13. Traffic and Transport

Transcription

1 13. Traffic and Transport 13.1 Executive Summary The traffic impact of the Facility has been examined for both transport of materials and staff, and with regard to the latter, accessibility of the site has been examined for all transport modes including walking, cycling, public transport and cars. The traffic generation for the Facility has been calculated based on the known existing sources of material arriving at the Landfill and the distribution for the Facility assigned to the local highway network. The existing traffic flows have been determined from automatic traffic count data supplied by Transport Scotland and from independent turning movement surveys. In addition, a materiality test has been undertaken which has demonstrated that due to the relatively moderate existing traffic flows, the Facility would have a material impact on the local highway junctions. The junction of the A1087 onto the A1 and Trunk Road Network has been assessed in addition to the roundabout of the A1087 with the local road leading to the Oxwellmains site using the TRL software packages PICADY v5 and ARCADY 6 respectively. Both the construction and operational phase modelling has demonstrated that the junctions would operate in a satisfactory manner. Road Safety records for the wider highway network around the site have been examined and it has been determined that there are no road safety issues. Thus it has been demonstrated that the residual traffic impacts associated with the Facility can be fully accommodated on the existing highway network Introduction The traffic, transport and access issues relating to the construction and operation phases of the development have been fully addressed in a stand alone Transport Assessment that will accompany the planning application and is contained within Appendix 10. The Transport Assessment examines the impact of the proposed development on the surrounding transport infrastructure and road network. An assessment of all transportation issues related to the proposed development is also set out in the Transport Assessment and summarised in this ES. Road safety was also assessed utilising road traffic accident records obtained from Transport Scotland and East Lothian Council Methodology Through discussion with East Lothian Council it is understood that the Lafarge Cement Works adjacent the site has been granted an extension to their quarrying activities, however, it is believed that this will not result in any additional traffic movements and has, therefore, not been considered as part of this assessment. There are no other committed developments within the vicinity of the site for consideration. 331

2 Site visits have been undertaken to observe the highway layout on site and peak period traffic conditions on the local highway network. Residual Traffic Impact The proposed development would have two principal impacts on local transport infrastructure. Firstly, there would be the additional transfer of waste material to the site and by-products from the site. Secondly there would be the transport of staff to the proposed development. It is anticipated that the Facility would enter commercial operation mid The operational assessment of highway impacts has been undertaken at 2013, which is deemed to be when the Facility will be fully operational. This approach is in accordance with Transport Assessment and Implementation: A Guide (Scottish Executive, August 2005). Where applicable, background traffic has been forecast using National Traffic Forecast (NRTF) Central growth factors. Fuel and By-Product Transport The vast majority of MSW and C&I wastes transported to the site by road will travel via the A1 with minimal or no vehicles travelling via Dunbar. The routing of traffic associated with the development will be consistent with the split of traffic at the existing landfill operation. Assessments of the MSW and C&I sources suggest that delivery is likely to be predominately by road, although the existing rail sidings facility could also potentially be used. In addition, there is also potential to use the water transfer facilities at Torness. The Transport Assessment has considered the worst case in terms of highway impact by assuming that all material arriving at the site will be by road with no material arriving by rail. A forecast of the trip generation and distribution for the Facility has been produced based on information recorded by Viridor at the existing landfill operation. This includes details of the origin and destination of vehicles and the arrival times. From this information on-site peak activity has been applied to the standard highway peak hour periods and thus a worst case scenario has been adopted. The calculation of the HGV trips generated by the Facility is set out in Appendix C of the Transport These trips have been assigned to the local road network in accordance with the distribution of existing HGV s arriving at the landfill operation. A summary of traffic distribution is given in Appendix D of the Transport Staff Transport When the Facility is operational it is anticipated that it would directly employ 47 operational staff on site. It is anticipated that there would be 24 staff travelling in the AM and PM peak periods, of which 15% are assumed to live locally in Dunbar and would thus not travel to the site via the A1. A summary of traffic distribution is given in Appendix D of the Transport During the construction phase of the development it is anticipated that between 100 and 150 staff and contractors would be employed at the site. Temporary car parking to accommodate these staff would be provided on site throughout the construction period. Details of assumptions regarding construction related arrivals and departures 332

