Church Lane Trowbridge Transport Assessment
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CHURCH LANE TROWBRIDGE TRANSPORT ASSESSMENT CHURCH LANE TROWBRIDGE TRANSPORT ASSESSMENT 05 September 2018 Our Ref: CR/AW/JG/adf/JNY9623-01b RPS 260 Park Avenue Aztec West Almondsbury Bristol BS32 4SY Tel: 01454 853 000 Fax: 01454 205 820 Email: [email protected] rpsgroup.com/uk QUALITY MANAGEMENT Prepared by: Joanna Gunn Checked by: Amy Waites Authorised by: Craig Rawlinson Date: 05 September 2018 Project Number/Document JNY9623-01b Reference: COPYRIGHT © RPS The material presented in this report is confidential. This report has been prepared for the exclusive use of The Parry Family and shall not be distributed or made available to any other company or person without the knowledge and written consent of RPS. rpsgroup.com/uk CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................... 1 2 EXISTING SITE AND TRANSPORT NETWORKS ............................................................................. 2 3 TRANSPORT POLICY....................................................................................................................... 9 4 DEVELOPMENT PROPOSALS ........................................................................................................14 5 TRIP GENERATION .........................................................................................................................15 6 ASSESSMENT OF TRANSPORT IMPACT ......................................................................................17 9 SMARTER CHOICES MEASURES ..................................................................................................21 10 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS ....................................................................................................22 FIGURES FIGURE 1 – SITE LOCATION PLAN APPENDICES APPENDIX A – TROWBRIDGE CYCLE MAP APPENDIX B – TROWBRIDGE BUS INFORMATION APPENDIX C – PERSONAL INJURY ACCIDENT DATA APPENDIX D – PROPOSED ACCESS DESIGN APPENDIX E – TRICS OUTPUT REPORT APPENDIX F – TRAFFIC FLOW DIAGRAMS APPENDIX G – LINSIG OUTPUT REPORT rpsgroup.com/uk 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 RPS Planning and Development has been commissioned by the Parry Family to prepare a Transport Assessment (TA) in support of an outline planning application for the development of land at Frome Road, Trowbridge, for up to 100 dwellings. 1.2 The site is situated to the south of Church Lane, approximately 2.6 km to the south west of Trowbridge town centre, located within the County of Wiltshire. The site is bound by Church Lane (cul-de-sac) to the north, the A361 Frome Road to the east, by the Lambrok Stream and Southwick Country Park to the south and southwest and to the west by the existing residential areas of Lambrok Road / St John’s Crescent and Acorn Meadow. 1.3 The gross site area is approximately 5.93 ha with approximately 3.29 ha of developable site land. The previous use of the site is agricultural. A plan indicating the site’s location is included as Figure 1. 1.4 This report has been prepared following initial scoping discussions with Wiltshire County Council (WCC). It has been agreed with WCC that the quantum of the development is such that it warrants a Transport Assessment. Report Structure 1.5 This Transport Assessment has been produced in line with the Planning Policy Guidance (PPG) ‘Travel Plans, Transport Assessments and Statements in Decision-Taking’ (March 2014), and is structured in the following manner: . Section 2 – A review of existing conditions at the site and surrounding transport networks. In particular, this focuses on the accessibility of the site by non-car means and the prevalence of public transport services; . Section 3 – Review of Local and National Planning Policies in relation to development proposals; . Section 4 – Analysis of the development proposals including the access arrangements being promoted; . Section 5 – Assessment of the number of vehicle trips that are likely to be generated by the proposed development and including an appraisal of how the development trips are distributed through the local highway network; . Section 6 – Appraisal of the impact of the trips generated by the proposed development with respect to the operation of the local highway network. This includes setting out the results of traffic capacity modelling of the local highway network; . Section 7 – Summarises the smarter choices measures to be delivered as part of the development proposals; and . Section 8 – A summary of the findings of the Transport Assessment. 