higher town sampford peverell - technical statement part 1 - final · 2 days ago · 16. trace...
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Trace Design Consultants Limited, Registered Office: 1A Parliament Square, Parliament Street,
Crediton, Devon, EX17 2AW
Registered in England and Wales No. 08047125
1. This Technical Statement has been prepared to examine the highway information
submitted with the planning application reference 17/01359/MOUT regarding the
outline for the erection of 60 dwellings and construction of a new access to the west of
the site, and the assessment by DCC Highways as to the suitability of the proposed
highway works associated with this planning application. This includes an assessment
of the appropriateness and safety of:
a. The vehicular access
b. All pedestrian and cycle accesses
c. The offsite works by the Listed Bridge to provide a new footpath and crossing
point.
2. Trace Design has reviewed all the relevant information submitted as part of the
planning application, which includes the reports and supporting information provided
as well as the correspondence issued by DCC Highways.
3. Relevant legislation and highways design guidance on a national and County level
have also been reviewed and have been referenced in this assessment when
appropriate.
Assessment of the Vehicular Access
4. The main vehicular access is proposed off the link road that connects Turnpike with
Higher Town. The proposed access is shown in Drawing number 0685-HYD-XX-XX-
DR-TP-106 Revision P4, which was submitted as a single document to the planning
application, superseding Revision P3 which formed part of the Transport Assessment.
5. This Drawing is shown overleaf. This only shows the relevant section of the drawing
for the assessment. The gradient levels also shown as part of the drawing are
considered appropriate:
Technical Statement
HIGHER TOWN, SAMPFORD PEVERELL – PLANNING REFERENCE 17/01359/MOUT – PART 1
Trace Design Consultants Ltd 3 Silverdown Office Park
Fair Oak Close Clyst Honiton
Exeter Devon
EX5 2UX United Kingdom
t: +44 (0)1392 927717 www.trace-design.co.uk
Trace Design Consultants Limited, Registered Office: 1A Parliament Square, Parliament Street,
Crediton, Devon, EX17 2AW
Registered in England and Wales No. 08047125
Assessment:
Issue: Road Layout for Residential Estate
6. The road has been designed as a “R31 Traditional Access Way”, as defined in the
Devon Highways Design Guide, which allows up to 50 dwellings provided off a loop
road.
7. The drawing was acceptable by DCC Highways (as stated in the letter issued on 25
May 2018) as well as the design of the internal road as a Traditional Access Way as
stated in the letter issued by DCC Highways on 26 March 2018.
Trace Design Consultants Limited, Registered Office: 1A Parliament Square, Parliament Street,
Crediton, Devon, EX17 2AW
Registered in England and Wales No. 08047125
8. This design requires a carriageway 4.8m wide, which provides enough width for a large
vehicle and a car to pass each other.
9. Trace Design Assessment:
a. It is considered and accepted that a R31 Traditional Access Way road layout
may provide enough width for the internal element of the development from the
point where the loop road is provided. This point would start to the east of the
intersection from the access road leading to internal roads to the north and
south as shown in the relevant part of the master plan below (which is shown
as drawing 1238.04 and included as a single document in the planning
application).
b. It is suggested that the section between the site access and the loop road
should provide for a minimum of 5.5m width to allow for two large vehicles to
pass each other. The size of the proposed development is 60 units, which is 10
units over that recommended for the provision of a R31 Traditional Access
Way. It is likely that due to the size of the development, two large vehicles could
occasionally meet up on the road, with the need for one of them to reverse back
to a place which would allow the two vehicles to pass each other. This may
also impact on the link road with one the large vehicles reversing on this road
Trace Design Consultants Limited, Registered Office: 1A Parliament Square, Parliament Street,
Crediton, Devon, EX17 2AW
Registered in England and Wales No. 08047125
to let the other vehicle pass, which may lead to safety concerns. It is
acknowledged that the Stage 1 Road Safety raised no objections in terms of
highway safety but in paragraph 3.3 it stated that: “The site access carriageway
width is identified at 4.8m with 2m verges to either side. This width is in line
with the requirements for Manual for Streets, however the audit team would
expect this width to be sued within the estate roads rather than as a width for
the primary access. As part of the detailed design it would beneficial to
reconsider the proposed access width in line with providing a 5.5m carriageway
and adjust the verge widths accordingly”.
Visibility Splays at the Site Access Junction
10. These are provided for a “Y” distance of 43m and from an “X” distance of 2.4m.
11. The letter issued by Hydrock on the 8th of June 2018 with the title “Comments on
Further Objection Letters” states that visibility splays have been provided 1.0m away
from the nearside in either direction and that this is common practice.
