Newton-Le-Willows Interchange

Newton-le-Willows Interchange

Proposed Park & Ride and Bus Interchange

Transport Assessment

June 2015

Produced for Merseytravel

St John's House Queen Street Manchester M2 5JB UK

T 0161 8324542 F 0161 8352038

Document Control Sheet

Project Title Newton-le-Willows Interchange

Report Title Transport Assessment

Report ref no. 001

Version 1.0

Status

Report Date June 2015

Record of Issue

Version Status Author Date Checked by Date Approved by Date

1.0 Draft AG 29/05/15 ES 29/05/15 AF 29/05/15

Distribution

Date Organisation Format Copies

Limitations

This report is presented to Merseytravel in respect of proposed Park and Ride facility at Newton le Willows and may not be used or relied on by any other person. It may not be used by Merseytravel in relation to any other matters not covered specifically by the agreed scope of this Report.

Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in the report, Mouchel Limited is obliged to exercise reasonable skill, care and diligence in the performance of the services required by Merseytravel and Mouchel Limited shall not be liable except to the extent that it has failed to exercise reasonable skill, care and diligence, and this report shall be read and construed accordingly.

This report has been prepared by Mouchel Limited. No individual is personally liable in connection with the preparation of this report. By receiving this report and acting on it, the client or any other person accepts that no individual is personally liable whether in contract, tort, for breach of statutory duty or otherwise.

Contents

1 Introduction...... 5

2 Policy Context ...... 6

3 Existing Conditions ...... 10

4 Development Proposal ...... 22

5 Trip Generation and Assignment ...... 27

6 Highway Impact Assessment ...... 31

7 Accident Analysis ...... 36

8 Summary & Conclusions ...... 39

9 Appendices ...... 1

1 Introduction

1.1 Introduction Merseytravel has appointed Mouchel to provide traffic and transport advice to support a planning application for a car park, bus interchange and drop off and pick up elements of a proposed Interchange scheme at Newton-le-Willows railway station in the district of St Helens.

The scheme at Newton-le-Willows is seen as being part of the fulfilment of a commitment to provide strategic park and ride facilities across Merseyside. It provides larger P&R facilities serving the Northern Rail operated City Line Station that connects Merseyside with Greater Manchester, the Northwest region and the other mainline UK destinations.

This Transport Assessment (TA) identifies traffic and transport planning aspects of the development proposal in support of the planning application.

1.2 Report Scope This TA has been undertaken in accordance with the Planning Practice Guidance on ‘Transport Evidence Bases in Plan Making’ dated 10th October 2014 and ‘Travel Plans, Transport Assessments and Statements in Decision-taking’ dated 6th March 2014. Reference has also been made to the former Department for Transport publication ‘Guidance on Transport Assessment’ dated March 2007.

A scoping note was submitted to St Helen’s Council in March 2015. A copy of the scoping note and accompanying correspondence confirming the acceptance of the Scope is provided in Appendix A.

1.3 Report Structure Following this introduction, the report is structured as follows:

 Section 2 – summarises the local and national planning policies which are relevant to the development proposals;  Section 3 – provides a description of the existing site and presents an assessment of the site’s accessibility by sustainable travel modes;  Section 4 – describes the development proposals;  Section 5 – sets out the method used to calculate the future year assessment traffic flows;  Section 6 - assesses the expected highway impact of the proposals across the junctions and links which comprise study area road; and,  Section 7 - provides analysis of the most recent full five year Personal Injury Accident records in the vicinity of the site.

2 Policy Context

2.1 Introduction This section identifies the main national and local policy context for the proposed development and describes how the proposal is in conformity with Policy.

2.2 National Planning Policy & White Papers 2.2.1 National Planning Policy Framework The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) published in March 2012 replaces a number of planning guidance documents including ‘Planning Policy Guidance 13: Transport’ (PPG13).

The NPPF emphasises that sustainable transport is key to providing sustainable development and states:

“The transport system needs to be balanced in favour of sustainable transport modes, giving people a real choice about how they travel.”

The NPPF requires consideration into providing transport solutions that not only facilitate growth but minimise the negative impacts of emissions and congestion.

The proposals aim to support sustainable development across the local area – improving accessibility to the wider region through a viable and sustainable alternative to car travel for the majority distance of such journeys.

2.2.2 Planning Practice Guidance The DfT publication ‘Guidance on Transport Assessment’ (2007) was replaced by the Planning Practice Guidance note ‘Transport Evidence Bases in Plan Making’ in On 22 October 2014. This document in combination with the Planning Practice Guidance note ‘Travel Plans, Transport Assessment and Statements in Decision Taking’ published in March 2014 identify current Government guidance on preparing Transport Assessments.

The guidance notes are summarised in the following paragraphs.

