Meeting documents

PTE/15/9

Cabinet

13 February 2015

A382 Corridor Improvements

Report of the Head of Planning, Transportation and Environment

Recommendation: That the preliminary scheme layout shown on drawings DWG B11029/ 18 / BW1, B11029/ 18 /BW2; B11029/ 18 / BW3/2, B11029/ 18 / BW4/2 (attached to this report Appendix 3) be approved to proceed to public consultation.

1. Summary

This report seeks approval to proceed with a public consultation for a scheme to improve access to Newton Abbot and the A38 by improving the A382 corridor which connects them.

2. Background

The scheme is based upon achieving the following objectives:

Deliver development to the west of Newton Abbot;

Improve journey times to the west of Newton Abbot;

Improve safety on the A382; and

Encourage the use of sustainable modes of transport.

Current Issues

The A382 is a key route connecting Newton Abbot at Churchill's Roundabout with the A38 on the Strategic Road Network at Drumbridges roundabout. The existing road is of a low standard with poor alignment, high traffic flows and no facilities for pedestrians or cyclists. Connecting the A382 to Kingsteignton is Old Exeter Road which has a low capacity as it is narrow and includes a listed structure, the Causeway.

The accident rate on the A382 is almost 60% higher than the national average for this type of road. In addition, the A382 was the 8th worst performing A road in Devon in terms of collisions over the 5 year period 2008-2012.

The section of the A382 into Newton Abbot town centre from Churchill's Roundabout is busy and slow moving at peak times.

Future Development

Teignbridge District Council's adopted Local Plan sets out proposed residential and employment developments in the area between 2013 and 2033. In the Heart of Teignbridge (Newton Abbot, Kingsteignton and Kingskerswell), 6,000 homes and 11,000 jobs are included.

In particular this features a large amount of development (2,300 homes) to the west of Newton Abbot as shown in Appendix 1. This development will have a direct access onto the A382 and A383 with a street connecting the two through the development. Also included is 18 hectares of land for employment, part of which has been allocated at Forches Cross which will be accessed from the A382. These developments will result in significant traffic growth along this corridor, from vehicles travelling to and from Newton Abbot as well as vehicles travelling further using the A38 to Exeter and Plymouth. In addition, vehicles from the other development sites in and around Newton Abbot accessing the A38 may use these routes.

There are additional developments coming forward to the west of Kingsteignton totalling 730 homes which will be connected to the A382 by Old Exeter Road. Traffic flows are therefore likely to increase on this route, in particular from trips accessing the new employment site at Forches Cross.

3. Proposal

Scheme Description

The scheme is currently progressing through preliminary design and a Business Case submission where the following are proposed (shown on a map in Appendix 2):

Realignment and widening of the A382 to 10 metres between Drumbridges and Whitehill's Cross

Jetty Marsh II connection

Old Exeter Road Causeway improvements

Shared pedestrian and cycle path along the A382

Shared pedestrian and cycle path along Old Exeter Road

Park and Change site at Forches Cross

Increased width will provide additional capacity and improve journey times, resilience and reliability on the A382. The Jetty Marsh II connection will reduce congestion at Churchill's roundabout and increase capacity for traffic accessing Newton Abbot town centre. Improvements to the Causeway structure on Old Exeter Road will also provide additional capacity to accommodate predicted future flows.

A new shared pedestrian and cycle path adjacent to the A382 to connect Drumbridges with Newton Abbot and other pedestrian and cycle infrastructure will provide a high quality facility for sustainable modes of transport from new developments to access employment at Heathfield and Newton Abbot, and access to Stover School. In addition Old Exeter Road is currently a "suggested route" on the Newton Abbot cycle map and will benefit from off road pedestrian and cycle provision connecting new developments to the west of Newton Abbot and Kingsteignton.

A park and change site on the outskirts of the Houghton Barton development at the Forches Cross site will provide the opportunity for people travelling to Newton Abbot from the surrounding area to park and continue their journey by other modes of transport including bus, cycle and car sharing.

These proposals will tie in with improvements at Drumbridges, now on site, which feature increased capacity, signalisation and a new pedestrian/cycle bridge over the A38. Improvements to the A382 corridor would help maximise the benefits of this scheme.

Land Assembly

Private land belonging to a number of land owners will be required for this scheme. All land owners have been contacted and visited by the design team, and are aware of proposals for widening and realignment of the A382. Key land owners are Stover School, Stover Country Park, Stover Golf Club, Sibelco and local Farmers.

