Bodmin Town Framework Transport Strategy Scheme Development Storybook 15 October 2013

Document Ref: EDG0110-004-SB01

Bodmin Town Framework Transport Strategy Scheme Development Storybook Document Ref: EDG0110-04-SB01 15 October 2013 Engineering Design Group CORMAC Consultancy CORMAC Solutions Ltd

Revision

Final

Revision Date

15/10/13

Originator Initial

AC/LM/DB/JF

Checked Initial

AJA

Authorised Initial

AJA

Purpose of Issue

Public Consultation

Nature of Change

First Issue

This document has been prepared for the titled project or named part thereof and should not be relied upon or used for any other project without an independent check being carried out as to its suitability and prior written authority of CORMAC Solutions Ltd being obtained. CORMAC Solutions Ltd accepts no responsibility or liability for the consequences of this document being used for a purpose other than the purposes for which it was commissioned. Any person using or relying on the document for such other purposes agrees, and will by such use or reliance be taken to confirm his agreement to indemnify CORMAC Solutions Ltd for all loss or damage resulting there from. CORMAC Solutions Ltd accepts no responsibility or liability for this document to any party other than the person by whom it was commissioned.

© CORMAC Solutions Ltd 2013.

Contents

1 Introduction 1

2 Rationale for Transport Strategy 2

3 Proposed Transport Strategy 4

4 Evolution of Individual Scheme Options 7

5 Westheath Avenue / Dunmere Road / Barn Lane (Five Ways)

8

6 Launceston Road / Priory Road 16

7 Carminow Road to Lostwithiel Road link 20

8 Callywith Gate 25

9 Launceston Road / Cooksland Road 29

10 Priory Road / Cooksland Road 33

11 Strategic Transport Proposals 37

12 Development of the Strategic Transport Solution 40

13 Church Square 41

14 Turf Street and Fore Street 52

15 Linking Priory Road to St Nicholas Street 58

16 St Nicholas Street / Harleigh Road / Beacon Road 72

17 Dennison Road 77

18 Lower Bore Street 83

EDG110-04 Bodmin Town Framework 1 October 2013

1. Introduction

1.1 The transport measures that have been identified to enable housing and employment growth in Bodmin are based on the policies set out in Connecting Cornwall: 2030. Connecting Cornwall is the third Local Transport Plan for Cornwall and sets out a 20 year transport vision which supports economic prosperity and a move towards more sustainable travel with less reliance on the private car. The anticipated outcomes of this approach will be a vibrant, accessible and safe town environment with strong links to other communities in Cornwall and beyond.

1.2 Bodmin is often regarded as the principal town and employment centre of east Cornwall with a key emphasis towards manufacturing. Strategically located close to the A30 and A38 it is well placed to support growth in housing and employment. The mainline rail network runs to the south of the town with Bodmin Parkway Station being located 5km from the town centre providing a vital link to the south west and beyond.

1.3 With a total working population of just over 5,500, approximately 3,600 live and work within the town and a further 5,100 travel in each day to work. 67% of trips to work in Bodmin are made by private car resulting in congestion through the town centre at some of the key strategic junctions and there are localised air quality management issues along Dennison Road resulting in an Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) status.

1.4 The Bodmin Masterplan (May 2011) sets out a vision to improve the economic viability of the town with the reduction in congestion and an improvement to the public realm space being two vital factors in order to deliver the aspirations.

1.5 The Masterplan proposed the delivery of a northern distributor road (NDR) to allow high levels of growth to come forward without adding to the congestion already witnessed along Dennison Road. However, given the risks around the delivery of such significant highway infrastructure, this work took the opportunity to further consider how the same (or better) benefits could be achieved through a package of lower risk transport measures. Further modelling work has demonstrated the impact of the relief road would be negligible and indeed congestion as a result of the growth would impact on the town centre.

1.6 The Bodmin transport strategy will assist in the delivery of the wider benefits aspired to in the Masterplan including the opening up of business space, reduced congestion, improved air quality and the regeneration of the shopping centre through public realm works and improved access by public transport, foot and bicycle.

Consultation

1.7 The Council has undertaken a series of consultation events throughout November and December 2012 with Local Members and elected Town Councillors to ascertain their views on the proposed revised strategy. Following these sessions the transport strategy was presented to the people of Bodmin through the Local Plan process in March 2013 in the form of an exhibition in the Shire Hall. It is the intention to attend a further round of public consultation following the May 2013 elections.

EDG110-04 Bodmin Town Framework 2 October 2013

2. Rationale for Transport Strategy

2.1 The rationale for the Bodmin Transport Strategy is as follows:

1. To enable economic and housing growth within Bodmin 2. To reduce future congestion in town 3. To improve town centre environment 4. To manage air quality within town 5. To facilitate the expansion of St. Petroc’s School

Transport Strategy Objectives

2.2 The transport strategy has been developed to maximise the potential benefits for the five key statements above. In addition, ten key objectives were identified during the previous town Masterplan consultation workshops. These objectives are summarised below:

1. Improving the town centre 2. Improving the tourism offer 3. Improving the quality of jobs 4. Improving education and training 5. Improving air quality in the town centre 6. Improving potential for sustainable energy 7. Improve access to affordable housing 8. Improving arrival into the town 9. Improving access to green space 10. Improving public transport

2.3 Whilst balancing the need to achieve as many of the objectives as possible the principal aim of the Transport Strategy is to facilitate economic and housing growth within Bodmin. Without growth there would be limited opportunities to fund infrastructure improvements in the town.