Transport Evidence Bases in Plan Making (2014)

 Guidance to help local planning authorities assess strategic transport needs to reflect and, where appropriate, mitigate these in their Local Plan;  Indicative thresholds for preparing a Transport Assessment formerly provided in Appendix B of the DfT’s ‘Guidance on Transport Assessment’ are not included; and  The document places the onus on the Local Planning Authority to assess the suitability of the highway network to accommodate additional development during the local plan period and to make plans for improvement where deemed necessary.

Travel Plans, Transport Assessments and Statements in Decision-Taking (March 2014)

 Provides advice on when transport assessments and transport statements are required, and what they should contain;  Paragraph 2 states: “(Transport Assessments) are required for all developments which generate significant amounts of movements”;  Paragraph 5 states: “Transport Assessments… can be used to establish whether the residual transport impacts of a proposed development are likely to be “severe”, which may be a reason for refusal, in accordance with the National Planning Policy Framework.”  Paragraph 6 states: “Transport Assessments…can positively contribute to: encouraging sustainable travel; lessening traffic generation and its detrimental impacts; reducing carbon emissions and climate impacts; creating accessible, connected, inclusive communities…”  Paragraph 13 states: “Local planning authorities must make a judgement as to whether a development proposal would generate significant amounts of movement on a case by case basis (i.e. significance may be a lower threshold where road capacity is already stretched or a higher threshold for a development in an area of high public transport accessibility).”  Paragraph 14 states: “It is important to give appropriate consideration to the cumulative impacts arising from other committed development (i.e. development that is consented or allocated where there is a reasonable degree of certainty will proceed within the next three years).”

The methodology established for assessing the transport impacts within this TA has been developed in accordance with the above principles.

2.2.3 Creating Growth, Cutting Carbon – Making Sustainable Local Transport Happen, White Paper

The White Paper was published in January 2011 and states its vision as:

“Our vision is for a transport system that is an engine for economic growth, but one that is also greener and safer and improves quality of life in our communities.”

The White Paper sets out the changes from PPG13 to NPPF and acknowledges the further freedoms given to local authorities to adopt the right polices for their area. It is considered that decisions made at the local level in regards to transport provision, can have the greatest impact on ensuring people can make more sustainable travel choices.

The proposals are expected to encourage these sustainable travel choices by providing a viable alternative for part, if not all, of the journey length which otherwise would be made wholly by car.

2.3 Local Planning Policy 2.3.1 Merseyside Local Transport Plan

The third Local Transport Plan (LTP3) for Merseyside, active from 1st April 2011, is set within the wider context of the Liverpool City Region. LTP3 vision is as follows:

'A city region committed to a low carbon future, which has a transport network and mobility culture that positively contributes to a thriving economy and the health and wellbeing of its citizens and where sustainable travel is the option of choice'.

The LTP3 identifies 6 main goals:

1. Help create the right conditions for sustainable economic growth by supporting the priorities of the Liverpool City Region, the Local Enterprise Partnership and the Local Strategic Partnerships.

2. Provide and promote a clean, low emission transport system which is resilient to changes to climate and oil availability.

3. Ensure the transport system promotes and enables improved health and wellbeing and road safety.

4. Ensure equality of travel opportunity for all, through a transport system that allows people to connect easily with employment, education, healthcare, other essential services and leisure and recreational opportunities.

5. Ensure the transport network supports the economic success of the city region by the efficient movement of people and goods.

6. Maintain our assets to a high standard.

The proposals for the park and ride facility at Newton-le-Willows rail station are in the context of the LTP3. The proposals aim to provide greater accessibility to rail services to encourage and support economic growth across the wider Liverpool Region, whilst promoting sustainable travel in a bid to reduce car use by encouraging modal shift for part of the journey which is currently made by car.

2.3.2 St Helen’s Core Strategy St Helen’s Core Strategy (published October 2012) provides a strategic plan for the development of the town to 2027.

The strategy “support(s) the Local Transport Plan Priorities by ensuring development will not prejudice: improved rail links to Manchester and Wigan, including the planned rail electrification; improved rail capacity to Liverpool; or improved station accessibility and facilities”.

It is considered that the proposals form part of the Core Strategy and aim to provide integration with future rail improvements across the wider rail network.

2.3.1 Rail Strategy The long term goals of the Merseyside Rail Strategy 2006 remain pertinent, although the report has been superseded since publication. This initial strategy supported the predecessor of LTP 3 (LTP 2) and outlined aims set out by Merseytravel to encourage growth in passengers, allowing them to be able to make a choice in how they travel with rail being a viable and attractive option. This identified that a lack of car parking spaces at stations “diminish[es] the attractiveness of rail” and in order promote rail use stations must be accessible. This led to plans for significantly expanding park and ride facilities along the Merseyrail network where “capacity is limited and is warranted by demand” of which Newton-le-Willows station was identified as one of the required enhancement schemes.