Stover Golf Club will be particularly affected due to the location of existing holes adjacent to the A382. DCC commissioned a Golf Course Architect to identify options for relocating holes and rearranging the course design, utilising land outside of the Golf Club's ownership to release the land currently used as a golf course for the road widening. A preferred option has been identified, and due to timescales required for providing new holes, negotiations are already underway regarding the land required for the relocated holes.

One property known as Bowerlands will need to be demolished as part of the scheme to enable realignment of the existing carriageway. The owners of the property have been informed.

Environment

Individual species surveys are complete and the protected species report is imminent. All Extended Phase 1 Habitat Survey Reports have been completed. Following species surveys this will be updated/amended with species surveys and mitigation measures. Discretionary Advice Service (DAS) has been obtained from Natural England on all species survey methodology.

A desktop study has been completed for the Built Environment (Archaeology and Listed Buildings). Following this a Geophysical survey of important areas will be instructed and likely actual investigations on site.

Landscape, Visual Impact and Hydrology desktop studies are ongoing.

These elements will feed into a report which will be included in the Environmental Statement for the scheme, to be included in the planning application. It is also expected that the current study areas will be extended following pre-application planning advice.

4. Consultations, Representations and Technical Data

The Teignbridge Local Plan contains reference to support for "widening the A382 Bovey Tracey road between Newton Abbot and Drumbridges roundabout at the A38 and separate cycle lanes" in order to improve connectivity and accessibility within the Heart of Teignbridge. It also states that "the widening of the A382 between Newton Abbot and Drumbridges is considered necessary to improve the capacity of the existing lanes to ensure that the road can accommodate the future growth and to provide opportunities for new cycle links."

The Teignbridge Local Plan was submitted on 20 June 2013 with a public examination in September 2013. The Local Plan was adopted in May 2014. Teignbridge District Council carried out consultation on the Scoping Report for the Sustainability Appraisal in July 2009, on the "Issues and Options" in June 2010, a Preferred Options version in January 2012 and the Proposed Submission representation period started November 2012.

The A382 corridor improvement scheme is also included in the Heart of the South West Local Transport Board funding programme. A consultation was held in June 2013 on schemes to be put forward for inclusion in the programme which featured the A382.

A consultation on the preliminary scheme design is proposed for March 2015. The consultation will be held/advertised in the following locations:

Manned event at Newton Abbot Library

Manned event at Heathfield Community Centre

Display boards in Newton Abbot Library

DCC public website

Teignbridge District Council website

Newton Abbot Town Council website

Press release in local papers

Letter drop to residents and businesses in Highweek, Ilford Park and Teigngrace.

5. Financial Considerations

The scheme is estimated to cost 23m of which 6.5m is allocated to the scheme from the Local Transport Board subject to approval of the full Business Case. Up to 1.4m is available in a signed Section 106 Agreement (S106) towards the A382 corridor from the Hele Park development. It is expected that 5.1m will be available from the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) towards infrastructure improvements in the area. The Capital Programme considered by Place Scrutiny Committee at its budget meeting of 20^th January 2015 and detailed as part of the budget papers shown elsewhere on this agenda contain provision for the 13 million element of the project and will be included within the budget proposals to County Council on 19^th February 2015.

The scheme has the potential to be delivered in stages, which would enable certain phases to come forward with the funding already identified, and remaining phases to be delivered as further funding sources become available, this could be through further bids for Growth Deal funding through the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP). Sources of finance will be sought to close the funding gap, with the intention of securing capital finance from 2020/21 and beyond.

Source	(m)
LTB (Growth Deal)	5.9
LTB (DfT Formula Funding)	0.6
S106	1.4
CIL	5.1
Funding to be identified	10.0
Total	23.0

6. Sustainability and Equality Considerations

Where relevant to the decision, the Equality Act 2010 Public Sector Equality Duty requires decision makers to give due regard to the need to:

eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other prohibited conduct;

advance equality by encouraging participation, removing disadvantage, taking account of disabilities and meeting people's needs; and

foster good relations between people by tackling prejudice and promoting understanding.

Taking account of age, disability, race/ethnicity (includes Gypsies and Travellers), gender and gender identity, religion and belief, sexual orientation, pregnant women/ new and breastfeeding mothers, marriage/civil partnership status in coming to a decision, a decision maker may also consider other relevant factors such as caring responsibilities, rural isolation or socio-economic disadvantage.

