Overview and Scrutiny Committee 5 March 2014
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E305 Overview and Scrutiny Committee 5 March 2014 Future Developments for Regional Transport in West Suffolk (A1307) 1. Summary and reasons for recommendation 1.1 The A1307 road linking Cambridge to Haverhill crosses the boundary from Cambridge into Suffolk and therefore is the focus of attention for both Suffolk County Council and Cambridgeshire County Council. 1.2 There is significant growth planned for Haverhill and this side of Cambridge and therefore there is a need to develop an action plan to deliver High Quality Public Transport (HQPT) along this corridor. Cambridgeshire County Council has prepared a draft brief for a study into the A1307 corridor. This brief is called “Scheme definition work” and is attached as Appendix A. 1.3 Cambridgeshire County Council and South Cambridgeshire District Council have published a draft joint transport strategy entitled the “Draft Cambridge and South Cambridgeshire Transport Strategy”. This strategy is attached as Appendix B. 1.4 Matthew Hancock MP arranged a meeting on Friday 21 February 2014 with representatives from each of the District and County Councils and other interested parties. The focus of the meeting was to discuss progress with the Cambridge City Deal; the Cambridge and South Cambridgeshire Transport Strategy; the potential for other works; and the draft brief of work for the Haverhill to Cambridge Corridor. The feedback from this meeting is attached as Appendix C. 2. Recommendation 2.1 It is RECOMMENDED that Members note the progress that has been made to date with the A1307 Haverhill to Cambridge corridor. Contact Portfolio holder Lead Officer details Name Councillor Alaric Pugh Andrea Mayley Title Portfolio Holder Head of Economic Development & Growth Telephone 01284 757136 01284 757343 E-mail [email protected] [email protected] 3. Corporate priorities 3.1 The recommendation(s) meet the following, as contained within the Corporate Plan: (a) Working together for prosperous and environmentally-responsible communities. 4. Key issues 4.1 There is much planned growth for Haverhill and this side of Cambridge including up to 4,260 new homes in Haverhill (2009-2031); up to 1,900 new jobs on Haverhill Research Park; up to 3,200 new jobs at Granta Park; up to 1,000 new jobs on the Babraham Research Campus; up to 15,000 new jobs on Cambridge Biomedical Campus (Addenbrookes); and up to 430 new homes at Worts Causeway. Cambridge Airport is also increasing the number of destinations and therefore flights which also has an impact upon traffic generation. 4.2 There is anecdotal evidence about the existing congestion along the A1307 with the traffic lights at Linton and also at the Linton Village College being blamed for long tail backs. The lights at the college do not appear to allow for the changes in traffic generation outside of term time. 4.3 Obviously the fact that the dual carriageway reduces down to single lane causes much of the congestion, with the tail backs stretching as far as the Haverhill southern bypass on some days. 4.4 The A1307 is the key route for Ambulances and delays on the A1307 affect ambulance journey times. 4.5 The park and ride facility at Babraham is also a source of traffic generation as a number of commuters use this to access Addenbrookes as do shoppers/workers going into town. 4.6 The A1307 is a key link between existing and new jobs and homes. There is peak time congestion along the A1307 at present and this will be exacerbated with the planned growth. 4.7 It is important to understand the impact of future developments of Haverhill and others beyond, e.g. Clare, Sudbury etc. and the relationship between congestion on the A1307 and economic growth. 4.8 Cambridgeshire County Council has prepared a draft brief for a study into the A1307 corridor. This brief is called “Scheme definition work” and is attached as Appendix A. 4.9 Cambridgeshire County Council and South Cambridgeshire District Council have published a draft joint transport strategy entitled the “Draft Cambridge and South Cambridgeshire Transport Strategy”. This strategy is attached as Appendix B. 4.10 Matthew Hancock MP arranged a meeting on Friday 21 February 2014, with representatives from each of the District and County Councils and other interested parties. The focus of the meeting was to discuss progress with the Cambridge City Deal; the Cambridge and South Cambridgeshire Transport Strategy; the potential for other works; and the draft brief of work for the Haverhill to Cambridge Corridor. The feedback from this meeting is attached as Appendix C. 5. Other options considered 5.1 None. 6. Community impact 6.1 Crime and disorder impact (including Section 17 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998) 6.1.1 No impact from this report. 6.2 Diversity and equality impact (including the findings of the Equality Impact Assessment) 6.2.1 No impact from this report. 