3 during the peak periods used for the junction modelling in this report are given in subsequent paragraphs and within the Transport Assessment in Appendix 10. Existing Traffic s Traffic turning movement counts were commissioned for the junctions of the A1087/A1, the A1087 roundabout with the local road leading to Oxwellmains and the junction of the Viridor site with the local road. Traffic surveys were undertaken by Count-On-Us on 12 September 2006 for the period of to 19.00hrs enabling the busiest peak periods for each junction to be ascertained. Existing traffic flow data has been obtained from Transport Scotland for the A1 junction in the form of Automatic Traffic Count data collected at a location slightly east of the Spott Roundabout. The data covers the period from September 2004 to August All available data has been taken for the most recent year (2006) and for the neutral months of April, May and June. The mean peak hour weekday traffic flow for the available data has been used as the basis for the materiality test and junction assessment. A summary of the traffic flow data is given in Appendix E of the Transport Materiality Test The Institution of Highways and Transportation Guidance for Traffic Impact Assessment define the threshold for an impact to be considered as material as where traffic to and from the development will exceed 10% of the existing two-way traffic (or 5% in congested or other sensitive locations) or such other threshold as may have been established by the highway (roads) or planning authority. A materiality test has been undertaken to ascertain the increase as a result of the proposed development. The results of this materiality test are presented graphically in Appendix F of the Transport Assessment and summarised in Tables 13.1 and 13.2 below. TABLE 13.1 RESULTS OF MATERIALITY TEST (AM PEAK) Location Traffic Development Traffic Percentage increase in Traffic A1087 westbound (east of rbt) HGV, 4 Car 2.6% A1087 eastbound (east of rbt) 63 0 HGV, 0 Car 0.0% A1087 westbound (west of rbt) HGV, 0 Car 8.4% A1087 eastbound (west of rbt) HGV, 20 Car 24.6% Road to Oxwellmains northbound HGV, 0 Car 42.3% Road to Oxwellmains southbound HGV, 24 Car 31.3% A1 northbound (north of junc) HGV, 0 Car 2.0% A1 northbound (south of junc) HGV, 5 Car 1.5% A1 southbound (north of junc) HGV, 15 Car 0.5% A1 southbound (south of junc) HGV, 0 Car 0.4% TABLE 13.2 RESULTS OF MATERIALITY TEST (PM PEAK) Location Traffic Development Traffic Percentage increase in Traffic A1087 westbound (east of rbt) HGV, 0 Car 0.0% A1087 eastbound (east of rbt) HGV, 4 Car 3.3% A1087 westbound (west of rbt) HGV, 20 Car 19.3% A1087 eastbound (west of rbt) HGV, 0 Car 10.9% Road to Oxwellmains northbound HGV, 24 Car 42.2% Road to Oxwellmains southbound HGV, 0 Car 57.9% A1 northbound (north of junc) HGV, 15 Car 4.1% A1 northbound (south of junc) HGV, 0 Car 0.3% 333

4 TABLE 13.2 RESULTS OF MATERIALITY TEST (PM PEAK) Location Traffic Development Traffic Percentage increase in Traffic A1 southbound (north of junc) HGV, 0 Car 1.5% A1 southbound (south of junc) HGV, 5 Car 1.2% It can be seen from Tables 13.1 and 13.2 that due to the existing traffic levels being relatively low in the area, there would be a material impact on the junction of the A1087/A1 and the A1087 roundabout. That said this does not result in a material impact on junction or link capacity. Analysis has been undertaken, however, of the point of access onto the trunk road network at the A1/A1087 and the roundabout of the A1087 and the local road to Oxwellmains Impact Assessment The Transport Research Laboratory roundabout software PICADY v5 and ARCADY 6 has been used to model the operation of the A1/A1087 junction and the A1087 roundabout respectively. The geometric parameters of the junctions were entered into the computer package. In the models, the time periods assessed are divided into a number of 15-minute time segments in order to simulate the likely arrival pattern of traffic more effectively. The results returned in the models are the Ration of s to Capacity (RFC) and predicted queue (Q) in each time segment. The maximum RFC value for each movement is likely to be observed over the central minute period of the hour under consideration. RFC values between 0.00 and 0.85 are generally accepted as representing stable operating conditions; values between 0.85 and unity represent variable operating conditions (i.e., possible queues building up at the junction during the period under consideration and increases in vehicle delay moving through the junction). RFC values in excess of unity represent overloaded conditions (i.e., congested conditions). Both the PICADY v5 model of the junction at the A1/A1087 and the ARCADY 6 model of the A1087 roundabout have been built based upon site measurement and OS data. The model has been run for the base and base plus development scenarios. The results of the PICADY v5 modelling are summarised in the table 13.3 below, and electronic copies of the junction models are given in Appendix G of the Transport TABLE 13.3 A1/A1087 JUNCTION MODELLING RESULTS (2013 BASE + DEV) A A The PICADY v5 modelling of the A1/A1087 junction demonstrates that, given the worst case scenarios adopted, the junction would operate within capacity at the anticipated year of opening for the development. The results of the ARCADY 6 modelling are summarised in the table 13.4 below, and electronic copies of the junction models are given in Appendix G of the Transport 334