12. Trace Design Assessment:
a. Manual for Streets is not clear about the distance that should be allowed from
the nearside. It states however that: “The Y distance represents the distance
that a driver who is about to exit from the minor arm can see to his left and right
along the main alignment. For simplicity it is measured along the nearside kerb
line of the main arm, although vehicles will normally be travelling at a distance
from the kerb line. (…)” (paragraph 7.7.3 from MfS).
b. It is considered that the distance of 1.0m may be too much in this case to
provide for a safe access. The nature of the link road, being relatively narrow
and twisty, is likely to have vehicles, mainly cyclists, travelling at 0.5m away
from the kerb line. Visibility splays may be re-designed to provide adequate
visibility.
c. The distance of 1.0m away from the kerb line is not considered to be common
practice based on our experience. This should be applied to roads with wider
carriageway and space for vehicles being able to overtake cyclists comfortably,
which is unlikely to be in this case.
Trace Design Consultants Limited, Registered Office: 1A Parliament Square, Parliament Street,
Crediton, Devon, EX17 2AW
Registered in England and Wales No. 08047125
Forward Visibility Splays on the Link Road
13. These have been provided in Drawing 06685-HYD-XX-XX-DR-TP-107 Revision P1 for
the bend located to the south of the proposed site access on the link road leading to
Battens Cross. This drawing as Appendix H of the Transport Assessment.
14. The relevant section of this Drawing for assessment purposes is shown below.
Trace Design Consultants Limited, Registered Office: 1A Parliament Square, Parliament Street,
Crediton, Devon, EX17 2AW
Registered in England and Wales No. 08047125
15. The forward visibility splays are based on 85th percentile vehicle speeds of 30mph and
have been provided for a forward visibility distance of 43m following Manual for Streets
guidance.
16. Trace Design Assessment:
a. Forward visibility splays appear to have been provided from the centre of the
road, rather than the centre of the inner lane, as recommended in Manual for
Streets (Figure 7.19, which is shown below). It is suggested that the design is
amended to comply with MfS and provide appropriate forward visibility splays.
b. The drawing does not show any details on carriageway width along the section
of the link road between Battens Cross and the site access, which is likely to
provide the main access for development traffic as based on the vehicle trip
distribution from the Transport Assessment. It is suggested that this road
provides a minimum width of 5.5m to ensure that two large vehicles can pass
each other in this section due to the likely occurrence that this may happen
occasionally.
Trace Design Consultants Limited, Registered Office: 1A Parliament Square, Parliament Street,
Crediton, Devon, EX17 2AW
Registered in England and Wales No. 08047125
c. The bend where forward visibility splays is provided should be widened to
approximately 6.5m to ensure that two large vehicles can manoeuvre
adequately in case they meet at this point.
d. It is recommended that swept paths for two large vehicles are provided for the
junction of Batten Cross and the section of carriageway leading to the site
access, including the proposed site access junction, to ensure that two large
vehicles will be able to manoeuvre adequately during this section of the road in
the likely scenario that two large vehicles meet occasionally due to the size of
the development.
Assessment of All Pedestrian and Cycle Accesses
17. There are three pedestrian and cycle access points proposed for the development.
18. Cycle Access off the Link Road (at the Proposed Vehicle Site Access)
19. One of the three cycle access points is proposed off the link road that connects
Turnpike with Higher Town and that also provides the main vehicular access to the
site. This has been reviewed in the previous section for the vehicle access and the
same points would apply in this case.
Pedestrian and Cycle Access off Turnpike
20. The main pedestrian and cycle access is proposed off Turnpike to the south of the site.
This access is shown in Drawing number 06685-HYD-XX-XX-DR-TP-108 Revision P3,
which was submitted as a single document to the planning application, superseding
Revision P2 which formed part of the Transport Assessment.
21. This Drawing is shown overleaf. For simplicity, this only shows the relevant section of
the drawing for the assessment.
Trace Design Consultants Limited, Registered Office: 1A Parliament Square, Parliament Street,
Crediton, Devon, EX17 2AW
Registered in England and Wales No. 08047125
Assessment:
Visibility Splays
22. Visibility splays have been provided for 85th percentile vehicle speeds of over 40mph.
These splays have been based on the results from the vehicle speed survey
undertaken for this.
23. Trace Design Assessment:
a. Visibility splays appear to have been provided to the nearside kerb line, which
is inconsistent with the visibility splays provided on other drawings 1.0m off the
kerb line. It is recommended that these are provided consistently on all
drawings, ideally at 0.5m off the kerb line.
Access Layout
24. This has been designed with the provision of dropped kerbs with tactile paving on both
sides of the road. The crossing on the northern side of the road located within the
application site leads to a footway/cycleway that provides a connection to the proposed
development.