This may be achieved, for example, through completing a full Equality Impact Needs Assessment/Impact Assessment or other form of options/project management appraisal that achieves the same objective'

An Impact Assessment has been prepared, a copy of which has been circulated to Cabinet Members, and is available alongside this report on the Council's website at:

http://www.devon.gov.uk/index/councildemocracy/decision_making/cma/index_exc.htm

The scheme will have a positive impact on pedestrians and cyclists with the provision of a new shared pedestrian/cycle path. This will connect to new facilities at Drumbridges and other routes into Newton Abbot. This will enable sustainable travel to/from new employment and residential developments on the A382 corridor. Access and safety of access will also be improved for children/parents accessing Stover School.

In economic terms the scheme will facilitate travel and development which will have a beneficial impact upon the local economy by enabling employment and housing development in the area to proceed with mitigated impact.

7. Carbon Impact Considerations

There may be a slight adverse impact on air quality resulting from increased traffic flows however the scheme reduces stationary queuing traffic which will mitigate the air quality impacts and also reduces traffic through the Highweek area. Improving traffic flow also has the advantage of improving the fuel efficiency of engines and reducing certain emissions including carbon.

8. Legal Considerations

The lawful implications of the recommendations have been considered and taken into account in the formulation of the recommendations set out above.

9. Risk Management Considerations

The scheme is subject to the normal engineering risks. A quantified risk assessment has been undertaken and these risk costs have been included in the scheme estimate.

10. Public Health Impact

The scheme will be subject to a Road Safety Audit with a Feasibility Stage Safety Audit complete. The stage 1 audit is expected to be carried out in February 2015.

The scheme includes the provision of a shared pedestrian/cycle path which will encourage travel by sustainable modes between new developments, Heathfield and Newton Abbot.

11. Options and Alternatives

Initial Option Development

An Option Assessment Report has been produced which considered potential sustainable options such as demand management, walking and cycling, bus, rail and park and change. It was concluded that it is unlikely that any of these measures in isolation would achieve the change in travel behaviour necessary to deliver the development.

A number of options were then considered relating to improvements to the highway to the west of Newton Abbot. Low, medium and high cost widening options were considered of widening to 7.3 metres, widening to 10 metres and a dual carriageway respectively. The new Jetty Marsh II link and improvements to Old Exeter Road were also considered to compliment widening improvements, further increase capacity and allow a flexible approach.

The 10 metre widening from Drumbridges to Whitehill's Cross joining into the new Jetty Marsh II connection and improvements to Old Exeter Road provided a balance between cost and capacity.

It was concluded that elements from both the sustainable transport and highway strategies would be required to achieve the objectives.

Design Options

During preliminary design for the scheme, north, south and combined widening options were developed to meet the design criteria and avoid certain parcels of land. Of these options the preferred scheme has been identified as the south option.

This scheme seeks to avoid higher value land both environmentally and financially, in addition to providing the most appropriate alignment to meet the design criteria. The route negates a direct impact on the nationally important historic parks and gardens of Stover. Stover is Grade II registered and identified as 'at risk' by English Heritage.

Following the consultation a design review will be undertaken.

12. Reason for Recommendation

The scheme enables the traffic impacts of future development to be mitigated by allowing such development to take place. The scheme is consistent with the aims of the Devon and Torbay Local Transport Plan 3 with regard to economic growth.

Dave Black

Head of Planning, Transportation and Environment

Electoral Divisions: Newton Abbot South and Newton Abbot North; Kingsteignton; Bovey Tracey Rural; Ashburton and Buckfastleigh

Cabinet Member for Economy, Growth and Cabinet Liaison for Exeter: Councillor Andrew Leadbetter

Strategic Director, Place: Heather Barnes

Local Government Act 1972: List of Background Papers

Contact for enquiries: Samantha Taylor

Room No: Lucombe House, County Hall, Topsham Road, Exeter EX2 4QD

Tel No: (01392) 383000

Background Paper	Date	File Ref.
Nil

st260115cab A382 Corridor Improvements

hk 03 030215

Appendix 1

To PTE/15/9

Location of Key Roads, Junctions and Developments

Scheme Location Map Appendix 2 To PTE/15/9

Appendix 3

To PTE/15/9