1 rpsgroup.com/uk 2 EXISTING SITE AND TRANSPORT NETWORKS Site Location 2.1 This chapter outlines the existing sustainable transport network within the vicinity of the development site. This information also provides a context for providing future connections to the site. 2.2 Accordingly, this section of the report considers the site location and the existing local highway, pedestrian, cycle and public transport networks, with particular regard to the accessibility of the site in relation to public transport stops and local service provision. Development Site 2.3 The site is situated to the south of Church Lane, approximately 2.6 km to the south west of Trowbridge town centre. The site is bound by Church Lane (cul-de-sac) to the north, the A361 Frome Road to the east, by the Lambrok Stream and Southwick Country Park to the south and southwest and to the west by the existing residential areas of Lambrok Road / St John’s Crescent and Acorn Meadow. 2.4 The Parry Family are proposing a development of up to 100 dwellings on the site, with a mixture of sizes and tenure. The site location is shown in Figure 1. Planning Background 2.5 The site benefits from a draft allocation within the review of the Wiltshire Local Plan which covers development up to 2036. Foot and Cycle Provision 2.6 The site is surrounded by numerous footways, footpaths and cycle routes connecting to neighbouring residential areas and the town centre. The A361 Frome Road has a footway on the western side, adjacent to the site, and a footway on the eastern side of the carriageway, commencing approximately 85m north of the site. Northwards beyond this location the majority of roads throughout the town have footways on both sides of the carriageway. Southwards, the footway on the western side of the carriageway extends to the village of Southwick. 2.7 There are several Public Rights of Way (Prow), either off road footpaths, bridleways, restricted byways or byways on all sides of the site. These PRoW connect with local villages including Wingfield, North Bradley, Brokers Wood, Westbury and Bradford-On-Avon, in addition to providing alternative access to the town centre and nearby employment centres. The above network of PROW also connects with regional and national cycle paths and the regional canal towpath network. 2 rpsgroup.com/uk 2.8 The Trowbridge Cycle Map is attached at Appendix A and demonstrates a number of recommended cycle routes within the vicinity of the proposed development site. Church Lane is a public footpath (TROW8) and a recommended cycle route. A recommended cycle route from Church Lane, north on the A361 Frome Road and onto College Way allows residents at the proposed site to cycle to Trowbridge town centre using a network of recommended on-road cycle routes and surfaced cycleways/paths. 2.9 However, this is not an upper limit. Paragraph 2.3 of the Design Manual for Roads and Bridges TD91/05 “Provision for Non-Motorised Users” states: “Walking is used to access a wide variety of destinations including educational facilities, shops, and places of work, normally within a range of up to 2 miles. Walking and rambling can also be undertaken as a leisure activity, often over longer distances.” 2.10 For cycling journeys, Local Transport Note 2/08 “Cycle Infrastructure Design” states: “Many utility cycle journeys are under 3 miles although, for commuter journeys, a trip distance of over 5 miles is not uncommon.” 2.11 Therefore, this assessment should consider these when discussing the sustainability of the site and key local facilities. Local Public Transport 2.12 In terms of public transport, the site benefits from southbound and northbound bus stops, located both to the north of the current site access at 290m and 245m respectively and to the south at a distance of 175m. All bus stops are serviced by routes 94, 185 and X34 which provide links to Frome, Midsomer Norton and Bath to the south/east and Trowbridge, Melksham and Chippenham to the north. The frequency of services for each route is shown in Table 2.1 and the bus routes and timetables are shown at Appendix B. 2.13 The bus services stop at the main bus stations in Frome, Bath, Melksham and Chippenham, which in turn provide connections to numerous destinations across the southwest and further afield. 3 rpsgroup.com/uk Table 2.1: Local Bus Services Frequency First Last Service Saturday Sunday AM Inter- PM Service Service Peak Peak Peak 34 Northbound 3 12 10 No 2 Services 07:20 17:46 (Frome – Southwick – Services Services Services Service Trowbridge – Melksham – Chippenham) X34 Southbound 2 12 9 No 2 Services 07:27 17:46 (Chippenham – Melksham Services Services Services Service – Trowbridge – Southwick – Frome) 94 North-bound No No No 1 1 Service 15:05 - (Bath – Freshford – Service Service Service Wingfield – Trowbridge) 94 No No No South-bound (Trowbridge 1 No Service 09:07 - – – Wingfield – Freshford - Service Service Service Bath) 185 Northbound 1 Service No No No (Clutton - Paulton – Thursday No Service 10:08 Service