Newton-Le-Willows Interchange
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
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 © Mouchel 2015 i 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 © Mouchel 2015 ii 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. © Mouchel 2015 iii 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 © Mouchel 2015 iv Newton-le-Willows Interchange Transport Assessment 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. © Mouchel 2015 5 Newton-le-Willows Interchange Transport Assessment 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. © Mouchel 2015 6 Newton-le-Willows Interchange Transport Assessment 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