10. Priory Road / Cooksland Road

10.1 To facilitate access to the Priory Road development area (BdUE1), a site access is required on Priory Road. In addition, the overall growth identified for Bodmin would result in the existing Priory Road / Cooksland Road junction reaching capacity as additional traffic travels to and from the A30(T) / A38(T) junction at Carminow Cross.

10.2 The developer of the Priory Road site has proposed a junction just to provide access to their sites on either side of Priory Road. The existing Priory Road / Cooksland Road junction is poorly aligned, particularly from Cooksland Road and therefore discussions took place between the developer and Cornwall Council to develop a combined access solution.

10.3 The access road to the Police headquarters is a public highway and land adjacent to this location is under the control of the developer of the Priory Road sites.

10.4 It is therefore proposed to divert Cooksland Road to the west of the Police headquarters, utilising the existing public highway. A traffic signal controlled junction at Priory Road is proposed that will provide access to the Priory Road development area, provide sufficient capacity to accommodate future traffic growth and also to provide controlled pedestrian / cyclist crossings. These pedestrian / cycle crossings will form part of the new network of cycle paths linking the development site to Bodmin town centre and local employment areas and also provide links between Bodmin, the Camel Trail and Lanhydrock.

10.5 The existing road layout and the proposed Launceston Road / Cooksland Road scheme are shown below.

EDG110-04 Bodmin Town Framework 33 October 2013

A389 Priory Road / Cooksland Road – Existing Road Layout

A38 Cooksland Road

A389 PrioryRoad

Not to Scale © Crown copyright and database rights 2013 Ordnance Survey 100049047 Aerial Photography © Cornwall Council

EDG110‐04 Bodmin Town Framework Consultation Page 34 October 2013 A389 Priory Road / Cooksland Road – Proposed Road Layout

A38 Cooksland Road

A389 PrioryRoad

Not to Scale © Crown copyright and database rights 2013 Ordnance Survey 100049047 Aerial Photography © Cornwall Council

EDG110‐04 Bodmin Town Framework Consultation Page 35 October 2013 A389 Priory Road / Cooksland Road – Proposed Road Layout ‐ Visualisation

EDG110‐04 Bodmin Town Framework Consultation Page 36 October 2013

11. Strategic Transport Proposals

11.1 When undertaking the review of previous transport work in Bodmin, including the Masterplan, the following five criteria were considered:

1. To enable economic and housing growth within Bodmin 2. To reduce future congestion in town 3. To improve town centre environment 4. To manage air quality within town 5. To facilitate the expansion of St. Petroc’s School

11.2 As has been summarised above a number of transport schemes resolve issues relating to particular development areas and do not have a strategic benefit to Bodmin as a whole.

11.3 When considering the five criteria above it has been assumed that criterion 1, ‘To enable economic and housing growth within Bodmin’ has to be met for all transport scenarios as without growth there would be no need or potential funding for infrastructure improvements.

11.4 Criteria 2 to 4 are key aspirations for the transport strategy as for this work we focussed on developing a town centre that would be operationally functional and a pleasant environment to draw in those who people who would live in the proposed new housing or work in the proposed employment areas.

11.5 In resolving criteria 2 to 4 there are a number of specific issues that needed to be considered.

Reducing Congestion

11.6 At peak periods the central area of Bodmin, between Five Ways in the west and Church Square in the east can become moderately congested.

11.7 There are a number of reasons for this congestion, as follows:

 Traffic volumes are high across Bodmin  Interaction of side road traffic leads to stop/start traffic flow  Interaction of pedestrian crossings leads to stop/start traffic flow  Traffic seeking free parking on Fore Street can drive around the Dennison Road / Turf Street / Fore Street / Lower Bore Street loop on multiple occasions prior to finding a space or going elsewhere.

11.8 The aim of the transport strategy has been to reduce congestion whilst supporting growth in the town and also improving accessibility of people who walk, cycle or use public transport.

Improve Town Centre Environment

11.9 Currently, Fore Street and Turf Street are impacted on significantly by through traffic and traffic seeking on-street or off-street parking. Fore Street, in particular, can be a hostile environment with vehicles parking on the very narrow footways due to all on-street parking and loading bays being full. Turf Street is impacted on by traffic travelling to south-east Bodmin and by vehicles accessing/egressing the Priory Car Park and the Fore Street Car Park.

11.10 The high quality streetscape outside of Shire Hall can not be appreciated by visitors to Bodmin due to the impact of the high traffic volumes in the area. Pedestrians walking from the Priory Car Park are required to cross Turf Street and

EDG110-04 Bodmin Town Framework 37 October 2013

whilst there is a controlled pedestrian crossing in this location delays are inevitable given the volume of traffic.

