Technical Note Page 1 of 8

Job title St Tydfil Square Job number 119668 cc APS Project Management File reference 4.70

Prepared by Arup () Date

26 April 2006

Subject Car Parking Assessment

1. INTRODUCTION This report provides a review of the existing car parking provision in the vicinity of the St Tydfil Square site and provides an estimate of the number of vehicle trips likely to be generated by the proposed cinema and retail development.

2. DETAILS OF DEVELOPMENT

2.1 Site Location The proposed cinema and retail development is located to the west of town centre, on a 0.45ha site bounded to the north by Castle Street, to the west by Avenue de Clichy, to the south by St Tydfil Square Shopping Centre and to the east by the central bus station. The site is currently vacant.

2.2 Proposed Development The proposed development comprises the following (as of 25 April 2006): Ground Floor • Units 1 – 4 = A3 Retail (1595m²) • Unit 5 = A1 or A3 Retail (use to be confirmed, A3 Retail assumed for trip generation purposes) (545m²) First / Second Floors • Leisure Unit 792m² (use to be confirmed, A3 Retail assumed for trip generation purposes) • 8 screen multiplex cinema, 1140 seats (3882m²) Other than for operational purposes, no parking is proposed within the curtilages of the development; instead the use of existing public car parking facilities is envisaged. The nearest car park is College (East), 100m to the west on the opposite bank of the .

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3. EXISTING TRANSPORT CONDITIONS

3.1 Car Parking Supply There are a total of approximately 1163 off-street parking spaces in Merthyr Tydfil town centre, all within 10 minutes’ walk of the St Tydfil Square site. An additional 44 spaces are available at Abermorlais, to the north of the development site, at weekends when not occupied by permit- holding employees of Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. These facilities are subject to charges between 8am to 6pm, Monday to Saturday. The town centre car parking facilities and tariff is indicated in Table 1. The car park locations are illustrated in Figure 1.

Table 1: Existing Town Centre Off-Street Car Parks, Merthyr Tydfil

Car Park Name Number of spaces Tariff (incl. disabled) 1 hour 2 hours 3 hours 4 hours All day 5 days 6 days

Abermorlais (Saturdays / Sundays 44 40p 60p 70p £1.00 £2.00 £9.00 £9.50 only)

Castle 291 40p 60p 70p £1.00 £2.00 £9.00 £9.50

Castle (South) 19 40p 60p 70p £1.00 £2.00 £9.00 £9.50

College (East) 334 40p 60p 70p £1.00 £2.00 £9.00 £9.50

College (South) 56 40p 60p 70p £1.00 £2.00 £9.00 £9.50

College (Extension) 307 40p 60p 70p £1.00 £2.00 £9.00 £9.50

Gilar Street 91 40p 60p 70p N/A N/A N/A N/A

Swan Street (disabled 23 40p 60p 70p £1.00 £2.00 £9.00 £9.50 only)

Tramroad 42 40p 60p 70p £1.00 £2.00 £9.00 £9.50

Total 1163 (Mon – Fri) An additional 460 public parking spaces are available at the former Station Car Park site; however these spaces are managed by Euro Car Parks on behalf of Tesco. Stays of longer than 2 hours are prohibited at all times, with the store being open 24 hours from 8am Monday to 10pm Saturday. There are also a number of on-street parking spaces in the town centre; however most of these are restricted to short stays of two hours or less.

3.2 Car Parking Usage A walkover survey was undertaken between 11am and 12:30pm on Friday 31 March 2006 to gain an impression of the level of spare capacity in town centre car parks during the day. The observations made were as follows: • Castle – operating at 90% of capacity; • Tramroad – 90%; • Gilar Street – 66%; • College (East) – 90%; • College (South) – 100%; and • College (Extension) – 25%.