5 TABLE 13.4 A1087 ROUNDABOUT MODELLING RESULTS (2013 BASE + DEV) A1087 (north) Local Road A1087 (south) The ARCADY 6 modelling of the A1087 roundabout demonstrates that, given the worst case scenarios adopted, the junction would operate within capacity at the anticipated year of opening for the development. It is anticipated that during the construction phase there would be between 100 and 150 staff and contractors employed at the site. The construction of the Facility is programmed to be completed and the plant operational by Construction Traffic This scenario has been modelled using the 2013 turning counts factored down to 2012 using NRTF central growth factors. For the construction traffic, 150 vehicle movements have been added in the worst case scenario for the operation of the roundabout and junction i.e. 150 arrivals in the AM peak, all from the A1 south and 150 departures in the PM peak, all to the A1 north. It is unlikely that these levels of construction traffic will be experienced during the peak hours. Appendix H in the Transport Assessment summarises the resultant trip distribution of traffic on the network. The results of the PICADY v5 modelling are summarised in Table 13.5 below, and electronic copies of the junction models are given in Appendix G of the Transport TABLE 13.5 A1/A1087 JUNCTION MODELLING RESULTS (2012 BASE + CONST TRAFFIC) A A The junction modelling for the construction phase demonstrates that, even with the worst possible assignment of construction traffic (i.e. the assumption that every contractor arrives individually in a car in the peak periods), the junction would operate in a satisfactory manner. The results of the ARCADY 6 modelling are summarised in the Table 13.6 below, and electronic copies of the junction models are given in Appendix G of the Transport TABLE 13.6 A1087 ROUNDABOUT MODELLING RESULTS (2012 BASE + CONST TRAFFIC) A1087 (north) Local Road A1087 (south) The junction modelling for the construction phase demonstrates that, even with the worst possible assignment of construction traffic (i.e. the assumption that every contractor arrives individually in a car in the peak periods), the junction would operate in a satisfactory manner. 335

6 During the construction phase staff would be encouraged to travel to site by sustainable means. However, given the limited public transport provision in the area, the only opportunity to reduce the environmental impact of construction trips to the site would be by means of car share arrangements. The proposed site access junction will be on the private road owned by Viridor. The volume of traffic using the junction will be small with only vehicle movements associated with the Facility and Landfill operation passing through the junction. Thus any junction designated to cater for the turning manoeuvres of the anticipated HGV traffic serving theses sites would provide more than sufficient capacity to cater for the predicted volumes of traffic. An assessment has been made of the junction formed by the local road to Oxwellmains and the access road to Viridor. The assessment concludes that the existing simple T-junction arrangement is satisfactory to accommodate the envisaged traffic volumes and is within the parameters outlined in TD 42/95 of the Design Manual for Roads and Bridges Road Safety Road traffic accident data has been obtained from Transport Scotland for the A1 Trunk Road and from East Lothian Council for Council maintained roads in the vicinity of the site. The period for which data was obtained includes the past 3 years (Transport Scotland data February 2004 to February 2007; East Lothian Council data January 2005 to January 2008). A review of the accident records has been undertaken to identify patterns of accident types that may be attributed to issues particularly arising from the existing road design, layout or construction. A summary of the road safety history including dates and severities is given in Appendix I of the Transport Assessment, along with a plan indicating the accident locations. It should be noted that Transport Scotland has undertaken Road Safety improvement measures at the junction of the A1087 and the A1 Trunk road at the beginning of These works have included additional signing, road markings and anti-skid surfacing. Therefore, the data obtained does not yet reflect the true effectiveness of the measures undertaken. The Personal Injury Accident records obtained indicate that there have been a total of five accidents occurring within the study area within the last 3 years. Of these, two resulted in a slight injury, two were serious and one accident was a fatality. Traffic Accident data from East Lothian Council indicated that only one accident occurred in the last three years on council maintained roads in the vicinity. The accident resulted in a slight injury due to the casualty s vehicle being struck from the rear whilst waiting to turn east onto the A1 from the A1087. The two serious injury accidents on the A1 Trunk Road both involved motorcyclists on the same day, within two minutes of each other and only metres apart. Both the serious injury accidents occurred in daylight hours with fine weather and no high winds, however, the road surface condition is reported as being frost/ice. One slight injury accident occurred as the result of a vehicle failing to stop at the give-way line, the other was due to a vehicle collision near the junction causing one vehicle to leave the carriageway. The fatal accident occurred when a pedestrian was stuck whilst crossing the dual carriageway in the hours of darkness. 336

7 It must be noted that none of the reported traffic accidents involved Heavy Good Vehicles. Overall, the accident record in the study area is not deemed to present any major safety problem, and given the marginal increase in HGV traffic as a result of the development, and the recent safety improvement measures at the junction of the A1 and A1087, it is considered that road safety is not likely to be an issue Residual Effects The assessment of the construction phases of the development have demonstrated that the existing access onto the A1 and the A1087 will operate in a satisfactory manner with a slight increase in queuing and delays during the peak hours. The assessment of the operational phase of the proposed development has demonstrated that there will be a slight increase in traffic as a result of the proposed development Statement of Significance The development of the Facility will impact on the environment with regard to traffic, transport and access during two phases. Firstly during the construction phase, secondly during operation. It can be stated that the impact of the traffic generated by the construction phase of the development will be slight and temporary in nature and it is, therefore, considered that the overall significance of the impact will be minor/negligible. It can be stated that the impact of the traffic generated by the operational phase of the development will be slight but permanent for the operational life of the Facility. It is, therefore, considered that the overall significance of the impact will be minor/negligible. 337