This is still relevant as the most recent rail strategy, the Liverpool City Region Long Term Rail Strategy, published in 2014, identified 12 key strategic packages for the long-term future of the local rail network. Of which, one package identified the need to improve connections to the proposed HS2 hub at Crewe with the provision of a new route between Chester and Leeds via Newton-le-Willows. Ultimately this will increase services and demand at stations along the line, hence there remains a strong need to ensure these stations are able to accommodate this growth.

3 Existing Conditions

3.1 Site Layout The site is currently occupied by a car park of 87 spaces serving the station; a vacant special needs school; and a civil engineering plant hire company.

Error! Reference source not found.1 below shows the existing site layout.

Figure 3-1: Existing Site Layout

3.2 Site Location The site is located just south of the Newton-le-Willows station and the Liverpool to Manchester railway line, approximately 2.5km east of the town centre. It is situated just off the A49 Mill Lane that runs north and south through Newton-le-Willows and connects the area with both the M62 motorway and Warrington.

The site is bounded by the Newton-le-Willows station embankment to the North; private residences to the East; The Millstone public house and further private residences to the South; and Prestige Motors, 69 Mill Land and Mill Lane itself to the West.

Error! Reference source not found.2 shows the site location in relation to the local nd strategic road network.

Figure 3-2: Site Location

3.3 Vehicle Access The existing car park has capacity for approximately 87 vehicles and can be accessed from Alfred Street, off A49 Mill Lane. Alfred Street has double yellow lines and two short lengths of 2 hour time restricted on-street parking bays which can accommodate approximately 8-10 cars. During a site visit carried out between 14:00 and 17:00 on Tuesday 17th March 2015 the site car park, with a total capacity of approximately 90 vehicles, was observed to be full.

Photo 1 below shows the car park.

Photo 1 Existing Site Car Park

On the opposite side of the railway station from the site, there is a vehicle access into the station grounds from a cobbled area accessed from the Mill Lane/Southworth Road/Church Street junction, 180m north of Alfred Street. Within the cobbled area, at the lower end of this access, there were no parking restrictions and approximately 12 vehicles were parked in unmarked spaces. Within the station access, there are double yellow lines along both sides and at the station building entrance there are two disabled parking spaces.

Photo 2 Parking within Cobbled Area Photo 3 Parking at Station Access

There are parking restrictions along most of Mill Lane. Mill Lane has double yellow lines along its west side extending from approximately 500m south of the site to Mill Bridge Gardens, just north of the railway line. Along the east side of Mill Lane, there are double yellow lines extending from opposite Mill Bridge Gardens to its junction with Alfred Street and also outside Prestige Motors. Immediately south of these double yellow lines, there are School Keep Clear markings outside the residential

unit and the former school entrance. Double yellow lines then continue for another 100m south. There are no parking restrictions for another 100m until Newton Park Drive.

To the north of the site, there are double yellow lines at the Mill Lane/Church Street/Southworth Road junction and at various locations on Church Street and Southworth Road.

A plan showing the locations of Traffic Regulation Orders is shown in Figure 2-3 below (and attached in Appendix B).

Figure 3-3: Existing Parking Restrictions

During the site visit on Tuesday 17th March, cars were parked along the entire length of both sides of Alfred Street, including on the double yellow lines. Opposite the site, under the railway bridge off Mill Lane, there were 9 cars parked taking up all available parking space. Approximately 200m south of Alfred Street, where the double yellow lines stop, there were five vehicles parked.

Photo 4 below shows Alfred Street and Photo 5 shows the parking under the bridge.

Photo 4 Alfred Street Photo 5 Cars parked Under Railway Bridge

Six vehicles were parked on Mill Lane, opposite Millbridge Gardens, where the double yellow lines ended. Five vehicles were also parked on Southworth Road within marked parking bays just north of its junction with Mill Lane a further four were parking on the other side of the road. Vehicles were also parked beyond the bus stops on Southworth Road.

A pick-up/drop-off point is located outside the station building entrance which is accessed from the approach on Mill Lane/Southworth Rd/Church St junction, shown in Photos 2 and 3.

In addition to the observations carried out during the site visit, a survey of parked cars in the vicinity of the site was carried out on Wednesday 25th March 2015. The results of this survey is shown on Figures 2-4 and 2-5.

Figure 3-4: AM Parking

Figure 3-5: PM Parking

3.4 Pedestrian Facilities There is currently no direct pedestrian access from the car park to the railway station, however there are steps down onto Mill Lane from the car park. Pedestrians can then walk north along Mill Lane for 50m to the other side of the railway bridge where another flight of steps will lead them to the station building entrance.

Photos 6 and 7 show the pedestrian accesses to and from the car park and station.

Photo 6 Pedestrian Access from Site Car Park Photo 7 Pedestrian Access to Station

During the site visit pedestrians were also observed using the access on the Mill Lane/Southworth Road/Church Street junction when arriving from or exiting to Southworth Road and Church Street. The access here leads onto a cobbled area which then leads onto the station access. Parts of the cobbled area were in need of repair but the station access was in good condition although there were no pedestrian footways here.