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Data for the number of tickets issued by length of stay was supplied by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council for the car parks around the College and adjacent to the former Castle Cinema site, for the week Monday 3 April 2006 – Saturday 8 April 2006. This suggests that College (East) car park operates at approximately four-fifths of daily capacity on both weekdays and Saturdays. Demand for the Castle car park is at a similar level. However, the College (Extension) car park is significantly less well used, with ticket data indicating that parking demand is approximately one-third of available capacity. These findings were corroborated by the walkover survey. With regard to the effect of market days on parking demand, the ticket data indicated that demand on the Tuesday at College (Extension) car park was significantly higher at approximately one-half of available capacity, although Saturday demand was marginally lower than the weekday average. However, this data does not indicate the peaks in parking demand throughout the day. Discussions with Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council indicate that spare parking capacity is plentiful in the town centre after 4:30pm. Despite this, a significant level of evening parking demand is generated by Merthyr Tydfil College students attending night classes, which run from Mondays to Thursdays, ending at 9pm. Most night-time students arrive by car, parking in the adjacent College (East) car park. As College (East) is the facility in closest proximity to the proposed cinema and retail development, it is anticipated that the majority of car-borne visitors will park at this location. To estimate the level of spare capacity at College (East) car park during the late afternoon and evening period (at which time the level of cinema admissions are likely to be at their highest), a survey of car park arrivals and departures was undertaken on Tuesday 4 April 2006 between 4pm and 10pm. This represented a worst case scenario as Tuesdays and Saturdays are market days on which the majority of spaces in College (South) car park are allocated to authorised users (i.e. market traders’ vehicles), increasing pressure on the adjacent car parks. The results of the survey, together with the estimated parking accumulation, are presented in Table 2 below.

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Table 2: Afternoon and Evening Arrivals/Departures, College (East) Car Park, 04/04/2006

Time Arrivals Departures Accumulation Spaces Vacant Vehicles parked at 16:00 254 80 16:00 - 16:15 23 37 240 94 16:15 - 16:30 18 36 222 112 16:30 - 16:45 11 26 207 127 16:45 - 17:00 9 39 177 157 17:00 - 17:15 16 63 130 204 17:15 - 17:30 20 29 121 213 17:30 - 17:45 20 39 102 232 17:45 - 18:00 27 31 98 236 18:00 - 18:15 15 16 97 237 18:15 - 18:30 3 12 88 246 18:30 - 18:45 4 6 86 248 18:45 - 19:00 18 2 102 232 19:00 - 19:15 6 4 104 230 19:15 - 19:30 4 16 92 242 19:30 - 19:45 7 9 90 244 19:45 - 20:00 4 14 80 254 20:00 - 20:15 1 11 70 264 20:15 - 20:30 9 20 59 275 20:30 - 20:45 6 30 35 299 20:45 - 21:00 5 25 15 319 21:00 - 21:15 4 9 10 324 21:15 - 21:30 14 7 17 317 21:30 - 21:45 13 5 25 309 21:45 - 22:00 10 11 24 310 End 24 310 Table 2 indicates that a significant proportion of spaces at College (East) car park were vacant throughout the survey, despite the presence of market vehicles displacing some cars elsewhere. 80 spaces (24%) were vacant at 4pm, with the number of vacant spaces increasing steadily after this time as town centre employees and shoppers returned to their vehicles. A significant number of arrivals were recorded between 4pm and 6pm, although many of these were picking up or setting down college staff and students. As students arrived for their night classes from 6:45pm onwards, so a small increase in parked vehicles was recorded. However, more than two-thirds of spaces remained vacant. The majority of students left the car park between 8:30pm and 9:00pm. The congregation of young people and their cars from 8pm onwards represented a significant proportion of arrivals and departures, with cars regularly exiting and re-entering the car park.

3.3 Public Transport Network The St Tydfil Square site is well located in relation to the local public transport network, with the central bus station being located immediately to the east of the development site (Figure 1). From the bus station frequent services are provided to both the Merthyr Tydfil urban area and the surrounding region, including Tredegar, Ebbw Vale, and . The majority of services are operated by , although Sixty-Sixty Coaches operates the X43 route between Cardiff and Abergavenny. The last buses depart from the bus station between 10pm and 11pm. Merthyr Tydfil railway station is located 400m (approximately 5 minutes’ walk) to the east of the St Tydfil Square site (Figure 1). Trains Wales services operate hourly from Merthyr Tydfil

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to and Cardiff, with the last service departing at 10:30pm. Access to taxi services from the St Tydfil Square site is also straightforward, with the nearest rank being located on Victoria Street, 100m to the south (Figure 1).

