Although
traffic flow is the only issue this submission attempts to address, it does not
assume traffic flow is the only issue which needs to be addressed before this
development can proceed.
Context:
Cockermouth
suffers from traffic flow pinch points which are associated with its rivers.
This proposed
development lies in the part of town which is to the east of the river
Cocker. There is no connection to the
A66 on the east of the river Cocker (both Cockermouth junctions are to the west
of the river Cocker). This means that
all west bound traffic from the East side of town has to travel through the centre
of town.
The land to
the east of the river Cocker is split into three land blocks by two small
rivers:
A. The Riverdale Estate & Strawberry How to the south of Tom Rudd Beck.
B. The Slate Fell Estate which lies between Tom Rudd Beck and Bitterbeck.
C. The hospital/school/Rose lane Estate which lies to the north of Bitterbeck.
A. The Riverdale Estate & Strawberry How to the south of Tom Rudd Beck.
B. The Slate Fell Estate which lies between Tom Rudd Beck and Bitterbeck.
C. The hospital/school/Rose lane Estate which lies to the north of Bitterbeck.
There are
currently no road links between the three blocks of land except in the centre
of town (Kirkgate area).
This development
straddles Tom Rudd Beck and so must include a bridge which will link the first
and second blocks of land.
The Three Key Issues:
This
development poses three issues which must be addressed before it can be authorised.
These issues are:
1. That the road links between land
blocks A and B need to be completed.
2. That there needs to be a link to the
A66.
3. That this development needs to be
compatible with the building of a road to land block C.
Issue 1: That the road links between
the first and second land blocks need to be completed
The land proposed
for this development lies beyond a very substantial housing estate in land
block B (Slate Fell). This estate
currently has only one road exit onto Kirkgate which is a very narrow
road. A substantial extension to the Slate
Fell estate (the Gable Avenue part) was only allowed on the proviso that a
second road exit would be created which linked it to the first block of land,
providing the enlarged estate with the road infrastructure it needs. Thus when this estate extension was build two
roads were left open ended; one from the
Gable Avenue estate extension (at Ullswater Drive) and one from the main estate
(now from Bellbrigg Lonning).
It was originally intended that the
connections would be rapidly made to support the estate extension when the
intended factory which justified the building of the Gable Avenue estate was
built on the land on which this planning development is proposed. However the plans for the factory fell
through leaving this estate with incomplete and inadequate road infrastructure
until an alternative development plan could be found for this piece of land. One of the key reasons why the land on which
has this development has been consistently identified as being suitable for
development it’s development can enable the completion of this road
infrastructure.
Astonishingly
the development proposed blocks off both these roads and chooses instead to
develop this estate as a cul-de-sac from the first block of land. By doing so it prevents the substantial
Slatefell/Gable Avenue estate from ever having the essential road
infrastructure planned for it. Clear
direction needs to be given to the developer by all relevant authorities on
this issue.
Issue 2: That there needs to be a
link to the A66
Following
the completion of the Riverdale estate, the development of Strawberry How and
then the opening of Sainsburys , the issue of traffic exiting from land blocks
A and B got substantially worse. All
traffic from these routes has to pass either though the substandard junction at
the end of Lorton road or down Kirkgate.
In 2004 all options were explored to improve the flow of traffic through
both routes including the development of one way streets and systems were
considered. All changes which could be
made to improve things were made.
It was
concluded that a junction with the A66 was needed on the East side of town at
this time. Our councillors agreed to
campaign for this and to act to prevent further development until it was
provided. Anybody not party to these
consultations is welcome to contact me to view the details of them which I have
in hard copy form.
In the
meantime we have evolved a system whereby the confident drivers who know local
driving well and who are not afraid of having to back their cars substantial
distances use Kirkgate (employing complex established systems of giving way
which get traffic through the difficult junction at the bottom at the rate of
about 600 cars/hour) which the less confident driver generally use the substandard
light controlled junction at Lorton Street.
This system is obviously not ideal due to the volume of traffic pouring
through the mainly pedestrian Market Place area as evidence by the very heave
wear on the road surface, however the main barrier to it being effective is the
fact that Kirkgate is a main artery for services located underneath the
road. As a single width road without
pavements in places it is therefore closed when works are needed which, as
records will demonstrate, is often and for long periods of time. During these periods Cockermouth gridlocks
and the roads fail to function, with people being stuck for typically 45 mins
or more.
This issue
can and must be addressed before further housing development takes place which
will inevitably substantially exacerbate this problem.
Issue 3: Problems of access to the
Rose Lane/school/hospital estate
Traffic from
land block C is also beyond its road capacity, relying as it does on the use of
Castlegate with its long single width restriction. Further housing development in town will
exacerbate this problem. The development
which is being considered is proposed for land where the required road
infrastructure could be located. Care
needs to be taken to ensure that there is a coherent plan in place for this
road infrastructure which is not blocked by inappropriate planning of this
development.
I agree there are major road issue in terms of the Strawberry How development and all traffic from it having to come down the Lorton Road/Kirkgate into town to go anywhere.
ReplyDeleteI would say though, I think not having opened up a second access route from the Gable Avenue development has been a positive thing for that area and Slatefell estate. It means traffic coming into the area is doing so for a purpose - ie to somewhere on the estate. It prevents the area becoming a cut through to other places, with the inevitable increase in noise, traffic and speed/risk issues. I have seen it before where it'a been thought a good idea to put link through roads between two areas, and it has resulted in big problems, which even traffic calming measures could not address - they just got seen as an extra challenge to overcome, creating even more risk!
There is as you say an issue of access to services such as Cockermouth school and the hospital if Strawberry How went ahead not only of the roads near that area, but Castlegate itself is an issue,and major bottle neck, along with the blind junction where Market Place joins it at the bottom.
I think planners should come and drive around here in peak periods and see reality, not the traffic stats on paper. Apparently our roads are not deemed at capacity!
Thank you for your comment Miriam.
ReplyDeleteIf you want to oppose the completion of the second exit you need to provide the detail of the logic whereby the route through the estate will be a short cut vehicles will take in this case rather than just saying that in some other cases it has (or that it will create a route which they will take preferentially of the major route even if it is not shorter). Creating a second exit will reduce the traffic on the estate as traffic from the top will not have to drive right down Windmill lane to get off it so you need create a robust analysis which shows that the increase in traffic due to vehicles taking a short cut will outweigh these benefits and that the solution of blocking the roads is better than completing them.
Rather than making general statements like these things can create traffic issues which no traffic calming could address you need to try to define what these may actually be in this case. All this is difficult to do at the minute as there are no proposals to complete the links and may never be any, but if plans are submitted and you are concerned that they may cause problems of these kind I'm happy to help you try and define them in a way you could present effectively.
"Apparently our roads are not deemed at capacity." If you hear that from anyone at all please let me know who they are so I can tackle them directly. I'm pretty good at putting people right on that.
Modified comments now submitted.
ReplyDeleteI notice there is currently a traffic survey going on which seems to relate to this development - during the school holiday.....
ReplyDelete