The mobility impaired have to be dropped off outside the building entrance or use the steep approach shown in Photo 3 above and Photo 9 below.

Photos 8 and 9 show the access to the cobbled area and the station access.

Photo 8 Access from Southworth Rd Photo 9 Pedestrian Access to Station

At the Mill Lane/Southworth Road/Church Street signalised junction there are puffin crossings across Mill Lane, Southworth Road and Church. There are also guardrails, tactile paving and dropped kerbs at each of the crossing points. Photos 10 and 11 below show the crossing points.

Photo 10 Crossing on Southworth Rd Photo 11 Crossing on Mill Lane

Newton Brook Greenway Mill Lane Viaduct is an off-road public footway that extends from the parking area under the railway bridge, opposite the site, to residential areas west of Newton Brook canal. There is an H-bar marking at the pedestrian access to

discourage vehicles blocking the access and the footways are in good condition. The entrance and footways are shown in Photos 12 and 13 below.

Photo 12 Footway Entrance Photo 13 Footway Connecting to Residential Areas

3.5 Cycle Facilities At the station building entrance there are 7 Sheffield stands providing a parking space for 14 cycles. During a site visit most of these spaces were being used as shown in Photo 14 below.

Photo 14 Railway Station Cycle Storage

Planning permission (application P/2015/0049) was granted on 13th March 2015 to provide cover for the existing cycle storage.

There are no on-road cycle paths within close proximity of the station but cyclists could use the off-road path through the Newton Brook Greenway Mill Lane Viaduct as mentioned above.

3.6 Public Transport Facilities 3.6.1 Bus Services The nearest bus stops to the site are located on Southworth Road and Willow Road approximately 260m north of the station and on Mill Lane 100m south of the station.

Table 3-1: Existing Bus Services Bus Monday to Friday Saturday Sunday Route No. AM Peak PM Peak AM Peak PM Peak AM Peak PM Peak Warrington - 22/22E Newton le Willows 2 2 2 2 1 1 - Vulcan Village St Helens - 34 6 6 7 6 No Service Newton le Willows St Helens - 141 1 1 1 1 1 1 Newton le Willows Newton-le-Willows 281 - Culcheth High 1 1 No Service No Service School Wigan - Newton- 360 le-Willows - 4 4 2 4 No Service Warrington Newton Community 603 Hospital - Ashton- 2 2 2 2 No Service in-Makerfield - Ashton Heath Total number of buses per 16 16 14 15 2 2 hour

3.6.2 Rail Services Newton le Willows train station has frequent services towards both Liverpool and Manchester.

Table 3-2: Existing Rail Services Monday to Friday Saturday Sunday Services AM Peak PM Peak AM Peak PM Peak AM Peak PM Peak Towards Liverpool 3 3 3 3 1 1 Towards Manchester 4 4 4 4 1 2 Total number of 7 7 7 7 2 3 trains per hour

3.7 Summary The existing site, approximately 2.5km east of Newton-le-Willows town centre, contains a car park with 87 spaces, commercial premises, and a vacant primary school. Vehicle access is currently from Alfred Street.

The car park was at capacity during a survey and on-street parking was taking place on Alfred Street, Southworth Road, Church Street, outside the Legh Arms and under the bridge.

Waiting restrictions prevent on-street parking from taking places on much of Mill Lane and some of Church Street and Southworth Road.

There are facilities in place to cater for pedestrians and cyclists but suitable access for the mobility impaired is not available.

4 Development Proposal

4.1 The Development The proposals include the demolition of the existing commercial premises and vacant school buildings and replacing them with approximately 440 car parking spaces, 21 of which will be set aside for the use of disabled users. The new car park will be accessible from Alfred Street and the existing car park will be replaced by a bus interchange which will include 3 bus stops and a pick-up and drop-off area.

It is expected that many of the cars that currently park on site and in areas around the site, set out in Section 3 of this report, will relocate to the purpose built car park.

A new ticket office will be located at ground level on the south side of the railway line and adjacent to the bus interchange. New lifts and steps will assist rail passengers getting between the ticket office and railway platform and access from the north side will be maintained.

There will be 4 bays on Alfred Street for picking up and dropping off passenger and double yellow lines will be implemented elsewhere on Alfred Street to prevent on- street parking.

The proposed site is shown in Figure 4-1 below (and attached in Appendix B).

Figure 4-1: Proposed Site

4.2 Proposed Site Access Vehicular access to the site will be via the signal-controlled access shown on Figure 4-2. This improved access will incorporate facilities for both pedestrians and cyclists.

Figure 4-2 Proposed Site Access

It is proposed to retain the former school entrance on Mill Lane as an entrance only.