2.4 The current Local Plan consultation is for 3,000 residential dwellings. This differs to the 5,000 dwellings considered as part of the Masterplan proposals and significantly impacts upon the potential developer funding contribution for infrastructure improvements.

2.5 However, it is critical to sufficiently improve the local retail and leisure offer so that the additional population will have local facilities.

Bodmin Masterplan Review

2.6 The first stage in updating the transport strategy was to review the masterplan proposals. The conclusion of the Masterplan transport strategy was:

Provide a Northern Distributor Road linking A389 Westheath Avenue with Dunmere Road and extending north-east across to A38 Launceston Road in the vicinity of Callywith Gate.

Modify the Westheath Avenue / Dunmere Road junction (Fiveways) Modify the Launceston Road / Priory Road junction Modify the Dennison Road / Priory Road / Turf Street junction (Church

Square) Provide additional car parking at Priory Park and Berrycoombe Road

2.7 A Southern Distributor Road linking A389 Westheath Avenue with A38 Priory Road was considered as part of the Masterplan but was discounted due to high cost and adverse impact on the Beacon and adjoining recreational space.

EDG110-04 Bodmin Town Framework 3 October 2013

2.8 The principal transport improvement promoted by the Masterplan was the Northern Distributor Road which has a current construction cost of greater than £35 million. Based on a 20 year growth plan of 3,000 residential dwellings each dwelling would need to contribute approximately £12,000 to fund the road proposal (assuming zero affordable houses). This level of contribution is not viable given that the housing developers would also have to fund education, open space and affordable housing provision in addition to the transport contribution.

2.9 Due to the current financial climate it is not viable for Cornwall Council to borrow money to fund this road scheme as a public sector project.

2.10 Given the nature of the Northern Distributor Road proposals it would be probable that development would commence at the western and eastern extremities with development moving towards the centre. Completion of the road would therefore take a significant length of time and the benefits that the road could provide (A30 – Wadebridge traffic could bypass Bodmin) would not occur until completion. Therefore, significant traffic congestion would occur in Bodmin associated with the original 5,000 or current 3,000 residential dwellings proposed.

2.11 It is for the reasons stated above that the Northern Distributor Road is no longer considered to be a viable option. An alternative transport strategy is therefore required that does not rely on the provision and completion of the Northern Distributor Road.

EDG110-04 Bodmin Town Framework 4 October 2013

3. Proposed Transport Strategy

3.1 With the knowledge that the Northern Distributor Road is not financially viable or deliverable within the Local Plan period of 2030 and assuming that growth over this period will total 3,000 residential dwellings a more affordable and deliverable transport strategy is required.

3.2 Using the Bodmin area transport model that was developed for the Masterplan work a number of development scenarios were tested to identify congestion within the existing road network (Parsons Brinckerhoff Technical Note 16 Version 3 (Draft) 285300FN-HLV summarises the traffic modelling in greater detail). The modelling identified that there are traffic congestion hotspots at the following locations:

Westheath Avenue / Dunmere Road junction (Fiveways) Launceston Road / Priory Road junction Dennison Road / Priory Road / Turf Street junction (Church Square)

3.3 The locations for potential residential development areas were determined following a review of topography, environmental suitability, accessibility and proximity to the town centre and the major employment sites. The Masterplan Transport Strategy for the recommended land use option is shown below

3.4 Assuming these development locations and the existing highway network there would be worsening congestion at the following junctions:

Westheath Avenue / Dunmere Road junction (Fiveways) Launceston Road / Priory Road junction Dennison Road / Priory Road / Turf Street junction (Church Square)

3.5 There would also be a need for new junctions at the following locations which would provide access to the development cells identified:

A38 Launceston Road / Callywith Gate Development Area A389 Dunmere Road / Boundary Road Development Area B3268 Lostwithiel Road / Halgavor Development Area Carminow Road / Halgavor Development Area

3.6 The development scenario considered is shown as Figure 3.1 below.

3.7 The Transport Strategy network options are shown in Figures 3.2 to 3.4 below.

Page 5EDG110‐04 Bodmin Town Framework Consultation October 2013

EDG110-04 Bodmin Town Framework 6 October 2013

FIGURE 3.2 TRANSPORT NETWORK SCENARIO 1

FIGURE 3.3 TRANSPORT NETWORK SCENARIO 1A

FIGURE 3.4 TRANSPORT NETWORK SCENARIO 2

EDG110-04 Bodmin Town Framework 7 October 2013

4. Evolution of Individual Scheme Options

4.1 When considering the development of transport improvements at individual locations each preferred scheme went through a number of iterations to reach the final version. The aims of the schemes were to bring about the five aspirations for the town, as follows:

1. To enable economic and housing growth within Bodmin 2. To reduce future congestion in town 3. To improve town centre environment 4. To manage air quality within town 5. To facilitate the expansion of St. Petroc’s School

4.2 In addition to meeting some or all of the above criteria, consideration was also given to third party land requirements, other negative impacts, and deliverability and cost effectiveness of the schemes.

