Highways

Crewe Green Link Road Non-Technical Summary for Environmental Statement INTRODUCTION

Cheshire East Council has applied for planning permission for a new dual carriageway road to connect the A5020 University Way to the A500 near Basford. The road would provide an important link, but would mainly be constructed to service the proposed developments of Basford East and West.

As part of the planning process, an Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) has been carried out to understand the potential effects that the new road WHY THE NEW ROAD IS NEEDED would have on the environment. The new road is necessary for the progression The results of the assessment are available in the of the Basford East development. It is also Environmental Statement, and are summarised in required to reduce traffic congestion on A534 this Non-Technical Summary. and associated roads. The reduction in .

1 congestion would also improve the quality of life The road would have a speed limit of 50 miles per for local communities, as well as having wider hour. Street lighting would typically comprise 8 - economic impacts. 12m tall metal lighting columns on both sides of the highway at approximately 35m intervals. DESCRIPTION OF THE SCHEME A separated footpath and cycleway would be The proposed Crewe Green Link Road South is located along both sides of the road. This would intended to: connect with the existing Crotia Mill over bridge, over A500, in order to link to Weston Village and • Facilitate the Basford East development; the other footpaths and cycleway.

• Reduce traffic congestion on the A534 and CONSIDERATION OF ALTERNATIVES associated roads, with resulting improvements in environmental quality; As part of the environmental assessment, a detailed consideration of alternatives was carried • Improve local access, safety, public transport, out. As part of this, six possible road alignments walking and cycling on the local highway between the A500 roundabout and the Weston network; Gate Roundabout were considered. These options were considered in the context of how . The new Link road would be about 1.1km long. they met environment, safety, economy, access The route has been designed to follow existing and integration objectives. The options are ground levels as much as possible . At the outlined below : northern end the road would connect to the • Option A: Follows the line of Basford Brook existing roundabout on the A5020. The route with the central roundabout to the west of the would pass south, under the Crewe to Stoke brook. The route passes over Crewe-Stoke railway line, which would be placed on a new railway. bridge. The road then continues south to tie into • Option B: Follows the line of Basford Brook the existing roundabout on the A500. and passes beneath Crewe-Stoke railway line.

2 ENVIRONMENTAL MASTERPLAN

3 This Environmental Masterplan has been produced in order to show proposals for soft landscaping, ecological and archaeological mitigation which is proposed along the new link road. 4 • Option C: Passes beneath the Crewe-Stoke receptors, as a result of the redistribution of traffic railway and then links to a roundabout situated to the new road. to the west of Basford Brook. • Option D: Involves taking the road over the Locally, the scheme would result in a slight railway and brook on a multi-span bridge. improvement in air quality due to the movement • Option E: Avoids Basford Brook by passing to of traffic from the local network to the new road. the east and passes underneath the railway line NOISE AND VIBRATION • Option E (i): Same as option E with a re- alignment of the The transfer of traffic from the existing road central roundabout further east so that the network to the new road is expected to reduce southern section of the road avoids a pond perceptible levels of noise for 57 properties. Only located to the immediate west of the road. one property would experience a perceptible noise increase. The conclusion of this appraisal was that option E(i) offered the best solution to the problems in the Short-term adverse effects are predicted at night corridor and provided the best combination of for two properties during piling works associated benefits and value for money. with the railway bridge. The impacts would be minimised as a result of the short duration and APPROACH TO ASSESSMENT through the use of limits to be agreed with the Cheshire East Council’s Environmental Health The Environmental Impact Assessment for the Department. proposed Crewe Green Link Road South has been carried out in line with the relevant legislation and has followed best practice guidance. This includes guidance contained in the Highways Agency’s Design Manual for Road and Bridges. More specialist guidance such as that published by the Landscape Institute and the Institute for Ecology and Environmental Management has also been used where appropriate.