4.3 Swept Path Assessment The proposed site access arrangement provides buses with the appropriate area to enter and exit Alfred Street safely. Figure 4-2 to 4-5 show the swept path assessment of the proposed layout.

Figure 4-2 Bus entering from Mill Lane north

Figure 4-3 Bus entering from Mill Lane south

Figure 4-4 Bus exiting north onto Mill Lane

Figure 4-5 Bus exiting south onto Mill Lane

4.4 Public Transport The bus interchange will incorporate a one-way system with new entrance and exit points located on Alfred Street. There will be 3 bus stops for bus services and the ticket office and station will be accessible via footways and a pedestrian crossing point.

On exiting the bus interchange, there will be ‘Keep Clear’ markings on the road to allow spaces for buses exiting.

The proposed bus interchange is shown in Figure 4-6.

Figure 4-6 Proposed Bus interchange

4.5 Provision for Pedestrians The proposed access will incorporate pedestrian facilities on Mill Lane.

There will be stepped access from Mill Lane which leads onto a footway and then to the ticket office. Pedestrians arriving from the car park have direct access to the footway within the interchange which provides access to the station.

For the mobility impaired there will be step free access via the footway on Alfred Street and pedestrian crossing points within the bus interchange.

4.6 Provision for Cyclists The existing cycle stands will remain at the station building with cover provided as set out in Section 3.5.

5 Trip Generation and Assignment

5.1 Introduction The purpose of this section is to provide details of how the expected number of vehicular trips generated by the proposals has been calculated, and the impact that this uplift in traffic is expected to have on the local highway network.

5.2 Existing Trip Generation A traffic survey of the highway network in the vicinity of the site was carried out on Wednesday 25th March 2015 between 07:00 and 10:00 and 15:00 and 19:00, these are included in Appendix C of this report.

The surveys included turning counts at the Mill Lane/Southworth Road/Church Street and Mill Lane/ Alfred Street junctions, and at the existing car entrance on Alfred Street. The survey data indicated a highway network AM peak of 07:30-08:30 and a PM peak of 16:45-17:45.

The car park trip generation during the network AM and PM peaks is summarised in Table 5-1 below.

Table 5-1: Newton-le-Willows Existing Car Park Trip Generation AM (07:30-08:30) PM (16:45-17:45) IN OUT IN OUT 15 8 4 33

The car park has capacity for approximately 87 vehicles of which 80 were occupied before the survey commenced. As a result, the number of vehicles entering the car park during the AM peak is low. The number of cars parked in the car park increases to 95 due to people parking in the aisles and yellow boxes.

5.3 Proposed Trip Generation The existing car park has a capacity of 87 spaces and demand currently exceeds supply which may encourage people to arrive earlier to get a space. As the proposed car park will have a capacity of 440 spaces it is unlikely to have the same capacity issues, which in turn could change the flow profile of the site.

With this in mind, it was agreed with St Helen’s Council that the Park and Ride facility at Hooton railway station in Ellesmere Port be surveyed. This site is considered similar in nature with having 418 spaces, being located on a main railway line and being of a similar distance from Liverpool. The profile of users is considered similar as Hooton lies between two cities (Liverpool and Chester), which is similar to Newton le Willows being between Liverpool and Manchester.

The results of this survey are contained in Appendix D.

The profile of entering and exiting vehicles during the morning and evening peak periods is shown in Tables 5-2 and 5-3, this shows the percentage of cars arriving as a proportion of the capacity at Hooton Station (the full calculation is shown in Appendix D).

Table 5-2: Hooton Station AM Flow Profile

Time Beginning IN OUT 06:45 2.4% 0.7% 07:00 7.2% 1.0% 07:15 6.7% 1.7% 07:30 12.2% 2.2% 07:45 11.5% 2.9% 08:00 12.7% 1.4% 08:15 9.3% 2.2% 08:30 9.1% 1.2% 08:45 5.0% 0.2% 07:30-08:30 45.7% 8.6%

Table 5-3: Hooton Station PM Flow Profile Time Beginning IN OUT 16:00 1.2% 3.1% 16:15 0.7% 7.7% 16:30 2.2% 5.3% 16:45 0.2% 8.4% 17:00 1.0% 8.6% 17:15 1.2% 6.9% 17:30 1.0% 8.9% 17:45 0.5% 11.7% 18:00 0.2% 5.5% 16:45-17:45 3.3% 32.8%

Approximately 45% of the car parks spaces were occupied during the AM peak and 33% exited during the PM peak. These counts include vehicles picking up and dropping off so to reflect the proposed pick-up/drop-off point in located on Alfred Street and accessed via the Mill Lane/Alfred Street junction.

The flow profiles for the Hooton station car park were applied to the 440 proposed spaces at the Newton-le-Willows site.

The proposed car park trip generation during the AM and PM peaks are summarised in the Table 5-4 below.

