DEVON COUNTY COUNCIL BARNSTAPLE & BIDEFORD AREA TRANSPORT STRATEGY April 2016 Devon County Council County Hall Topsham Road Exeter Devon EX2 4QD [email protected] PREPARED BY Name: James Anstee Position: Principle Transportation Planning Officer Date: May 2016 AGREED AND ISSUED BY Name: Andrew Ardley Position: Transportation Manager (Policy) Date: May 2016 ii CONTENTS Page 1. INTRODUCTION 6 1.1 Purpose of this Document 6 1.2 Use of this Document 6 1.3 Transport Modelling 6 2. NORTHERN DEVON PROFILE 7 2.1 The North Devon and Torridge Areas 7 2.2 Population 9 2.3 Travel Patterns 10 3. THE TRANSPORT NETWORK 15 3.1 Context 15 3.2 Parking 21 3.3 A39/A361 North Devon Link Road 22 3.4 Road Safety 25 3.5 Barnstaple and Bideford Traffic Data 28 3.6 Summary 32 4. TRANSPORT STRATEGY 34 4.1 Priorities 34 4.2 Strategy Formulation 34 4.3 Core Highway Improvements 38 4.4 Core Walking and Cycling Improvements 42 4.5 Core Bus Improvements 44 4.6 A39/A361 North Devon Link Road 46 4.7 Locally Specific Strategies 47 4.8 Summary 54 iii TABLES Table 1: Cycle flows Barnstaple ..................................................................................... 19 Table 2: Cycle flows Bideford ........................................................................................ 20 Table 3: Off Street Car Park Capacity ............................................................................ 21 Table 4: Road Casualties percentage change ............................................................... 25 Table 5: Casualties by Road Network ............................................................................ 26 Table 6: Casualties by Road User ................................................................................. 26 Table 7: Traffic Flows Barnstaple Outer Cordon ............................................................ 30 Table 8: Barnstaple Traffic Composition ........................................................................ 32 Table 9: Bideford Outer Cordon Traffic Flow.................................................................. 32 Table 10: Trip generation of forecast development 2011-2031 ........................................ 35 Table 11: Car and Bus Forecast Summary ...................................................................... 36 Table 12: Northern Devon Land Supply Summary ........................................................... 47 FIGURES Figure 1: Northern Devon Local Plan area (Torridge & North Devon Districts excluding Exmoor National Park) ....................................................................................... 7 Figure 2: North Devon District Urban-Rural Population Split 2011 .................................... 8 Figure 3: Torridge District Urban-Rural Population Split 2011 ........................................... 8 Figure 4: Population percentage aged over 65 (source datashine and ONS Census 2011) 10 Figure 5: District Level Travel to Work ............................................................................ 11 Figure 6: Commuting to work by mode of travel 2011 ..................................................... 12 Figure 7: Travel to work patterns into Bideford (source datashine and ONS Census 2011) ........................................................................................................................ 13 Figure 8: Travel to work Patterns into Barnstaple ........................................................... 13 Figure 9: Purpose of Weekday Car and Bus Trips ......................................................... 14 Figure 10: AM Peak Journey delays Barnstaple (source Google Maps) ........................ 15 Figure 11: PM Peak Journey delays Bideford (source Google Maps) ............................ 15 Figure 12: Northern Devon Bus Routes ........................................................................ 16 Figure 13: Barnstaple Bus Routes ................................................................................. 17 Figure 14: Bideford Bus Routes ..................................................................................... 17 Figure 15: Devon Rail Network ...................................................................................... 18 Figure 16: Northern Devon Cycling Heatmap (source Strava Labs) ............................... 19 Figure 17: Barnstaple Cycling Heatmap (source Strava Labs) ...................................... 19 Figure 18: Bideford\Northam Cycling Heatmap (source Strava Labs) ............................ 20 Figure 19: Barnstaple Car Parks................................................................................... 21 Figure 20 Bideford Car Parks ....................................................................................... 22 Figure 21: A39\A361 North Devon Link Road ................................................................ 22 Figure 22: A361 Traffic Flows – Seasonal Variation ..................................................... 23 Figure 23: A361 Traffic Flows – Hourly Variation ........................................................... 24 Figure 24: Road Casualties per Population ................................................................... 25 Figure 25: Road Casualty Map ...................................................................................... 25 Figure 26: Casualties by Urban Rural Area ................................................................... 27 Figure 27: Road Casualties Local Drivers ...................................................................... 27 Figure 28: Road Casualties and Tourist Traffic A361 NDL ............................................ 27 Figure 29: Regional Traffic Volumes .............................................................................. 29 Figure 30: Barnstaple Traffic Cordon Map ..................................................................... 29 Figure 31: Barnstaple Traffic Inner Cordon .................................................................... 31 Figure 32: Future Development Trips By Car................................................................. 37 iv Figure 33: Future Development Trips By Bus ................................................................ 37 Figure 34: Future Trip Distribution (2031 AM peak) ....................................................... 38 Figure 35: Barnstaple Core Highway Improvements ...................................................... 41 Figure 36: Bideford Location of Core Highway Improvements ....................................... 42 Figure 37: Barnstaple Cycle Network Improvements ..................................................... 43 v BARNSTAPLE & BIDEFORD AREA TRANSPORT STRATEGY 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 Purpose of this Document 1.1.1 This document sets out the strategy and provides the evidence to support the delivery of transport enhancements around the Barnstaple and Bideford area required in connection with development proposals contained within the Joint Northern Devon Local Plan prepared by Torridge and North Devon District Councils. 1.1.2 This document will assist local councils and developers in preparing the transport improvements that should form part of future developments. This strategy focussed specifically upon Barnstaple and Bideford and the surrounding communities which have a close travel relationship. 1.2 Use of this Document 1.2.1 This strategy does not over-ride the formal advice provided by Devon County Council in the preparation of any plan or planning application. 1.3 Transport Modelling 1.3.1 The aim of the transport model for Barnstaple and Bideford is to assess the impact of future developments on the major road network and to identify appropriate transport infrastructure requirements. 1.3.2 Torridge District Council and North Devon District Council have jointly produced a Local Plan which will cover the period to 2031. The Plan has been produced over a number of years. The first consultation on an Issues and Options report was undertaken in 2009. The most recent consultation on the full Plan was undertaken in March 2015 (Proposed Main Changes). 1.3.3 The North Devon Transport Model was developed to assess the impact and implications of different development options for the area. The model has been updated periodically during the preparation of the Local Plan. The Transport Model was updated in 2012 and again in 2015 to review the base year and reflect the latest housing and employment allocations identified within the local plan area. The Model Validation and the Model Forecasting reports are included as Appendices. 6 BARNSTAPLE & BIDEFORD AREA TRANSPORT STRATEGY 2. NORTHERN DEVON PROFILE 2.1 The North Devon and Torridge Areas 2.1.1 North Devon and Torridge collectively known as Northern Devon have the second and third largest District areas within Devon. North Devon is the fourth largest District in terms of population and employment. Torridge by comparison is one of the smallest. It should be noted that the Northern Devon Local Plan excludes the parts of North Devon district which fall within Exmoor National Park. Figure 1: Northern Devon Local Plan area (Torridge & North Devon Districts excluding Exmoor National Park) 7 BARNSTAPLE & BIDEFORD AREA TRANSPORT STRATEGY Figure 2: North Devon District Urban-Rural Population Split 20111 2.1.2 North Devon and Torridge Districts are closely linked. From within Torridge there is a net outflow for commuting traffic to employment predominantly into North Devon and in particular Barnstaple. In North Devon there is a net inflow to employment