M1 J28 to 35A Smart Motorway Updated Operating Regime Environmental Assessment Report (SGAR5)
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M1 J28 to 35a Smart Motorway Updated Operating Regime Environmental Assessment Report (SGAR5) October 2015 1043319/ENV/PCF/2/001 Working on behalf of Highways England Document Control Document Title M1 J28 to 35a Smart Motorway Updated Operating Regime Environmental Assessment Report Author Mouchel Owner Highways England Distribution Andy Kirk (Highways England, Project Manager) Phil Barton (Mouchel, Project Director) Bill Scourfield (Mouchel, Project Manager) M1 J28 to 35a Smart Motorway Mailbox All present on the Reviewer List Document Status Final Record of Issue Version Status Author Date Checked Date Authorised Date A Draft Various 01/07/14 R. Atuah 07/07/15 A. Thornhill 07/07/15 B Draft Various 13/07/15 R. Atuah 13/07/15 A. Thornhill 13/07/15 C Draft R. Atuah 13/08/15 R. Atuah 13/08/15 A. Thornhill 13/08/15 D Draft R. Atuah 17/08/15 R. Atuah 17/08/15 A. Thornhill 17/08/15 E Draft R. Atuah 28/09/15 R. Atuah 28/09/15 A. Thornhill 28/09/15 F Final R. Atuah 19/10/15 R. Atuah 19/10/15 A. Thornhill 19/10/15 Reviewer List Name Role Andy Kirk Highways England (Project Manager) Richard Bernhardt Highways England (Regional Environmental Advisor) Approvals Name Signature Title Date of Version Issue Tony Turton Project Senior Responsible Officer (SRO) The original format of this document is copyright to Highways England 1 This page is intentionally left blank. 2 Table of Contents 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 7 1.1 Project Overview ............................................................................................... 7 1.2 Need for an Environmental Assessment ........................................................... 8 1.3 Status of the Environmental Assessment .......................................................... 9 2 Project Background ............................................................................................. 11 2.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................... 11 2.2 Scheme Development and Consideration of Scheme Alternatives ................. 11 2.3 Current Investigations ..................................................................................... 12 3 The Proposed Scheme ......................................................................................... 15 3.1 Proposed Operating Regime ........................................................................... 15 3.2 The Scheme - Key SM-ALR Infrastructure ...................................................... 16 4 Overview of the Existing Environment ............................................................... 19 4.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................... 19 5 The Environmental Assessment Process .......................................................... 22 5.1 Scoping Process ............................................................................................. 22 5.2 Delivery of the Environmental Assessment ..................................................... 22 6 Design Changes ................................................................................................... 24 6.1 Design Change Overview ................................................................................ 24 6.2 Visual Effects .................................................................................................. 25 6.3 Ecology and Nature Conservation ................................................................... 26 6.4 Summary ......................................................................................................... 27 7 Air Quality ............................................................................................................. 29 7.1 Background and Focus of the Assessment ..................................................... 29 7.2 Regulatory / Policy Framework ....................................................................... 30 7.3 Methodology .................................................................................................... 32 7.4 Study Area and Baseline Environment ............................................................ 38 7.5 Impact Assessment ......................................................................................... 41 7.6 Mitigation Measures ........................................................................................ 45 7.7 Summary ......................................................................................................... 57 3 8 Noise and Vibration .............................................................................................. 59 8.1 Focus of the Assessment ................................................................................ 59 8.2 Regulatory / Policy Framework ....................................................................... 59 8.3 Methodology .................................................................................................... 59 8.4 Study Area and Baseline Environment ............................................................ 65 8.5 Impact Assessment ......................................................................................... 69 8.6 Mitigation and Enhancement Measures .......................................................... 74 8.7 Summary ......................................................................................................... 76 9 Recommendation on Determination and Conclusion ....................................... 80 9.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................... 80 9.2 Summary of Potential Effects .......................................................................... 80 9.3 Recommendation on Determination ................................................................ 81 9.4 Conclusion ...................................................................................................... 81 References ................................................................................................................... 82 Glossary of Terms ....................................................................................................... 84 Abbreviations ............................................................................................................... 89 Appendices .................................................................................................................. 93 Appendix A – Design Change Log ............................................................................. 93 Appendix B – Environmental Constraints Plan ........................................................... 93 Appendix C – Traffic Data and Hybrid Traffic Data Methodology ............................... 93 Appendix D – Air Quality Technical Report ................................................................ 93 Appendix E - Noise Technical Report ........................................................................ 93 4 List of Tables Table 2-1: Changes in Growth Factors Due to the NTM and VoT Updates ............................... 14 Table 3-1: Proposed Motorway Configuration ........................................................................... 16 Table 3-2: Key SM-ALR Infrastructure ...................................................................................... 17 Table 4-1: M1 Interconnecting Roads ....................................................................................... 21 Table 7-1: Air Quality Strategy Objectives Regulations' Objectives and 2008/50/EC Limit Values for the Pollutants of Relevance to the Current Assessment ............................................... 31 Table 7-2: Air Quality Objectives and Limit Value for the Protection of Vegetation Set in Relation to NOx ............................................................................................................................... 31 Table 7-3: Annual Average Weekday and Weekend Time Periods used in the Assessment .... 34 Table 7-4: Guideline Bands used in Determining the Significance of Local Air Quality Effects . 37 Table 7-5: List of AQMAs in the Local Air Quality Assessment Study Area ............................... 39 Table 7-6: Geographical Breakdown of Modelled Base Year Annual Mean NO 2 Results in Exceedence of AQS Objective .......................................................................................... 41 Table 7-7: Local Air Quality Receptors Informing Scheme Significance – 70mph SM-ALR (2017) .......................................................................................................................................... 43 Table 7-8: Geographical Distribution of Significant Air Quality Impacts of the Proposed Scheme .......................................................................................................................................... 44 Table 7-9: Local Air Quality Receptors Informing Mitigated Operating Regime Significance (2017) .......................................................................................................................................... 47 Table 7-10: Geographical Distribution of Significant Impacts of the Mitigated Operating Regime .......................................................................................................................................... 48 Table 7-11: Local Air Quality Results for PM 10 .........................................................................