Bradfield College Campus Development Framework Transport Appraisal
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BRADFIELD COLLEGE CAMPUS DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK TRANSPORT APPRAISAL 13 February 2019 Our Ref: DA/AW/JG/lh/adf/JNY9598-01i RPS 20 Western Avenue Milton Park Abingdon Oxon OX14 4SH Tel: 01235 432190 Fax: 01235 834698 Email: [email protected] rpsgroup.com/uk QUALITY MANAGEMENT Prepared by: Amy Waites / Joanna Gunn Authorised by: David Archibald Date: 13 February 2019 Project Number/Document JNY9598-01i Reference: COPYRIGHT © RPS The material presented in this report is confidential. This report has been prepared for the exclusive use of Bradfield College 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 CAMPUS LAYOUT AND PUPIL DESIRE LINES .................................................................................. 2 3 SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORT BASELINE AND SURVEYS ................................................................. 6 4 TRANSPORT RELATED POLICIES .................................................................................................... 17 5 KEY PRINCIPLES OF DEVELOPMENT .............................................................................................. 21 6 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS ....................................................................................................... 27 FIGURES FIGURE 1 – SITE LOCATION FIGURE 2 – CAMPUS LAYOUT APPENDICES APPENDIX A – CAMPUS MASTERPLAN APPENDIX B – FAULKNERS GREEN PLAN rpsgroup.com/uk 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 RPS have been instructed by Bradfield College to prepare a transport appraisal detailing the existing baseline situation in terms of movement and parking to identify potential improvements that can be brought about through the Bradfield College Campus Development Framework which sets out the College’s desire to build and improve existing campus facilities. A plan showing the future building/facility ambitions is attached at Appendix A. 1.2 Bradfield College is a boarding school with day pupils with a capacity of approximately 800 pupils (90% boarders, 10% day) which includes boarding houses and various faculties across the campus. 1.3 The College employs approximately 200 academic staff and 325 support staff (cleaners, maintenance, administration, security etc). Approximately 50% of the academic staff live on-site and nearly all support staff live off-site with the exception of approximately 16 (mainly house matrons) who live on-site. 1.4 All staff and sports centre staff are issued permits to park within the site. Pupils who have passed their driving test are also able to have a parking permit (approximately 25). 1.5 The Campus Development Framework (CDF) is a long-term plan, which seeks to improve educational and boarding buildings and facilities, pedestrian routes, parking and access, through the rationalisation of the location and improvements of existing buildings and facilities and the construction of new facilities and buildings. Some of the facilities will remain available for use for the wider community. 1.6 The campus is located on the four segments of a crossroad which is dissected by four public highways. There are several internal footpaths away from the public highway that allow for the safe movement of pupils within each segment of the site. 1.7 The full teaching days at the College are Monday, Wednesday and Friday with half days on Tuesday and Thursday for sports activities in the afternoon. There is a requirement for pupils to move from one area of the College to another during class changeovers, which may involve crossing the public highway. These movements are based on the College timetable. There are movements from pupils from the hours of 08:00 – 22:00 including during the peak hours for vehicular flows on the public roads (08:00 – 09:00 and 17:00 – 18:00). 1.8 The pedestrian movements include pupils crossing at the crossroads at the centre of the College, and across the four approach roads. No formal crossing points exist at the crossroads and although there is a crossing patrol person to assist crossings, on-site observations and discussions with the College identified an increasing risk of pedestrian/vehicular collision in the village. 1 rpsgroup.com/uk 2 CAMPUS LAYOUT AND PUPIL DESIRE LINES Site Location / Context 2.1 The facilities associated with Bradfield College are dispersed around the village of Bradfield, located approximately five kilometres to the west of Junction 12 of the M4 and approximately eleven kilometres west of Reading. At the centre of the village is a crossroads junction which is the primary route to Theale to the southeast, Pangbourne to the northeast, Ashampstead to the northwest and Bradfield Southend the southwest. The location of the College is shown on Figure 1. 2.2 Part of Bradfield village is subject to a 20mph speed limit. There are buildouts, implemented by the College, after discussions with the council across the south western, north eastern and south-eastern roads leading into the village. There is street lighting in the immediate vicinity of the crossroads junction; however, there is no streetlighting present throughout the remainder of the village. 2.3 The north-western arm (Ashampstead Road) continues to Ashampstead located approximately seven kilometres from the cross-roads. Private residential dwellings form the northern western boundary to the village, and beyond Bradfield, Ashampstead Road becomes rural in nature with few dwellings and no footway provision. The south-western arm (Southend Road (West)) of which the College grounds form the boundary to the village, continues to Bradfield Southend and further towards Woolhampton and Aldermaston. The north-eastern arm (Southend Road (East)) of which the College grounds form the eastern boundary to the village, continues to the A340 located approximately three kilometres from the crossroads. The south-eastern arm (Common Hill) of which the College ground and private residential properties cover the southern boundary, continues to the A340 and Theale approximately three and a half kilometres from the crossroad junction at Bradfield. Pedestrian Facilities and Movements 2.4 As aforementioned, Bradfield College is spread over land centred around the crossroads in the centre of the village. The various buildings and facilities are spread to the north, south, east and west of the main College building located at the north-western corner of the crossroads. 2.5 Figure 2 shows the locations of the various faculties at the College and several footways and internal footpaths throughout the College grounds. The Greek Theatre, music school, tennis centre and sports centre are located north-east of the crossroads and the Science, History and Languages departments and sports fields are located to the west. The main boarding houses for the College are located east of the crossroads and the main College buildings and sports field are located to the north of the crossroads along with the Medical Centre. 2.6 The location of the various facilities at the College results in pupils travelling along the various footpaths within the College site and crossing the public highway. 2.7 A Pedestrian Improvement Strategy for the College was undertaken in 2017, detailing the key pupil movements throughout the College grounds to identify potential improvements to existing facilities. 2 rpsgroup.com/uk 2.8 Information from the College and on-site observations have shown the key pedestrian movements are as follows: . When pupils are travelling to breakfast in the dining hall from their boarding houses, there is a mass movement of 107 pupils from the east to the centre of the College via the crossroads. After breakfast at 08:00, pupils then disperse across the campus to their various faculties’ chapel / assembly or for their first lesson; . At 09:55, there is a break and the majority of pupils travel to the main College buildings at the crossroads or their boarding houses. This break ends at 10:30 and pupils disperse to their lessons across the campus; . During the lunch break (12:00-13:45), there is a movement towards the main buildings of the College at the crossroads. The lunch break ends, and pupils disperse across the College to their lessons; . There are lesson changes throughout the day and there is a movement across the College during these times; . The College teaching day ends at 18:00 on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and at 14:00 on Tuesdays and Thursdays, when sports activities take place in the afternoon; and . The pupils have dinner in the main dining hall or Faulkner’s dining hall (Year 9s) and must return to their houses by 22:00. 2.9 There is an instruction from the College which states that pupils cannot cross the crossroads from the south-eastern corner via Southend Road, due to a narrow footway on the northern side of Southend Road. Pupils also cannot walk along this footway to access College facilities. The footway is approximately 0.9 metres at the corner of the crossroads and ranges between 0.7 – 1.3 metres along its length. 2.10 If pupils need to access facilities on the northern side of the crossroads, they must cross from the south-eastern corner of the crossroads. A member of staff wearing high-visibility clothing currently advises pupils on crossing over Common Hill onto the footway on the southern side of Southend Road (west). Pupils then cross over Southend Road (west) to access