The assessment considered the existing condition of the environment, the way this may change due to the new road, and how measures can be used to reduce the impact of these changes. CULTURAL AND BUILT HERITAGE ENVIRONMENTAL TOPICS The scheme passes close to 13 sites of AIR QUALITY archaeological importance. The scheme also passes close to 9 historic buildings or structures, The development is predicted to result in negligible (including Crotia Mill). changes in air quality at all representative . 5 The impacts of the new road would be reduced The impacts would be reduced by mitigation through landscape planting, earthwork surveys and landscape planting to help the scheme integrate recording of details through the use of photographs into the surrounding landscape. There would be and mapping. beneficial effects to receptors on the A5020 through the reduction in local traffic.

The visual impacts would be greatest for the small number of properties closest to the scheme. These would reduce once construction was complete.

LANDSCAPE AND VISUAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT

The link would be built across mostly open arable farmland, and as a result has the potential to impact on the local character. The impacts would be greatest during the construction, mainly due to ECOLOGY AND NATURE CONSERVATION construction traffic, tree removal and construction of a new bridge for the Crewe to Stoke Railway. The link crosses mostly agricultural fields of modest local habitat quality. No adverse impacts to statutory designated sites would result from the scheme.

A high number of protected species were recorded in the survey area. These include reptiles (slow worms), great crested newt (GCN), badger, bats, otter and white-clawed crayfish. Other species of interest include Schedule 1 bird species barn owl and kingfisher.

The effects of habitat loss and direct mortality on .

6 these species would be mitigated by the creation PRIVATE AND COMMUNITY ASSETS of alternative habitat areas, installation of badger tunnels, use of an open span bridge and Although the scheme would result in the loss of landscape planting. the agricultural land, the land use change has been accounted for as part of the regional and The areas of habitat creation and enhancement strategic employment allocation for Basford East would be subject to continued monitoring and development area. The scheme would create the management. start of the transport infrastructure for the Basford East development site. In addition, the re-use of WATER ENVIRONMENT the soil within the landscaped area for the road, would reduce the potential loss of the soil The new road would cross or pass close to a resource. number of watercourses and drainage ditches. Assessment results show that there would be no The current level of access to community facilities adverse impacts on Basford Brook during the and existing linkages between the local operation phase. communities would be maintained.

Runoff from the road would be captured in a EFFECTS ON ALL TRAVELLERS drainage system, which would incorporate pollution control measures. None of the footpaths or the cycleway would be directly affected by the construction. Beneficial As the road would be constructed in the effects would be created by the new separated floodplain of Basford Brook, a flood compensation footpath and cycleway, which would connect to area would be included in the scheme. The Weston Village and other footpaths and existing flows into Basford Brook would be cycleways. There would also be benefits for maintained for the new road, through the used of pedestrians and cyclists as a result of reducing storage and controls. With this mitigation in place traffic levels on the local road network. the road would not cause any flood risk.

SOILS, GEOLOGY AND HYDROGEOLOLOGY

Impacts on soils, geology and hydrogeology would be limited to the area of the railway bridge. This would be mitigated during construction through the use to good site practice and management during construction works would remove potential adverse construction impacts. The system for collecting and treating runoff from the road would also prevent any pollution of adjacent soil or groundwater.

7 Traffic is expected to transfer to the new link from the existing highway network. This would alleviate driver stress by reducing journey times and reliability. The scheme would improve travellers’ views from the road as it passes predominantly through a more open agricultural landscape with more open views and points of interest.

MANAGEMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS

The impacts of construction activities would be managed through the development and implementation of a Construction Environmental Management Plan. This would address working hours, traffic management, control of pollution, waste management, noise, dust and vibration.

The contractor would also provide a public liaison officer to keep the public informed throughout the construction period. An environmental masterplan has been developed which includes proposals for landscaping, control of road runoff, footpath diversions and new footpaths, wildlife habitat creation and other measures to reduce impacts on wildlife.

PLEASE CONTACT:

If you require further information, or need this document in large print, alternative language or audio version, then please contact:

Strategic Highways and Transportation Cheshire East Council Delamere House Delamere Street Crewe, Cheshire CW1 2JZ 01270 371103 Website: www.cheshireeast.gov.uk

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