6.3 Sustainability impact (including completing a Sustainability Impact Assessment) 6.3.1 No impact from this report. 6.4 Other impact (any other impacts affecting this report) 6.4.1 No impact from this report. 7. Consultation (what consultation has been undertaken, and what were the outcomes?) 7.1 The draft brief has been prepared by Cambridgeshire County Council and has not been consulted upon other than by consideration at the meeting held on Friday 21 February 2014, with Matthew Hancock MP and other interested parties. 8. Financial and resource implications (including asset management implications) 8.1 There are implications in terms of officer and Member time to liaise with both County Council’s during the development of an action plan for the A1307. 8.2 Any funding for improvement works will need to be considered at County Council level. 9. Risk/opportunity assessment (potential hazards or opportunities affecting corporate, service or project objectives) Risk area Inherent level Controls Residual risk of risk (after (before controls) controls) The final action plan Medium Officers to feed into Low recommends no the study. improvements to the corridor. The final action plan Medium Officers to work Low recommends closely with the county improvements that are councils to ensure that then not a priority for our West Suffolk either county council needs are taken into funding. account 10. Legal and policy implications 10.1 None. 11. Ward(s) affected 11.1 All wards in St Edmundsbury, particularly the Haverhill wards and those south of Bury St Edmunds. 12. Background papers 12.1 None 13. Documents attached 13.1 Appendix A – Cambridgeshire County Council “Scheme definition work”. 13.1 Appendix B – Draft Cambridge and South Cambridgeshire Transport Strategy. 13.2 Appendix C – Feedback from the meeting held Friday 21 February 2014. T:\SEBC Democratic Services\Democratic WP Services\Committee\Reports\Overview & Scrutiny Committee\2014\14.03.05\E305 - Future Developments for Regional Transport in West Suffolk.doc Appendix A Scheme Definition Work Corridor: A1307 Haverhill to Cambridge Major Committed and future growth Haverhill – up to 4,260 homes (2009-2031). Granta Park – up to 3,200 new jobs. Babraham Research Campus – up to 1,000 new jobs. Cambridge: o Cambridge Biomedical Campus – up to 15,000 new jobs. o Worts Causeway – up to 430 new homes. Focus of corridor As with other corridors into Cambridge, the overarching approach is to create a high quality passenger transport corridor which offers a real alternative to using the private car for trips between Haverhill and Cambridge, and between the major employment clusters in Cambridge, Addenbrooke’s and the Biomedical Campus, the Babraham Research Campus and at Haverhill. The aim is to intercept as many trips as possible along the corridor to minimise the additional vehicles on the main radials and entering the constrained network in Cambridge. Bus will be the likely focus of this corridor. However, rail options will also be considered and this study and scheme definition work will be informed by a separate piece of work to be undertaken by a cross-boundary partnership of Suffolk and Cambridgeshire authorities looking at whether there is a business case for the reinstatement of a rail link between Haverhill and Cambridge. Work will also look whether there are any small pinch-point works that can be undertaken in the short term to address congestion, and also any further small- medium scale safety improvements on the A1307. We will also investigate whether there is a need for more substantial road capacity enhancements on the A1307 and A505 in the longer term. However, in the context of the strategy approach, the preference would be to provide a public transport option that was a viable and attractive alternative for many existing trips and many new trips resulting from growth. Existing situation The bus services from the Babraham Park and Ride site provide a frequent link into Cambridge throughout the day at the northern end of the corridor. Linton is the only larger village between Cambridge and Haverhill, and lies directly on the A1307. Horseheath, Hildersham, Little Abington, Great Abington and Babraham are all on or adjacent to the A1307. A half hourly bus service runs between Cambridge and Haverhill on weekdays and Saturdays, and an hourly service runs on Sunday. The Haverhill corridor has no current rail service. However, much of the old Cambridge to Haverhill rail alignment still exists and passes close Granta Park and Linton. Large parts of the track-bed are no longer in existence. The corridor has a cluster of research and knowledge based sites within close proximity to each other. These draw in a lot of commuter traffic and the corridor is perceived to be heavily impacted by traffic. However, despite their rural location, both Granta Park and the Babraham Research Campus have high levels of walking, cycling and public transport use for travel to work trips.