Table 5-4: Newton-le-Willows Proposed Car Park Trip Generation AM (07:30-08:30) PM (16:45-17:45) IN OUT IN OUT 201 38 15 144

Based on the flow profile of the Hooton station, approximately 200 cars would enter and 140 cars would exit the proposed Newton-le-Willows car park in the AM and PM peaks respectively. As mentioned above, this includes rail and bus passengers who are being picked up and dropped off.

5.4 Trip Assignment The assignment of trips to the replacement car park and bus interchange has been calculated using a spreadsheet, a printout of which is included within Appendix E. In summary:

 The distribution of proposed trips is based on the existing movements at the Mill Lane/Alfred Street junction, resulting in 66% of the new development flows entering from the north and of those arriving from the north, approximately two-thirds travelled from Church Street.  It has been assumed that 5 buses will use the interchange in each of the AM and PM peaks.

To allow for background traffic growth in future years, local growth factors have been derived from Tempro 6.2. These growth factors are shown in table 5-5.

Table 5-5: Newton-le-Willows Tempro Growth Factors AM PM 2015-2016 1.012 1.012 2015-2021 1.064 1.065

5.5 Conclusion A traffic survey of the existing site and adjacent junctions indicated network peak hours of 07:30-08:30 and 16:45-17:45.

The existing Newton-le-Willows station car park is oversubscribed and almost reaches capacity before 07:00. As a result, approximately 15% of users enter the car park during the AM peak hour whereas approximately 33% exited during the PM peak hour.

Hooton station car park is considered comparable to the proposed Newton-le- Willows car park, therefore it was surveyed in order to assess the likely trip generation of the Newton le Willows proposal. This indicated that a number of cars equivalent to around 45% of car park capacity would enter the car park in the AM peak and 33% would exit during the PM peak. These proportions were applied to the proposed capacity of Newton-le-Willows to determine the trip generation of the new

site and distributed onto the network according to existing junction turning proportions.

6 Highway Impact Assessment

6.1 Introduction This section of the report considers the operation of the Mill Lane/Alfred Street and Mill Lane/Southworth Road/Church Street junctions and their ability to accommodate the development traffic calculated in chapter 5 of this report.

6.2 Study Network As part of Mouchel’s discussions with Council Officers it was agreed that the following junctions would be assessed:

 Mill Lane/Southworth Road/Church Street  Mill Lane/Alfred Street (the proposed park and ride site access) Capcaity assessments have been carried out for a typical weekday in the, opening year of 2016 and future year of 2021 for AM and PM peak hours (this was agreed with St Helen’s Council during the scoping stage).

6.3 Traffic Surveys Traffic surveys, including turning counts and observed queues, were undertaken at the above junctions on Wednesday 31st March 2015. The results of these surveys are included in Appendix C.

6.4 Committed Developments St Helen’s Council have confirmed that no committed developments are to be considered in this assessment.

6.5 Existing Junction Arrangement: Mill Lane/Southworth Road/Church Street The Mill Lane/Southworth Road/Church Street signal-controlled junction, directly north of Newton le Willows station, has been modelled using the industry standard software LinSig.

LinSig is software which models the effect of traffic signals on the highway network by measuring the capacity of each lane of a junction in terms of Degree of Saturation (DoS). It is normally accepted that any arm which is reported to have a DoS value of 90% or lower can confidently be considered to have adequate capacity for any future demand. LinSig also measures the performance of the junction as a whole in terms of Practical Reserve Capacity (PRC) which is a measurement of how much additional traffic could pass through a junction whilst not exceeding a maximum degree of saturation of 90% on any link. A positive PRC result indicates that the junction has spare capacity to accommodate traffic without the DoS of any arms of the junction exceeding 90%.

St Helen’s Council have provided Mouchel with signal timing information (contained in Appendix F) for the existing junction of Mill Lane/Southworth Road/Church Street. This information has been used in the following assessment.

Table 6-2: Mill Ln/Southworth Rd/Church St 2015 Existing – AM Peak AM Peak Observed Link Link Name MMQ DoS% Queue (pcu) 1/1 Church St - Left Ahead 95.0% 30 36 2/1 Southworth Rd - Right Left 68.8% 11 10 3/1+3/2 Mill Lane - Ahead Right 56.1% 6 6 Cycle Time (seconds) 104 PRC Over All Links -5.6% Total Delay Over All Links (pcuHr) 21.74

Table 6-2: Mill Ln/Southworth Rd/Church St 2015 Existing – PM Peak PM Peak Observed Link Link Name MMQ DoS% Queue (pcu) 1/1 Church St - Left Ahead 83.8% 21 27 2/1 Southworth Rd - Right Left 59.7% 9 10 3/1+3/2 Mill Lane - Ahead Right 97.7% 31 28 Cycle Time (seconds) 104 PRC Over All Links -8.5% Total Delay Over All Links (pcuHr) 28.01

Tables 6-1 and 6-2 show the results of an assessment of the existing junction (full results outputs contained in Appendix G). The LinSig model has been validated using the queues observed during the traffic survey. The model is therefore representative of the current junction operation.