11.11 The Fore Street car park is not currently well used due to the steep gradients and steps linking the car park and Fore Street. It was an ambition of the masterplan that redevelopment of the town centre could bring about level access or reduced gradient access between this car park and the town centre.

11.12 If vehicular traffic was removed or reduced significantly on Fore Street and Turf Street the environment for visitors would improve significantly.

Air Quality

11.13 There is a statutory air quality management area (AQMA) defined for Bodmin town centre, including St Leonards, Dennison Road, Turf Street and Fore Street. The AQMA has been defined because levels of oxides of Nitrogen are higher than permitted by UK and European Legislation.

11.14 Cornwall Council has a legal duty to manage the air quality in a defined AQMA and the principal reason for the Bodmin AQMA is queuing and stop/start traffic on the roads within the area. The principal non-compliances occur on Dennison Road in the vicinity of Rhind Street and Turf Street near to Honey Street.

11.15 Given the close proximity of buildings to the roads in these areas a ‘canyon effect’ is occurring where exhaust gases from vehicles remain trapped between the buildings. This leads to the high levels of pollutants which triggered the AQMA.

11.16 To manage the issue a number of measures could be taken. These include:

 Reducing traffic volume  Reducing vehicle stoppages – improving flow  Removing or reducing the ‘canyon’

Expansion of St Petroc’s School

11.17 The final criterion that was considered in developing the strategic transport solution was the preferred location for expansion of Primary School places in Bodmin, which Cornwall Council’s Education Service identified as St Petroc’s School.

11.18 The Education Service has an immediate need for additional primary school places in Bodmin and this need would be exacerbated by future growth in the town.

11.19 To accommodate the immediate need for primary places a local school with sufficient land for expansion is required. This school has been identified as St Petroc’s after careful consideration of the other schools in the town and the potential to build a new school on future development land.

11.20 To expand in the short term the school would not be able to use their existing vehicular access on Athelstan Park as congestion is becoming an issue in this location. Therefore, the school would need to identify an alternative access to the school.

11.21 As part of the work Cormac were undertaking for the emerging Bodmin transport strategy an opportunity arose for St Petroc’s School to possibly gain vehicular access from the Priory Link Road proposal. The road scheme has been identified as needed for strategic purposes and the added benefit to the school would reduce their capital investment based on developing their own access.

EDG110-04 Bodmin Town Framework 38 October 2013

11.22 Alternative access to the school has been considered as part of the transport strategy.

EDG110-04 Bodmin Town Framework 39 October 2013

12. Development of the Strategic Transport Solution

12.1 The key to developing the strategic transport solution was to balance the need for growth in Bodmin with the need to ensure that the local environment was not adversely impacted upon.

12.2 To facilitate growth of approximately 3,000 residential dwellings plus employment and retail development difficult decisions need to be made as to how the infrastructure improvement will be made.

12.3 Using the five criteria above the following permutations of effect were considered when developing the transport strategy:

 Growth only  Growth and reduce future congestion in town  Growth and reduction in future congestion and improvement in air quality  All criteria except facilitate the expansion of St Petroc’s School  All criteria

12.4 A number of distinct areas of the network were considered in isolation prior to being combined as part of a strategy to meet one of the above groupings of improvement criteria. The key areas were:

 Church Square  Turf Street  Fore Street  Linking Priory Road to St Nicholas Street  Harleigh Road / Beacon Road

EDG110-04 Bodmin Town Framework 40 October 2013

13. Church Square

13.1 Developing an appropriate improvement for the Church Square junction has been complex as any delay on the approaches to the junction impacts on the air quality on Dennison Road and Turf Street. Both of these roads currently have air quality levels in excess of permitted levels and this area of Bodmin is a defined Air Quality Management Area (AQMA).

13.2 The Masterplan proposed an enlarged roundabout junction at Church Square. Whilst this would provide greater capacity than the current mini-roundabout arrangement the proposal would not alleviate the air quality issue on Dennison Road or Turf Street as traffic would still be required to ‘give way’ on all approaches to the junction. A traffic signal controlled option would also not alleviate air quality issues on Dennison Road or Turf Street.

13.3 With any growth scenario for Bodmin the traffic volumes, even with significant sustainable transport measures proposed, would increase over those currently experienced. If the highway network is not improved congestion would get worse and the potential impact on the AQMA could be significant, even assuming that motorised vehicles have cleaner engines and the use of electric technology is increasing.

