If you have received this email in error, please
notify the sender and destroy it.

 

Highways England Company Limited | General enquiries: 0300 123 5000
|National Traffic Operations Centre, 3 Ridgeway, Quinton Business Park,
Birmingham B32 1AF |
[2]https://www.gov.uk/government/organisati... |
[3][Highways England request email]

 

Registered in England and Wales no 9346363 | Registered Office: Bridge
House, 1 Walnut Tree Close, Guildford, Surrey GU1 4LZ 

 

Consider the environment. Please don't print this e-mail unless you really
need to.

References

Visible links
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2. https://www.gov.uk/government/organisati...
3. mailto:[Highways England request email]