High Street, Port St Mary

Summary

The request sought details on previous refusals of business cases for the High Street, Port St Mary reconstruction and copies of submitted cases. The Department of Infrastructure responded by providing the full July 2021 business case for the scheme, which outlines the road's poor condition and proposed reconstruction.

Key Facts

• The High Street in Port St Mary is approximately 120 meters long and serves as a key through route with bus services 1, 1H, and 12.
• The existing highway is showing failure in several locations with high numbers of reported potholes, making simple overlays impossible due to low kerb height.
• The proposed reconstruction involves rebuilding the carriageway, footways, and kerbs, with a review of the drainage system.
• The Commissioners have identified High Street as a priority for works due to its poor condition.
• The business case was prepared in July 2021 by the Department of Infrastructure's Highway Services Division.

Data Disclosed

• 120 m
• July 2021
• 8.5m
• Highways Act 1986 s3
• Highways Act 1986 s9
• Bus routes 1, 1H & 12

Original Request

Please provide the amount of times that the business case for the reconstruction of the High Street, Port St Mary has been put forward and refused due to not meeting the criteria or any other reason within the last 10 years. Please also provide a copy of the business cases submitted along with the criteria it is required to meet.

Data Tables (7)

Full Response Text

Appendix 1 ISLE OF MAN GOVERNMENT BUSINESS CASE Department of Infrastructure – Highway Services Division High Street, Port St Mary

July 2021

Page 1 of 9

Business Case for the High Street, Port St Mary Improvement Scheme

ISLE OF MAN GOVERNMENT BUSINESS CASE Department of Infrastructure – Highway Services Division High Street, Port St Mary

July 2021

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Table of Contents

1 THIS DOCUMENT 4 2 SPECIFIC INITIATIVES 5 3 SUMMARY OF THE RANGE OF BENEFITS 6 4 DETAILED BUSINESS CASE 6 5 PROJECTED COSTS 8 6 PROJECTED SAVINGS 8 7 APPROVALS 9

ISLE OF MAN GOVERNMENT BUSINESS CASE Department of Infrastructure – Highway Services Division High Street, Port St Mary

July 2021

Page 3 of 9

ISLE OF MAN GOVERNMENT BUSINESS CASE Department of Infrastructure – Highway Services Division High Street, Port St Mary

July 2021

Page 4 of 9

1 THIS DOCUMENT

This document describes the Business Case for the reconstruction of High Street, Port St Mary.

High Street is approximately 120 m long and forms a key part of the centre of Port St Mary, with historic buildings such as the old police station and bank. The street is now mostly residential, but also forms a through route from the harbour up towards Bay View Road and the rest of the village and onwards.

The bus routes 1, 1H & 12 run through the street, with a bus stop towards the northern junction. The street has on street parking as Disc Zone.

The existing highway has been overlaid over time, however is now showing failure in several locations. There is very little show on kerbs, which means an overlay is not possible and poses a risk of drainage issues. The road has also been extensively patched and reinstated from highways and utility works. There are several utilities running down the street.

There are a high number of surface defects such as potholes reported by the public and our inspectors each year on this section of road. The Commissioners support these works and have identified High Street as a priority for them due to its poor condition.

ISLE OF MAN GOVERNMENT BUSINESS CASE Department of Infrastructure – Highway Services Division High Street, Port St Mary

July 2021

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2 SPECIFIC INITIATIVES

The reconstruction of High Street, Port St Mary will involve works to reconstruct the carriageway, footway and kerbs. The existing drainage system will also be reviewed as part of the scheme.

There is a desire to widen the footways which would be reviewed as part of the scheme. There is approximately 8.5m of total highway width which may facilitate some widening, but further design work and coordination with buses would be required to confirm this is possible without impacting on the bus route or resulting in loss of parking.

High Street ISLE OF MAN GOVERNMENT BUSINESS CASE Department of Infrastructure – Highway Services Division High Street, Port St Mary

July 2021

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3 SUMMARY OF THE RANGE OF BENEFITS

In the following table, the headings have these meanings: Tangible Benefits

Red Benefits
Hard £ Benefits (these broadly equate to ‘Cheaper’)

Orange Benefits
Productivity Improvements
(includes ‘Faster’) Expected Intangible Benefits Green Benefits
Qualitative Factors
(these broadly equate to ‘Better’)

3.1 Specific Benefits

Initiatives Red Benefits Orange Benefits Green Benefits Achievement 1

Improved quality of built environment. Achievement 2

Improved appearance, which brings benefits to people who live adjacent to or near the road, and ultimately to all the residents of Port St Mary Achievement 3 Decrease in reactive spending.

Achievement 4 Preparation for heavy traffic involved in any future harbour development.