4. TRIP GENERATION ASSESSMENT

4.1 Vehicle Trip Generation To provide an estimate of the number of vehicle trips generated by the St Tydfil Square development, trip rate data from the TRICS 2005 (b) database was used for the A3 retail uses and applied to the floorspaces as indicated in Section 2.2. To estimate the number of trips likely to be generated by the cinema, data was supplied by VUE Cinemas for a seven-screen 1100 seat multiplex on a similar town centre site. This data was then factored in order to estimate the likely vehicle trip generation of the St Tydfil Square cinema, and cross-checked with trip rates from the TRICS 2005 (b) database for similar sites in order to assume a worst case scenario. The estimated trip generation for weekdays and Saturdays is presented in Table 3. For weekdays, Table 3 indicates that no trip generation is anticipated during the morning peak hour (0800-0900), but an evening peak (1700-1800) trip generation of some 126 arrivals / departures. The peak two- way trip generation is likely to be in the early afternoon (1300-1400), at some 262 arrivals / departures. For Saturdays, Table 3 indicates a peak trip generation of 547 arrivals / departures per hour in the evening (1800-1900).

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Table 3: Estimated Trip Generation, St Tydfil Square

Weekday Saturday A3 Retail Cinema Total A3 Retail Cinema Total Arr Dep Arr Dep Arr Dep Arr Dep Arr Dep Arr Dep 00:00-01:00 0 0 0 34 0 34 0 0 0 114 0 114 01:00-02:00 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 02:00-03:00 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 03:00-04:00 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 04:00-05:00 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 05:00-06:00 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 06:00-07:00 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 07:00-08:00 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 08:00-09:00 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 09:00-10:00 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10:00-11:00 0 0 2 0 2 0 0 0 10 0 10 0 11:00-12:00 33 13 6 0 38 13 46 16 29 0 74 16 12:00-13:00 140 72 17 2 157 74 72 52 57 10 129 62 13:00-14:00 124 130 6 2 130 132 91 94 19 10 110 104 14:00-15:00 46 101 6 8 51 109 65 91 38 29 103 120 15:00-16:00 29 59 11 8 41 66 65 81 76 29 141 110 16:00-17:00 33 29 6 11 38 41 39 46 38 57 77 103 17:00-18:00 72 26 17 11 89 37 208 101 57 57 266 158 18:00-19:00 104 98 34 6 139 103 173 222 114 38 287 260 19:00-20:00 114 59 17 23 131 81 78 81 57 95 135 177 20:00-21:00 49 111 17 17 66 128 72 104 57 57 129 161 21:00-22:00 23 49 34 17 57 66 29 59 114 57 144 116 22:00-23:00 16 62 17 34 33 96 20 16 57 114 77 131 23:00-24:00 0 0 0 17 0 17 0 0 0 57 0 57 782 808 190 190 972 998 958 964 724 724 1682 1688

However Table 3 does not take into account the effect of linked trips between the retail units and the cinema. For example, a person may travel to the St Tydfil Square site to see a film, but beforehand have a drink at a pub or coffee shop, and then after the film go to eat at a restaurant before finally leaving the site. Thus it is possible that two or three generated retail trips as shown in Table 3 could result in only a single in/out movement on the local highway network. In particular, the majority of trips to the retail uses are likely to be linked with other uses within the St Tydfil Square site, or other activities within the town centre.