The results indicate that the junction exceeds its practical reserve capacity and therefore would benefit from improvement measures.

6.6 Proposed Junction Arrangement: Mill Lane/Alfred Street and Mill Lane/Southworth Road/Church Street It is proposed to upgrade the existing give-way junction of Mill Street/Alfred Street to signal-control.

It was agreed with St Helen’s Council that the proposed site access junction of Mill Lane/ Alfred Street and the existing signal-controlled junction of Mill Lane/Southworth Road/Church Street be assessed using LinSig.

LinSig has the ability to combine separate junctions into one model, allowing for the interaction of junctions to be assessed.

It is propsed that the two junctions are installed with MOVA, (it is understood from discussions with St Helen’s Signal’s Team that the Council’s preference is MOVA

control) in order to ensure that the operation of each junction is maximised. In addition, coordination between the two junctions will further increase their capacity to accommodate the traffic travelling through them.

The following tables show the results of the capacity assessment of the combined LinSig model for the opening year of 2016 and future year of 2021.

Table 6-3: Mill Ln/Southworth Rd/Church St 2016 with development - Morning Peak AM Peak Link Link Name DoS% MMQ (pcu)

1/1 Church St - Left Ahead 83.4 25 2/1 Southworth Rd - Right Left 83.7 14 3/1+3/2 Mill Lane - Ahead Right 50.8 4 6/1 Mill Lane - Left Ahead 50.9 2 8/1 Alfred St - Right Left 40.0 2 9/1 Mill Lane South - Ahead Right 77.9 11 Cycle Time (seconds) 104 PRC Over All Links 7.6 Total Delay Over All Links (pcuHr) 23.43

Table 6-4: Mill Ln/Southworth Rd/Church St 2016 with development - Evening Peak

AM Peak Link Link Name DoS% MMQ (pcu)

1/1 Church St - Left Ahead 61.2 15 2/1 Southworth Rd - Right Left 80.7 12 3/1+3/2 Mill Lane - Ahead Right 83.0 10 6/1 Mill Lane - Left Ahead 33.4 3 8/1 Alfred St - Right Left 53.7 5 9/1 Mill Lane South - Ahead Right 68.1 16 Cycle Time (seconds) 104 PRC Over All Links 8.4 Total Delay Over All Links (pcuHr) 22.49

Table 6-5: Mill Ln/Southworth Rd/Church St 2021 with development - Morning Peak AM Peak Link Link Name DoS% MMQ (pcu) 1/1 Church St - Left Ahead 87.3 27 2/1 Southworth Rd - Right Left 87.8 16 3/1+3/2 Mill Lane - Ahead Right 57.1 4 6/1 Mill Lane - Left Ahead 53 4 8/1 Alfred St - Right Left 40.8 2 9/1 Mill Lane South - Ahead Right 80.2 14 Cycle Time (seconds) 104 PRC Over All Links 2.5 Total Delay Over All Links (pcuHr) 27.04

Table 6-6: Mill Ln/Southworth Rd/Church St 2021 with development - Evening Peak

AM Peak Link Link Name DoS% MMQ (pcu) 1/1 Church St - Left Ahead 63.3 16 2/1 Southworth Rd - Right Left 88.5 14 3/1+3/2 Mill Lane - Ahead Right 89.4 12 6/1 Mill Lane - Left Ahead 33.7 3 8/1 Alfred St - Right Left 63.5 6 9/1 Mill Lane South - Ahead Right 69.0 17 Cycle Time (seconds) 104 PRC Over All Links 0.7 Total Delay Over All Links (pcuHr) 26.53

The results indicate that, by amending how the Mill Lane/Southworth Road/Church Street junction operates (primarily how much green time each lane gets), the junction will operate better in the opening year of 2016 and the future year of 2021.

The Mill Lane/Alfred Street junction (the proposed site access) is seen to operate within capacity in both the opening and future year.

6.7 Conclusion Capacity assessments were carried out for the Mill Lane/Alfred Street and Mill Lane/Southworth Road/Church Street junctions for the base year 2015, opening year 2016 and a future year of 2021, for AM and PM peaks.

The proposed Mill Lane/Alfred Street signal-controlled junction is seen to operate within capacity for the opening and design years during the morning and evening peak hours.

The Mill Lane/Southworth Road/Church Street junction is currently operating at capacity however, by amending how junction operates (by upgrading to MOVA control), the junction will operate better in the opening year of 2016 and the future year of 2021

7 Accident Analysis

An analysis of traffic collisions occurring over the last 5 years (2010-2014 inclusive) has been undertaken in order to gauge the potential impact, if any, on traffic collision rates on the local highway network. This analysis reviews Personal Injury Accidents (PIAs) as reported to the police.

