Impacts and effects

Costs of prioritised programme

The combined costs of the 38 prioritised proposals over the next 10-15 years totals an estimated £3.5 billion capital and £400 million revenue.

These costs are broken down into five-year implementation periods as follows:

	Capital, £M	Revenue, £M
2025-30	1,118	109
2030-35	1,345	149
2035+	1,104	142
Total	3,567	400

Sustainability Appraisal

A sustainability appraisal has been conducted to investigate the potential impacts of the prioritised proposals on:

• The Environment
• Equalities
• Health

Overall, the appraisal identifies generally positive benefits from the proposed programme, when compared to doing nothing or pursuing reasonable alternative options. It does also identify potential issues with some of the proposals, which will need to be considered and, where possible, mitigated during further detailed development. The key positive and negative findings are summarised below and the full reports can be read here.

Environmental Impacts

Benefits	Potential issues for mitigation
Overall improvements to air quality, including in management areas, by supporting a reduction in petrol and diesel vehicle use	Multiple developments could result in a cumulative loss of best and most versatile agricultural land as a result of land take
Improved access to historic environment and heritage assets across the region	Ten of the options identified are within Flood Zones 1 or 2, so have the potential to affect or be affected by future climate change
Likely to have significant positive effects on the emission of greenhouse gases by supporting a shift to active and public transport	Majority of options are identified as likely to have significant negative effects on designated heritage assets and/or landscapes
	Potential to have significant negative effects on biodiversity, but the impacts can only be quantified when the proposals are developed in more detail

Equalities Impacts

Benefits	Potential issues for mitigation
Benefits to older and younger travellers particularly through improvements to public transport	Safety in the public realm and on public transport, particularly for vulnerable users, should be designed in to proposals
Benefits to disabled users through generalised improvements to travel environment plus specific schemes to increase accessibility	Access for mobility impaired users, suitable lighting and safety matters should be maintained through construction phases
Benefits to black and ethnic minority users (who are less likely to drive) from active and public transport proposals	Representatives of users with protected characteristics should be engaged in the design of proposals

Health Impacts

Benefits	Potential issues for mitigation
Increase in physical activity, particularly as a result of active and public transport proposals	Safety in the public realm and on public transport, particularly for vulnerable users, should be designed in to proposals
Increased access to education, employment and other opportunities, particularly in deprived areas	Some proposals have the potential to increase vehicle use which can reduce air quality and increase noise in neighbouring communities, particularly where HGV volumes increase
Proposals support the delivery and integration of good quality housing beyond the central urban areas	Large infrastructure schemes should be carefully planned and managed to avoid impeding walking, cycling and public transport during construction