Trace Design Consultants Limited, Registered Office: 1A Parliament Square, Parliament Street,
Crediton, Devon, EX17 2AW
Registered in England and Wales No. 08047125
25. Trace Design Assessment:
a. This access is considered the main pedestrian access to the site and is likely
to be used by children and older people. Despite the long visibility splays
provided and in order to assign priority to pedestrians and cyclists as
recommended in Manual for Streets two options are suggested for
consideration:
i. Provision of a 30mph vehicle speed limit from approximately 50 to 100m
to the west of the proposed access location that may encourage drivers
to drive slower. This may be accompanied by appropriate signage and
road markings, indicating the use of the crossing by pedestrians.
ii. Provision of a pedestrian refuge if the vehicle speed limit is kept at
40mph to provide for a safer access and reduce waiting time for
pedestrians trying to cross the road. If this could not be provided other
alternatives may be considered in order to encourage walking as a
realistic mode of travel.
Cycle Access for Cyclists Travelling Eastbound
26. The current design does not appear to provide for cyclists travelling from the west to
the site. This only provides a dropped kerb with tactile paving for pedestrians and
cyclists crossing to the opposite side of the road.
27. Trace Design Assessment:
a. With the current design it appears that cyclists may need to stop on the road
and do a U-turn with their bicycles to keep travelling towards the proposed
development, which may raise safety concerns. It is suggested to provide a
dropped kerb to the west of the proposed access for cyclists to be able to leave
the main road without the need to stop by the crossing, even more if
pedestrians were waiting to cross and there was no clear space for cyclists to
manoeuvre.
Pedestrian and Cycle Access off Higher Town
28. Another point of access to the site for pedestrians and cyclists is proposed off Higher
Town to the north of the site. This access is shown in Drawing number 06685-HYD-
XX-XX-DR-TP-P-04 Revision P3, which was submitted as a single document to the
Trace Design Consultants Limited, Registered Office: 1A Parliament Square, Parliament Street,
Crediton, Devon, EX17 2AW
Registered in England and Wales No. 08047125
planning application and superseded the previous version that was included within the
Transport Assessment following the recommendations from the Stage 1 Road Safety
Audit undertaken.
29. This Drawing is shown below. This only shows the relevant section of the drawing to
be assessed.
Trace Design Consultants Limited, Registered Office: 1A Parliament Square, Parliament Street,
Crediton, Devon, EX17 2AW
Registered in England and Wales No. 08047125
Assessment:
Visibility Splays
30. Visibility splays have been provided for 45m on each direction, which should be able
to accommodate 85th percentile vehicle speeds of over 30mph following MfS guidance.
31. Trace Design Assessment:
a. Visibility splays appear to have been provided to the nearside kerb line to the
south west of the junction but 1.0m off the kerb line to the north east in the
same drawing. This shows inconsistency with the way visibility splays are
applied and designed. It is suggested that these splays are shown at the same
distance from the kerb line, ideally at a distance of 0.5m off the kerb line in both
directions.
Priority Working
32. Priority working is provided with a give way line to the south west for vehicles to let
other vehicles travelling on the opposite direction to come through first.
33. Trace Design Assessment:
a. The carriageway width is not provided at relevant sections of the carriageway.
This is considered relevant to understand the location of any pinch points along
the route. It is suggested that the width at the give way line should be provided
and should include a minimum width of 4.8m to allow for a large vehicle and a
car to pass each other.
b. Depending on the carriageway width available it may be appropriate to consider
the provision of passing bays with a minimum of 5.5m width at selected
locations to allow for two large vehicles to pass each other.
c. It is also suggested to provide carriageway width just to the north east of the
red line boundary to consider the impact of the building that seems to protrude
on the carriageway in order to identify any width constraints and design any
mitigation measures needed.
Trace Design Consultants Limited, Registered Office: 1A Parliament Square, Parliament Street,
Crediton, Devon, EX17 2AW
Registered in England and Wales No. 08047125
Pedestrian Link to Grand Western Canal Path
34. An additional point of access for pedestrians is proposed to the south west of the site
with a segregated footway parallel to the road that provides access to Battens Bridge
and the Canal. The proposed route is shown in Figure 4.3 of the Transport Assessment
and is shown below.
35. The relevant section of proposed access for assessment is shown below. This is
included as a single drawing within the planning application and supersedes the
previous version included within the Transport Assessment. This access is shown in
Drawing number 06685-HYD-XX-XX-DR-TP-0110 Revision P2.
Trace Design Consultants Limited, Registered Office: 1A Parliament Square, Parliament Street,
Crediton, Devon, EX17 2AW
Registered in England and Wales No. 08047125
Assessment:
Inconsistency and/or Lack of Information Provided on the Design
36. The proposed route and the crossing provided on the southern side of Turnpike does
not show continuity with the footway shown in Figure 4.3.