4 DETAILED BUSINESS CASE

4.1 Legal Framework

Highways Act 1986 s3 - The Department has a duty to maintain all highways maintainable at the public expense.
Highways Act 1986 s9 – General power of improvement

4.2 Stakeholders and any Consultation

Local Authority – Port St Mary Commissioners Port St Mary Business Association Local MHK’s Department of Infrastructure, Transport Utilities Local Traders Public

4.3 Options Appraisal

Option 1 – Do Nothing

ISLE OF MAN GOVERNMENT BUSINESS CASE Department of Infrastructure – Highway Services Division High Street, Port St Mary

July 2021

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• Road continues to deteriorate. • More extensive patching. • High number of customer complaints.

Option 2 – Plane and inlay from maintenance budgets

• Risk this option may not be technically feasible due to height of existing thresholds and possible shallow utilities. • Temporarily improve the appearance. • Likely short lifespan – the existing surface has shown signs of fatigue failure and plane and inlay would not increase the strength of the surface. As this is a bus route it receives a moderate number of large vehicles. • This would would be completed in a short period but would not address the underlying foundation issues. • There would be no improvements or alterations to the footways.

Option 3 – Microasphalt • Installation of a thin slurry layer over the road and footways. • Improve the visual appearance of the area. • The fatigue failures seen on the road may lead to premature failure of any new surface.

Option 4 –Reconstruct the road and footways

• Reconstruct the highway to standards suitable for its current use. • Renewed asset with 40 year lifespan before major interventions. • Increased quality of built environment in village. • Renewal of utilities through the area (through coordination).

Recommended Option – Option 3 – reconstruction. This option addresses the long term issues and provides improvement rather than repeated failure repairs.

4.4 Management/delivery of the Project

The project would be designed by our in house design team and constructed through a contractor.

4.5 Cost of the Project: Capital Cost

Overall estimated cost is £397,084 based on the area involved and equivalent cost of similar schemes.

4.6 Programme/Timescales

It is anticipated that the construction phase will start during the financial year 2022/23

The scheme is anticipated to be complete within approximately two years.

High Street Total £ a) Estimated Construction cost
330,904 b) Professional Fees and Expenses @10% of construction
33,090 c) Contingency @ 10% of construction 33,090

ESTIMATED TOTAL CAPITAL COST 397,084 ISLE OF MAN GOVERNMENT BUSINESS CASE Department of Infrastructure – Highway Services Division High Street, Port St Mary

July 2021

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4.7 Risks • Utilities may require greater diversion work than expected (e.g. due to shallow depths) • Working adjacent to basement near old police station • Impact on buses or traffic may drive less efficient working (if full closure not possible) • Planning, the street sits in a Proposed Conservation Area. Consultation with planners will be undertaken, however if higher quality materials were required this would increase costs and programme
4.8 Summary - linked to Programme for Government

There are policies set out in the Programme for Government which this scheme fulfils:

• We have an infrastructure which supports social and economic wellbeing • Prioritise maintenance of our strategic highway network and ensure our streets and roads are safe 5 PROJECTED COSTS

High Street, Port St Mary One-off Total Cost Bid 2022/23 Bid 2023/24 Construction

200,000 130,904 Design and other professional fees @ 10% construction

20,000 13,090 Contingency @ 10% construction

20,000 13,090 Total Department Bids 397,084 240,000 157,084 Client contingency 10% not included (to be confirmed by Treasury Contingency Holding)

5.1 Describe nature of spend for each year 2022-23 Design, construction, contingency costs £240,000 2023-24 Construction, contingency cost £157,084 5.2 Ongoing revenue implications:

There are no anticipated increases in revenue costs.

6 PROJECTED SAVINGS

This project is to reconstruct the road and to bring it up to an as new condition. The life of the road will be 40 years from the point of reconstruction. This will result in less reactive works such as patching and pothole repairs.

ISLE OF MAN GOVERNMENT BUSINESS CASE Department of Infrastructure – Highway Services Division High Street, Port St Mary

July 2021

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7 APPROVALS

7.1 Divisional Director (for all Highway Services business cases)

Name:

Title:

Date:

Signature:

7.2 FINANCE OFFICER (for all business cases):

Name:

Title:

Date:

Signature:

7.3 CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER (for all business cases):

Name:

Title:

Date:

Signature:

Department of Infrastructure Sea Terminal Building, Douglas, Isle of Man, IM1 2RF

Contact: FOI Response Team Telephone: (01624) 686785 Email: dpo-doi@gov.im

Our ref: 2441929 31 May 2022

Dear ###

We write further to your request which was received on 12 May 2022 and which states:

"Please provide the amount of times that the business case for the reconstruction of the High Street, Port St Mary has been put forward and refused due to not meeting the criteria or any other reason within the last 10 years. Please also provide a copy of the business cases submitted along with the criteria it is required to meet."

Our response to your request is as follows: The business case was not supported by the Department and was not submitted to the Treasury for consideration. The criteria set out for capital bids were: There is a clear and essential benefit to the local economy; There is already approved commitment; The bid is cost neutral in the year. Appendix 1 contains the business case for the High Street, Port St Mary Improvement Scheme.

Please quote the reference number 2441929 in any future communications.

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FOI Response Team