Penarth Cardiff Barrage Weltag Stage One and Two Update
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Agenda Item: Meeting of: Cabinet Date of Meeting: Monday, 15 July 2019 Relevant Scrutiny Committee: Environment and Regeneration Penarth Cardiff Barrage Sustainable Transport Corridor WelTAG Stage One Report Title: and Stage Two Update To update Cabinet on progress with the WelTAG Stage One Penarth Cardiff Purpose of Report: Barrage Sustainable Transport Corridor Study and make recommendations for the next steps to be considered as part of a Stage Two assessment. Report Owner: Cabinet Member for Neighbourhood Services and Transport Responsible Officer: Miles Punter - Director of Environment and Housing Services Cabinet Member for Neighbourhood Services and Transport Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Planning Head of Neighbourhood Services and Transport Group Manager Transport Services Passenger Transport Manager Elected Member and Officer Consultation: Operational Manager Engineering Accountant Environment and Housing Services Operational Manager Finance Head of Regeneration and Planning Legal Services (Committee Reports) Policy Framework: This report is a matter for Executive decision by Cabinet 1 Agenda Item: Executive Summary: • This Report provides Cabinet with an update on progress of the WelTAG Stage One Penarth Cardiff Barrage Sustainable Transport Corridor Study. • The draft WelTAG Stage One Strategic Outline Case has been received from Capita and identified five options for Stage One appraisal encompassing: Option 1 | Active travel proposals for Penarth within the Vale of Glamorgan's Active Travel Integrated Network Map. Option 2 | Bus Park & Ride and sustainable transport links across Cardiff Barrage Option 3 | Multi-modal sustainable transport interchange Option 4 | Opening Cardiff Barrage to private vehicles during peak periods and Option 5 | Do Minimum • Following completion of the Stage One appraisal, the Report subsequently makes the following recommendations: That OPTION 1 be progressed for further appraisal at WelTAG Stage Two. That OPTION 2 be progressed for further appraisal at WelTAG Stage Two. That OPTION 3 be taken forward to WelTAG Stage Two appraisal in conjunction with Transport for Wales. It is recommended that OPTION 4 is not taken forward to WelTAG Stage Two due to their likely negative impact on many policy objectives, the study objectives and on many economic, environmental, social and cultural criteria. Although OPTION 5 did not perform well in the appraisal, is recommended that the do minimum option be progressed to WelTAG Stage Two to provide the baseline against which the recommended options will be assessed. 2 Recommendations 1. That progress made on the Penarth Cardiff Barrage Sustainable Transport Corridor WelTAG Stage One Study relating to improving sustainable connectivity through the corridor between Penarth and Cardiff Barrage is noted. 2. That this matter is referred to Scrutiny Committee (Environment and Regeneration) for consideration. 3. That, subject to consideration by Scrutiny Committee (Environment and Regeneration) the progression of the WelTAG studies for the Penarth Cardiff Barrage Sustainable Transport Corridor to WelTAG Stage Two is endorsed. Reasons for Recommendations 1. To update members on progress made on the scheme. 2. To allow this report to be scrutinised. 3. To support progression of the study to WelTAG Stage Two in principle. 1. Background 1.1 The Council has commissioned Capita to develop and appraise options for improving sustainable transport between Penarth and Cardiff Barrage. The appraisal of options is being undertaken in line with the Welsh Transport Appraisal Guidance (WelTAG 2017) including advice on the appraisal in relation to the Future Generations of Wales (2015) Act Well-being Goals. 1.2 The WelTAG Stage One Strategic Outline Case and Impacts Assessment Report has been submitted by Capita for consideration by the Council. The Report has considered problems, opportunities and constraints identified within the study area, and established several objectives to guide the appraisal. 1.3 To support development of the WelTAG Stage One process a Stakeholder workshop was held on 17 January, 2019 followed by a public drop in event on 24 January, 2019 with output from the two events captured within an associated WelTAG Stage One Consultation Report (Appendix C Refers). 1.4 Taking into consideration the baseline work completed and feedback received through the consultation, the following five options were subsequently established for a Stage One appraisal: Option 1 | Active travel proposals for Penarth within the Vale of Glamorgan's Active Travel Integrated Network Map Option 2 | Bus Park & Ride and sustainable transport links across Cardiff Barrage Option 3 | Multi-modal sustainable transport interchange 3 Option 4 | Opening Cardiff Barrage to private vehicles during peak periods Option 5 | Do Minimum 1.5 The WelTAG Stage One study has been subject to review by Council Officers and the Penarth Project Board. 