13.4 To achieve these aims a degree of highway improvement is required to complement the proposed improvements to the walking, cycling and public transport networks.

13.5 At Church Square the aim of the current transport study is to reduce delays for traffic on Dennison Road and Turf Street so that the flow of traffic and the air quality is improved.

13.6 To achieve this one of Dennison Road, Priory Road or Turf Street needs to be restricted so that vehicular traffic cannot use the road. This would have the effect of reducing the overall traffic volume at Church Square, improving the flow of traffic between Dennison Road and Priory Road, A number of options were considered before the final scheme was identified and these are summarised below:

Church Square – Option 1

13.7 This option provides the following:

 Priority Junction with Ghost Island Right Turning facility

Benefits

 Minor improvement in flow between Dennison Road – Priory Road  Dennison Road alignment improved therefore affecting efficiency of vehicle flow

Disbenefits

 Retention of a three arm junction creates queuing resulting in adverse impact on AQMA  Third party land required on Dennison Road and Priory Road included listed buildings

EDG110-04 Bodmin Town Framework 41 October 2013

Church Square – Option 2

13.8 This option provides the following:

 New roundabout junction at Church Square to provide additional capacity

Benefits

 Improved capacity at Church Square

Disbenefits

 Retention of a three arm junction creates queuing resulting in adverse impact on AQMA  Third party land required on Dennison Road, Priory Road and Turf Street included listed buildings

Church Square – Option 3

13.9 This option provides the following:

 Widening and easing of Dennison Road – Priory Road alignment  Restriction on Turf Street to Left In – Left Out only  Restriction on Church Lane to prevent vehicles travelling northbound.

Benefits

 Improved traffic flow on Dennison Road – Priory Road  Reduced traffic flow on Turf Street

Disbenefits

 Vehicle Diversion due to restriction at Turf Street. Potential adverse impact on Barn Lane / Beacon Road, St Nicholas Street / Lostwithiel Road / Castle Canyke Road  Third party land required on south-west side of Dennison Road

Church Square – Option 4

13.10 This option provides the following:

 Restriction on Turf Street to permit buses, service vehicles and disabled vehicles only  Restriction on Fore Street to permit buses, service vehicles and disabled vehicles only  Closure of access / egress to Priory Car Park from Turf Street  Requires a link road between Priory Road and St Nicholas Street

Benefits

 Improved traffic flow on Dennison Road – Priory Road  Reduced traffic flow on Turf Street and Fore Street

EDG110-04 Bodmin Town Framework 42 October 2013

Disbenefits

 Requirement for a link road between Priory Road and Turf Street would impact on third party land, particularly on St Nicholas Street  Potential loss of upper car park at Priory Park  Negative impact on amenity in Priory Park

Church Square – Option 5

13.11 This option provides the following:

Benefits

 Improved traffic flow on Dennison Road – Priory Road  Reduced traffic flow on Turf Street and Fore Street

Disbenefits

13.12 Options 1 and 3 provide most benefit to the air quality issues on Dennison Road but to deliver either scheme third party land would be required to realign Dennison Road. The majority of the buildings on the south side of Dennison Road between Crockwell Street and Church Square are listed. Whilst listed buildings can be demolished a strong case would have to be made to do this and if alternatives with less impact are available these are likely to be preferred.

13.13 In addition, any restriction on vehicles accessing Turf Street, without an alternative route between Priory Road and St Nicholas Street, would result in traffic diverting to Barn Lane / Beacon Road or Castle Canyke Road to access Lostwithiel Road. Public consultation has concluded that significantly increasing traffic volumes on Barn Lane / Beacon Road would not be acceptable due to these roads passing three Primary Schools.

13.14 The proposed Transport Strategy for Bodmin to facilitate the construction of an additional 3,000 residential dwellings up to 2030 identified a potential highway solution linking Priory Road to St Nicholas Street. A number of options were considered before the preferred scheme was shown at the Local Plan consultation.

13.15 Option 4 represents the optimum solution, in transport terms, if a link road could be constructed between Priory Road and St Nicholas Street. This would enable the pedestrianisation of Turf Street and the improvement of the local environment for pedestrians and cyclists.

EDG110-04 Bodmin Town Framework 43 October 2013

13.16 Option 5 represents the optimum transport solution should a link road not be constructed. Traffic volumes would decrease when compared to the base situation but would still be significant and prevent the pedestrianisation of Turf Street.

13.17 Plans showing the existing road layout in the area and the five transport options are included below.

EDG110-04 Bodmin Town Framework 44 October 2013