A428 Black Cat to Caxton Gibbet Improvements
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A428 Black Cat to Caxton Gibbet improvements TR010044 Volume 6 6.1 Environmental Statement Chapter 2: The Scheme Planning Act 2008 Regulation 5(2)(a) Infrastructure Planning (Applications: Prescribed Forms and Procedure) Regulations 2009 26 February 2021 A428 Black Cat to Caxton Gibbet improvements Environmental Statement – Chapter 2: The Scheme Infrastructure Planning Planning Act 2008 The Infrastructure Planning (Applications: Prescribed Forms and Procedure) Regulations 2009 A428 Black Cat to Caxton Gibbet improvements Development Consent Order 202[ ] Chapter 2: The Scheme Regulation Reference: Regulation 5(2)(a) Planning Inspectorate Scheme TR010044 Reference Application Document Reference TR010044/APP/ 6.1 Author A428 Black Cat to Caxton Gibbet improvements Project Team, Highways England Version Date Status of Version Rev 1 26 February 2021 DCO Application Planning Inspectorate Scheme Ref: TR010044 Application Document Ref: TR010044/APP/6.1 A428 Black Cat to Caxton Gibbet improvements Environmental Statement – Chapter 2: The Scheme Table of contents Chapter Pages 2 The Scheme 1 2.1 Need for the project 1 2.2 Scheme objectives 2 2.3 Project location 4 2.4 Baseline scenario 4 2.5 Project description 14 2.6 Construction, operation and long-term management 63 2.7 Decommissioning 119 2.8 References 120 Table of Plates Plate 2.1: Black Cat junction Phase 1 ................................................................................ 81 Plate 2.2: Black Cat junction Phase 2 ................................................................................ 82 Plate 2.3: Black Cat junction Phase 3 ................................................................................ 83 Plate 2.4: Black Cat junction Phase 4 ................................................................................ 84 Plate 2.5: Cambridge Road junction Phase 1 .................................................................... 93 Plate 2.6: Cambridge Road junction Phase 2 .................................................................... 94 Plate 2.7: Cambridge Road junction Phase 3 .................................................................... 95 Plate 2.8: Cambridge Road junction Phase 4 .................................................................... 96 Plate 2.9: Eltisley link Phase 1 ........................................................................................... 98 Plate 2.10: Eltisley link Phase 2 ......................................................................................... 99 Plate 2.11: Caxton Gibbet junction Phase 1 .................................................................... 101 Plate 2.12: Caxton Gibbet junction Phase 2 .................................................................... 103 Plate 2.13: Caxton Gibbet junction Phase 3 .................................................................... 104 Table of Tables Table 2-1: Embedded mitigation measures ....................................................................... 37 Table 2-2: Indicative buildability dates and durations......................................................... 64 Table 2-3: Reasonable worst case construction programme ............................................. 66 Table 2-4: Anticipated advanced and enabling works ........................................................ 68 Table 2-5: Anglian Water Service diversions ..................................................................... 71 Table 2-6: Cambridge Water diversions............................................................................. 72 Table 2-7: UK Power Networks Service diversions ............................................................ 72 Table 2-8: Communications and telecommunications diversions ...................................... 73 Table 2-9: Satellite construction compounds ................................................................... 114 Table 2-10: Routine asset maintenance operations ......................................................... 118 Planning Inspectorate Scheme Ref: TR010044 Application Document Ref: TR010044/APP/6.1 A428 Black Cat to Caxton Gibbet improvements Environmental Statement – Chapter 2: The Scheme 2 The Scheme 2.1 Need for the project Highways England’s strategic road network (SRN) drives local, regional and national economic activity by enabling new housing and business developments to come forward, encouraging trade and attracting investment. In 2013, the Government announced plans for the biggest ever upgrade of the SRN within Investing in Britain's Future (Ref 2-1), which included proposals to significantly increase investment in road projects by 2020/2021. In 2015, the Department for Transport identified the need for improvements