37. Trace Design Assessment:
a. There is no connection provided between the dropped kerb at the crossing and
the proposed pedestrian route leading to the Canal Path. It is recommended
that this is included and shown even on a conceptual design.
b. The extract from the relevant section of the HMPE plan shown below and
extracted from Appendix C of the Transport Assessment shows that the land
proposed to provide the segregated footway is not highways land. It is
suggested for the applicant to confirm that this land would be available for
development as stated within the Transport Assessment.
Trace Design Consultants Limited, Registered Office: 1A Parliament Square, Parliament Street,
Crediton, Devon, EX17 2AW
Registered in England and Wales No. 08047125
c. The proposed master plan, which was submitted with drawing reference
1238.04, does not include the area included for development of the proposed
pedestrian link within the red line boundary. This is shown in the relevant
section of this drawing overleaf. This potential inconsistency is corroborated by
Figure 4 “Land Ownership Plan” of the Design and Access Statement submitted
as part of the planning application (Replacement Version January 2018) and
also shown overleaf.
Trace Design Consultants Limited, Registered Office: 1A Parliament Square, Parliament Street,
Crediton, Devon, EX17 2AW
Registered in England and Wales No. 08047125
Trace Design Consultants Limited, Registered Office: 1A Parliament Square, Parliament Street,
Crediton, Devon, EX17 2AW
Registered in England and Wales No. 08047125
d. Finally, and also showing a potential inconsistency, the Design and Access
Statement submitted as part of the planning application (Replacement Version
January 2018) shows a different route for the proposed pedestrian connection.
This is shown in the relevant section of the design concept for the site shown
in Figure 12 of this document and shown overleaf.
Trace Design Consultants Limited, Registered Office: 1A Parliament Square, Parliament Street,
Crediton, Devon, EX17 2AW
Registered in England and Wales No. 08047125
e. It is suggested that more and clearer information is provided regarding the
proposed route, feasibility and deliverability of this proposal.
Assessment of Offsite Works
38. Offsite works have been proposed at the junction of Turnpike / Higher Town and Lower
Town with the development of a new footway that will provide a connection between
the existing footway provided at the southern side of Turnpike to the west with the
pedestrian footbridge to the east.
39. These proposed offsite highway works are shown in Drawing number 0685-HYD-XX-
XX-DR-TP-P-05 Revision P, which is included as part of the Transport Assessment
(Appendix L). This Drawing is shown overleaf. This only shows relevant section
considered for the assessment.
Trace Design Consultants Limited, Registered Office: 1A Parliament Square, Parliament Street,
Crediton, Devon, EX17 2AW
Registered in England and Wales No. 08047125
Assessment:
Visibility Splays
40. Visibility splays are shown 1.0m off the nearside kerb line. Visibility splays are sub-
standard. DCC Highways has raised no objection to the scheme.
41. Trace Design Assessment:
a. Visibility splays should be consistent and realistic. Given the nature of the road
vehicles are likely to travel closer to the kerb line and visibility splays should be
provided 0.5m off the kerb line.
b. Despite the sub-standard visibility splays provided this is considered to be an
improvement to the local highway network in its existing situation, which
Trace Design Consultants Limited, Registered Office: 1A Parliament Square, Parliament Street,
Crediton, Devon, EX17 2AW
Registered in England and Wales No. 08047125
provides further priority to pedestrians as recommended in Manual for Streets
design guidance.
SUMMARY:
· Assessment of the appropriateness and safety of the vehicular access:
o It is suggested to ensure that carriageway width is 5.5m minimum between
Batten Cross and the point within the application site where internal loop road
starts.
o It is suggested that forward visibility splays on the link road to the south of the
proposed site access is designed in accordance with Manual for Streets.
o It is suggested that swept paths are undertaken for the section between Batten
Cross and the point within the application site where the internal loop road
starts to ensure that two large vehicles can pass each other.
o It is suggested that visibility splays are all provided at a 0.5m distance away
from the kerb line.
· Assessment of the appropriateness and safety of all pedestrian and cycle
accesses:
o It is suggested that visibility splays are all provided at a 0.5m distance away
from the kerb line.
o It is suggested to provide a design for the pedestrian and cycle access off
Turnpike that either includes a 30mph scheme with appropriate traffic calming
measures or provides physical infrastructure to accommodate and encourage
walking as a realistic mode of travel if the vehicle sped limit is kept at 40mph.
o It is suggested to provide further information on existing carriageway width on
Higher Town to identify any constraints where the proposed pedestrian and
cycle access is proposed to allow for the appropriate width for vehicles to pass
each other.
o It is suggested to provide further information that confirms the deliverability of
the proposed pedestrian link to the Canal path.
· Assessment of the appropriateness and safety of the offsite works by the Listed
Bridge to provide a new footpath and crossing point:
o It is suggested that visibility splays are all provided at a 0.5m distance away
from the kerb line.