4.3 The following proposals address accessibility to new development areas whilst also mitigating local congestion:

Five Ways Launceston Road / Priory Road Carminow Road to Lostwithiel Road link Callywith Gate Launceston Road / Cooksland Road Priory Road / Cooksland Road

4.4 The transport proposals in the centre of town, around Church Square, Turf Street and St Nicholas Street seek to provide strategic benefits to the whole town in terms of transport network performance and enabling the improvement of the town centre environment. A number of schemes have been considered at:

Church Square Turf Street Fore Street St Nicholas Street

EDG110-04 Bodmin Town Framework 8 October 2013

5. Westheath Avenue / Dunmere Road / Barn Lane (Five Ways)

5.1 To facilitate development in the west of Bodmin (BdUE3 and St Lawrence’s Hospital Site) and to improve accessibility for the local schools a transport solution at Five Ways is required to improve operational capacity and to simplify the current complex road layout.

5.2 The current Five Ways junction is a double mini-roundabout with five roads feeding into the junction. Operationally the junction is seen as confusing and with significant right turn movements between St Leonards and Dunmere Road and between Westheath Avenue and Barn Lane capacity during peak periods can be an issue.

5.3 With Berrycoombe School located to the north of the junction and St Mary’s School located to the south there can be issues with pedestrians walking between their houses and schools as crossing the road in this location can be difficult.

5.4 When first reviewing the junction as part of the Town Framework, consideration was given to retaining all five roads entering the junction by means of a larger roundabout junction. Given the proximity of third party land, including St Lawrence’s church and church hall this was immediately discounted.

5.5 Rationalisation of the number of roads entering the junction was considered next and the first proposal was to remove St Mary’s Road from the junction as there are other routes available to access this residential area.

5.6 Four scheme options were considered, which considered vehicular access to all roads except St Mary’s Road entering the junction.

Option 1 is a four arm roundabout junction Option 2 is a four arm traffic signal controlled junction Option 3 is a three arm traffic signal controlled junction with restricted

access to Dunmere Road (left in / left out). Option 4 is a three arm traffic signal controlled junction with no vehicular

access to Dunmere Road except buses turning left out

5.7 Option 1 was not considered a viable scheme as the roundabout did not have sufficient capacity to accommodate predicted traffic volumes nor did it enable the introduction of a controlled pedestrian crossing to assist people walking between the residential areas and the schools.

5.8 Option 2 was not considered viable because the junction proposal did not have sufficient capacity to accommodate predicted traffic volumes. This scheme could incorporate a controlled pedestrian crossing on the St Leonards arm to assist walking.

5.9 Option 3 is potentially viable as the scheme would have greater capacity than option 2. There would be difficulties in providing a controlled pedestrian crossing on the St Leonards arm of the junction with the left out turning manoeuvre from Dunmere Road. This scheme is dependent on the Wain Homes link road between Boundary Road and Dunmere Road, which is part of a consented residential development to the west of the Beacon Technology Park on Dunmere Road.

5.10 Option 4, the preferred scheme, proposes to restrict the Five Ways junction to vehicular connections from St Leonards, Barn Lane and Westheath Avenue. Given the relatively high flow of traffic currently turning right towards Dunmere Road this traffic would be diverted along Westheath Avenue to the junction of Boundary Road, along the southern section of Boundary Road and onto the Wain Homes link

EDG110-04 Bodmin Town Framework 9 October 2013

road. This scheme is likely to require improvement of the Westheath Avenue / Boundary Road junction as well as localised widening of Boundary Road between Westheath Avenue and the start of the Wain Homes link road. Details of these improvements have not been drawn as there may be opportunities to link through the hospital site to reach Dunmere Road. Once the preferred transport strategy is accepted, further investigations will be undertaken to confirm the route of this road and what additional junction and road improvements may be required.

5.11 The Option 4 junction improvement scheme at Five Ways would have sufficient capacity to accommodate future development traffic, would represent a significant simplification of the road layout in this location and would enable a controlled pedestrian crossing to be provided on St Leonards. To facilitate additional bus service provision along Dunmere Road, buses will be permitted to turn left from Dunmere Road to St Leonards.

5.12 There has been some local concern that Westheath Avenue would not have sufficient capacity to accommodate the diversion of Dunmere Road traffic flows onto this road, in addition to the traffic travelling between Bodmin and Lanivet and the A30(T) junction at Innis Downs. Westheath Avenue is one of the widest roads within Bodmin and is currently operating well within its theoretical capacity and therefore the additional traffic should not be an issue. However, the capacity of the side road junctions along Westheath Avenue, such as Corporation Road, Vivian Road and Beech Drive may become an issue in the longer term. It was agreed at the earlier consultation that further work would be undertaken following the acceptance of a transport strategy to ensure that the local community is not adversely impacted upon by the strategy.