The study area is Mill Lane between the Church Street/Southworth Road junction and Newton Park Drive and the abutting secondary highways.

Collision data for reported PIAs has been provided by St Helens Council for the period 05/05/12 to 23/07/14.

7.1 Overview A total of 5 accidents occurred within the study area as shown in figure 7-1 below. A summary of the collisions by severity and by year is provided in table 7-1.

Figure 7-1: Collision Locations

Table 7-1: Collision Severity by Year Severity 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 Total Slight 0 0 2 2 0 4 Serious 0 0 0 0 1 1 Total 0 0 2 2 1 5

In both 2012 and 2013, two slight collisions occurred. One other collision occurred in 2014 which was serious. A total of five casualties occurred as a result of these collisions.

A pedestrian was involved in one of the collisions in 2013, resulting in a slight injury, when crossing Mill Lane 100m north of Alfred Street.

Two collisions involved cyclists (one in 2012 and one in 2013) resulting in slight injuries.

7.1.1 National Comparison In order to put this analysis into a comparable context, casualty data has been compared against National Statistics1.

Of the five collisions that occurred near the site, there were four slight casualties and one serious casualty.

 The percentage of casualties KSI (killed/seriously injured) is 20%; which is above the national average of 13.9% for 2013.  20% of accidents involved pedestrians; which is equal to the 2013 average for urban roads.

Given that the number of accidents over the five-year period is very small, large variations in percentage terms will occur with just one accident. Although the percentage of KSIs is higher than the national average, this is down to just one accident which occurred as a result of driver error.

7.2 Summary of Accident Locations The table below summarises the number and severity of collisions over the five-year study period and their location.

Table 7-2 - Accident Locations Summary

Link / Junction Location No. Accidents

Slight Serious Total

A49 / A572 Junction between Church Street and Mill 2 1 3 Lane/Southworth Road

A49 Mill Lane adj. to service station. 2 0 2

TOTAL 4 1 5

1 Department for Transport, Reported Road Casualties in Great Britain 2013

A cluster of three collisions in as many years was identified at the Church Street / Mill Lane / Southworth Road junction, and a semi-cluster of two collisions was identified on Mill Lane.

Church Street/Mill Lane/Southworth Road Three collisions occurred at this Y-Junction. One of these collisions occurred when a vehicle pulled out of a side street just south of the junction into the path of a southbound motorcycle causing the rider to brake hard and fall off resulting in slight injuries. Another collision occurred when a vehicle turning right from Mill Lane onto Southworth Road turned into the path of an oncoming cyclist causing slight injuries. The final collision occurred when a northbound vehicle on Mill Lane approached stationary traffic at the junction and, mistaking the accelerator for the brake, was forced to swerve off the carriageway to the nearside and collided with a wall, gaining serious injuries.

Mill Lane adj. to Service Station Two collisions occurred in this location where Mill Lane bends. One collision occurred when a pedestrian stepped into the path of a northbound vehicle as it negotiated the bend causing slight injuries. The other collision occurred as a vehicle turning right out of the service station onto Mill Lane collided with a cyclist travelling along Mill Lane causing slight injuries.

7.3 Conclusions Though casualty rates may appear to compare unfavourably with the national averages, the sample size is too small to make an accurate comparison based on percentage.

As the accidents appear to be down to human error, and were spread out over 3 years and 2 locations, the area is not considered to have a safety problem.

8 Summary & Conclusions

The proposals will conform to the national and local policies which set out the support sustainable development by improving accessibility to the wider regions through a viable and sustainable alternative to car travel.

The existing site consists of a car park, vacant school and commercial premises. The car park has a capacity for approximately 87 vehicles but due to demand cars also parked in unmarked spaces and yellow boxed areas, increasing the capacity to around 95. Cars do park in the surrounding areas where possible but on-street parking is restricted on much of the nearby roads. Cycle parking is available and there is stepped access for pedestrians from Mill Lane and also from the steep approach accessed from Southworth Road.

The proposals include the demolition of the existing commercial premises and vacant school buildings and replacing them with approximately 440 car parking spaces, 21 of which will be set aside for the use of disabled users. The new car park will be accessible from Alfred Street and the existing car park will be replaced by a bus interchange which will include 3 bus stops and a pick-up and drop-off area.

To determine the peak hour trip generation of the proposed site, Hooton station car park was surveyed as it was comparable to the proposals.

Capacity assessments were carried out for the Mill Lane/Alfred Street and Mill Lane/Southworth Road/Church Street junctions for the base year 2015, opening year 2016 and a future year of 2021, for AM and PM peaks.

The proposed Mill Lane/Alfred Street signal-controlled junction is seen to operate within capacity for the opening and design years during the morning and evening peak hours.

As there were only 5 accidents over the last 5 years that appear to be as a result of human error, there is not considered to be an accident problem in the local area.

9 Appendices