1.6 For Stage Two a formal Review Group will be established in line with the WelTAG guidance. 2. Key Issues for Consideration 2.1 The Draft WelTAG Stage One Strategic Outline Case has taken forward and appraised each of the five options in relation to the Five Case Business Model: the strategic, transport, management, financial and commercial case. 2.2 The WelTAG Stage One report is accompanied by the Impact Assessment Report (IAR) (Appendix B refers). Its purpose is to provide a permanent record of the appraisal work on the proposed transport intervention and contains the detailed evidence behind the summary of information provided to decision makers in the Stage reports. The IAR remains a live document for updating throughout the process. 2.3 The problems have been identified as follows: Ref PROBLEMS 1 Existing volumes of traffic and levels of congestion causes pollution and creates unreliable journey times and delays to private and business vehicles and bus services, particularly during peak periods. 2 Sustainable transport options available do not present an attractive alternative to car travel. 3 A lack of park and ride facilities in the area limits the opportunities for interchange between car and public transport, which reduces the attractiveness of public transport travel options. 4 High levels of car use and low levels of public transport usage and active travel, particularly for commuting journeys. 5 Bus services linking Penarth and Cardiff have slow journey times and are unreliable due to congestion problems along the bus corridors. 6 There are currently low levels of active travel for everyday journeys, which needs to be increased if the long-term health benefits of active travel are to be realised. 7 Environmental factors reduce the attractiveness of walking and cycling. 8 Safety issues act as a barrier to walking and cycling and the constrained nature of the built Environment. 9 A lack of safe, accessible, attractive, joined up and direct pedestrian and cycle routes within Penarth and between Penarth and Cardiff creates a poor-quality 4 environment for walking and cycling and acts as a barrier to encouraging active travel. 10 A lack of facilities for cyclists at trip origin and destination discourages the use of active travel. 11 The topography of the area acts as a barrier to active travel and creates difficulties in providing active travel infrastructure. 12 Poor connectivity to the wider area reduces the potential of tourism and leisure visitors to the Penarth economy. 13 The high volume of traffic acts as a barrier to walking and cycling and to increasing levels of active travel. 14 Road traffic emissions and congestion contribute to reduced air quality in some areas and an Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) has previously been in place on Windsor Road, Penarth. 2.4 The following opportunities were subject to consultation as part of the Stage One stakeholder consultation. Ref OPPORTUNITIES 1 Well-placed interventions may convert private vehicle trips into active and sustainable modes, thus reducing traffic congestion on existing routes 2 Buses between Cardiff and Penarth to run via the Barrage, which would significantly improve access to Cardiff/ Cardiff Bay from Penarth and Penarth Marina. 3 Opportunity to improve lighting provision across active travel routes as part of intervention. 4 Opportunity to include proposals as part of the wider Capital Region Metro project. 5 Improvements to existing/ development of new active travel routes and sustainable transport infrastructure could improve disabled accessibility to/ from/ within the study area. 6 To provide economic benefits to Penarth and Cardiff. 7 To provide economic benefits to the NHS via uptake of active travel modes, and thus reduce healthcare costs. 8 Headland Link would create an easy, flat, walking and cycling link between Cardiff Bay and Penarth Esplanade via Barrage. 9 Headland Link would create an exciting yet easy start/end to the Vale of Glamorgan section of the Wales Coast Path. 10 Headland Link has potential to increase levels of walking and cycling within/ to/ from Penarth, by providing commuters with a shorter and safe route to employers in the Bay. 11 Headland Link connection may bring Penarth Pier into the leisure offer of Cardiff Bay. 5 2.5 An extensive number of additional opportunities were also identified following completion of the consultation exercise. These have been included below with the full detail contained within the Stage One Consultation Report (Attached at Appendix C). Ref ADDITIONAL OPPORTUNITIES IDENTIFIED FROM STAKEHOLDER CONSULTATION