to the SRN in the Road Investment Strategy for the 2015-2020 period (RIS1) (Ref 2-2). Within the East of England area, the RIS1 (Ref 2-2) outlines the case for “improvement of the A428 near St Neots, linking the A421 to Milton Keynes with the existing dual carriageway section of the A428 to Cambridge. The Scheme is expected to include significant improvements to the Black Cat roundabout, where the A1 currently meets the A421”. A commitment to fund the Scheme within Road Period 2 (covering the financial years 2020/21 to 2024/25) was subsequently made in 2020 by the Department for Transport in its Road Investment Strategy 2: 2020 – 2025 (Ref 2-3) (RIS2). Existing problems The existing A428 between Wyboston interchange and Caxton Gibbet in Cambridgeshire is the only remaining stretch of single carriageway between the two key economic hubs of Milton Keynes and Cambridge. Drivers suffer daily congestion, delays and incidents. The existing Black Cat roundabout experiences significant queuing on all approaches to the junction. In addition, long traffic queues can form on the existing A428 between St Neots and Caxton Gibbet. Journey times between the existing Black Cat roundabout and the existing Caxton Gibbet roundabout are significantly longer in peak periods than in off- peak periods. This is a consequence of road sections and intermediate junctions reaching capacity, which results in delays along the existing A428. Highways England has identified the following key problems associated with the existing A428: a. There is a lack of viable alternative east-west routes between Cambridge and other economic centres such as Milton Keynes, Northampton and Bedford. b. There is poor non-motorised user provision along the corridor. c. A number of junctions along the corridor operate close to, or at capacity. d. Peak hour speeds along the corridor are significantly lower than the rest of the day. e. Speeds on the single carriageway sections of the corridor are significantly lower than those that are dualled. 1 Planning Inspectorate Scheme Ref: TR010044 Application Document Ref: TR010044/APP/6.1 A428 Black Cat to Caxton Gibbet improvements Environmental Statement – Chapter 2: The Scheme f. There is a high degree of journey time variability along the corridor, making it difficult for users to plan their journey with confidence. g. Safety and maintenance issues along the corridor. h. There is low resilience against accidents and incidents. i. There is a lack of driver information along the corridor. j. ‘Rat-running’ on local roads through villages (resulting from drivers seeking alternative routes to avoid the existing A428). k. The above problems constrain economic growth along the corridor. Significant traffic growth is predicted on the road network, with potential developments in surrounding areas expected to contribute to an increase in future traffic flows on the existing A428. Without improvement, these developments are likely to exacerbate the current problems of safety, congestion and journey reliability on the route and could inhibit growth in homes and jobs along the St Neots – Cambridge corridor. Further information regarding the problems on the existing A428 are presented in the Transport Assessment [TR010044/APP/7.2]. 2.2 Scheme objectives Purpose and objectives of the Scheme The purpose of the Scheme is to address the problems of congestion, poor journey time reliability and poor resilience against incidents between the Black Cat and Caxton Gibbet roundabouts. The Scheme seeks to address these problems through construction of a new 16 kilometre (10 mile) dual 2-lane carriageway from the Black Cat roundabout to Caxton Gibbet roundabout, to be known as the A421 (hereafter referred to as the ‘new dual carriageway’) and in addition approximately 3 kilometres (1.8 miles) of tie-in works The objectives of the Scheme have been developed in light of the problems identified above and Highways England’s wider environmental and customer satisfaction aspirations. These objectives are set out below. a. Connectivity: Cut congestion and increase capacity and journey time reliability between Milton Keynes and Cambridge, including by providing a free flowing network. b. Economic growth: Enable growth by improving connections between people and jobs and supporting new development projects. c. Safety: Improve safety at junctions, side roads and private accesses by reducing traffic flows on the existing A428. Improve safety on the A1 by removing existing side road junctions and private accesses onto the carriageway. d. Environmental improvements: Maintain existing levels of biodiversity and have a beneficial impact on air quality and noise levels in the surrounding area. 2 Planning Inspectorate Scheme Ref: TR010044 Application Document Ref: TR010044/APP/6.1 A428 Black Cat to Caxton