4.2 Car Parking Accumulation Using the forecast vehicle trip generation presented in Table 3, Table 4 shows the estimated car parking accumulation profile throughout the day for St Tydfil Square for a weekday and Saturday. Table 4 indicates a peak weekday parking accumulation of 185 vehicles between 7pm and 8pm. However another significant peak occurs around midday, with 137 vehicles parked between 12noon and 1pm. The results of the car park arrival / departure survey indicate that the number of spaces vacant at College (East) is sufficient to cater for the increase in demand during weekday afternoons and evenings with the development in place, even on market days. Earlier in the afternoon, ticket data for the 307-space College (Extension) car park indicates that sufficient spare capacity is available at this facility (approximately 150 spaces) to accommodate the midday peak

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in parking accumulation. This car park is still within an acceptable walking distance (500m) of the development. The peak Saturday parking accumulation is 281 vehicles, between 6pm and 7pm. On Saturdays the level of daytime parking demand associated with the development is significantly increased; however sufficient spare capacity exists within the College (Extension) car park on Saturdays (approximately 200 spaces) to comfortably cater for this demand. Moreover, a significant proportion of the vehicle trips generated by the cinema during the day are likely to consist of set down and pick up movements, for example as parents collect their children. As daytime cinema visitors are generally younger, the location of the development adjacent to the central bus station, with frequent bus services to all parts of Merthyr Tydfil and the surrounding area, will minimise daytime car trip generation and thus parking demand. A significant proportion of visitors during the evening will also arrive by public transport. Although there are few bus services after 10pm, the taxi rank on Victoria Street is well located for cinema goers who are returning home. Also, as St Tydfil Square primarily consists of leisure uses, the sharing of car trips, and thus vehicle occupancy, is likely to be high. Taking these considerations into account, Table 4 represents very much a worst case scenario – the actual parking accumulation may be significantly lower than that indicated. Table 4: Estimated Parking Accumulation, St Tydfil Square

Weekday Saturday A3 Retail Cinema Total A3 Retail Cinema Total 00:00-01:00 0 0 0 0 0 0 01:00-02:00 0 0 0 0 0 0 02:00-03:00 0 0 0 0 0 0 03:00-04:00 0 0 0 0 0 0 04:00-05:00 0 0 0 0 0 0 05:00-06:00 0 0 0 0 0 0 06:00-07:00 0 0 0 0 0 0 07:00-08:00 0 0 0 0 0 0 08:00-09:00 0 0 0 0 0 0 09:00-10:00 0 0 0 0 0 0 10:00-11:00 26 2 28 16 10 26 11:00-12:00 46 8 53 46 38 84 12:00-13:00 114 23 137 65 86 151 13:00-14:00 108 27 134 62 95 157 14:00-15:00 52 25 77 36 105 141 15:00-16:00 23 29 51 20 152 172 16:00-17:00 26 23 49 13 133 146 17:00-18:00 72 29 100 121 133 254 18:00-19:00 78 57 135 72 210 281 19:00-20:00 134 51 185 68 171 240 20:00-21:00 72 51 123 36 171 207 21:00-22:00 46 69 114 7 229 235 22:00-23:00 0 51 51 10 171 181 23:00-24:00 0 34 34 10 114 124

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5. CONCLUSIONS The results of the car parking assessment indicate that the level of parking demand associated with the St Tydfil Square development can be accommodated within nearby public car parks at all times of the day. Although data supplied by the local authority indicates that College (East) and the Castle car parks operate near capacity during the daytime, within a short walk of St Tydfil Square spare capacity is plentiful at the College (Extension) car park. This can accommodate daytime peaks in parking demand, including on market days (Tuesdays and Saturdays). For example, College (Extension) operates at around 50% of capacity on Tuesdays, making available approximately 150 spaces to accommodate the midday peak in parking demand associated with the development of 137 vehicles. On Saturdays, ticket data indicates that the car park operates at less than one-third of capacity, releasing more than 200 spaces to accommodate the estimated early afternoon peak parking demand (1pm-2pm) of 157 vehicles. Accordingly, with the St Tydfil Square development in place, the Council may decide to extend the opening hours of College (Extension) car park later into the evening. It should be noted that the trip generation assessment has assumed a worst case scenario. The St Tydfil Square site is well located in relation to the local public transport and walking and cycling networks, with visitors being able to access the development by a variety of modes. This will minimise the level of car trip generation, and thus parking demand, associated with the site. In addition, many visitors to the development will already be parking in the town centre and will simply add St Tydfil Square to the number of purposes that they have for their existing trip.

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