Highways Agency - Safe roads, Reliable journeys, Informed travellers
Executive Summary
Report May 2003
Executive Summary
The A27 (T) Polegate Bypass and A22 County Road opened on the 19th June 2002. The bypass provides an alternative route for east-west traffic through Polegate, East Sussex, and connects with the A22 scheme to Eastbourne at its eastern end, as illustrated in the diagram below. 'Before and 'After traffic data for the bypass was collected immediately prior to and after the scheme opening in order to monitor the effects of the new scheme and prepare a Traffic Impact Study (TIS). In addition, traffic data from East Sussex County Council and Highways Agency permanent count sites was obtained to evaluate the effects of opening of the A27 (T) Bypass and A22 County Road on strategic traffic routeing patterns in the area.
The main effects of scheme opening are as follows:
- 23,500 vehicles used the A27 (T) Polegate bypass in the first week of operation, and traffic volumes on the old A27 through the town dropped by 10,500 vehicles from 19,400 to 8,900 vehicles per day after scheme opening;
- Therefore the scheme has been successful in reducing traffic volumes in the town of Polegate;
- There has been a major switch of traffic onto the A22 from the parallel B2104 between Hailsham and Polegate;
- Journey time savings of over 4 minutes are possible for movements that previously used the A27 through the town;
- Over 20,000 vehicles use the new A22 County Scheme on an average weekday;
- There has been a switch of traffic onto the A22, mostly from two parallel roads into Eastbourne, namely:
- A reduction of 11,000 vehicles per day was recorded on the B2104 Friday Street; and
- A reduction of 5,000 vehicles per day on the A2270 Eastbourne Road was observed.
- Therefore the county scheme has also been successful in reducing traffic volumes on other routes in the area in that:
- Traffic flows through Pevensey and Westham has been significantly reduced. Traffic flows on the Pevensey bypass (A27) has increased by some 4,400 vehicles per day (49%) while the daily traffic flows through Pevensey and Westham on the B2191 traffic has been reduced by 2,700 vehicles per day (24%);
- A reduction of 900 vehicles per day (7%) has been observed on the A259 East Dean Road through East Dean;
- A major benefit of the A27 / A22 schemes is the large reduction of (44%) heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) on the A2270 Eastbourne Road through Willingdon; and
- There is some evidence of a switch on to the A27 / A259 trunk road from the A259 west of Eastbourne and the A271 east of Eastbourne.
- The combination of the two schemes has led to 2,000 additional trips using the A259 Seaside Road, which is due to movements between Polegate and Eastbourne switching to the new schemes as opposed to the A2270 through Willingdon.
Introduction
Report May 2003
1. Introduction
1.1 This report outlines the results of traffic surveys carried out to monitor the effects of the recently opened A27 (T) Polegate Bypass and A22 County Road in East Sussex. The trunk road scheme provides an alternative route for west-east traffic through Polegate, East Sussex, and connects with the A22 scheme to Eastbourne at its eastern end, as illustrated in Figure 1.1.
1.2 The A27 (T) Polegate Bypass and A22 schemes opened on the 19th June 2002. 'Before and 'After traffic data for the bypass was collected immediately prior to and after this date in order to prepare a Traffic Impact Study (TIS) on the effects of the scheme opening. In addition, traffic data from existing permanent count sites maintained by East Sussex County Council (ESCC) and the Highways Agency has been used to evaluate the effects of the opening of the A27 (T) Polegate Bypass and A22 County Road on traffic patterns in the area.
1.3 Section 2 of this report discusses the data collected as part of the TIS study. Sections 3 and 4 summarise the main results and conclusions.
Data Collected
Report May 2003
2. Data Collected
2.1 The Traffic Impact Study (TIS) for the A27 (T) Polegate Bypass and A22 County Road included the following surveys:
Type of Surveys
- 3 Automatic Traffic Count surveys commissioned by Atkins;
- Traffic data from 14 East Sussex County Council permanent traffic count sites on County Roads;
- Traffic data from 3 Highways Agency permanent traffic count site locations; and
- Journey time surveys undertaken in February 2001 on the existing A27 route through Polegate for the 'Before times and in July 2002 for the 'After journey times;
2.2 The details of the 'Before and 'After surveys are described below.
Traffic Counts Local Area
2.3 The 'Before study comprised surveys at three automatic traffic count (ATC) sites; one site on the A22, north of Polegate and two on the A27 in and to the east of Polegate, the locations of which are shown in Figure 2.1. The count equipment was connected on 11th June with data collected for the week prior to scheme opening on 19th June 2002. Only one week of 'TIS 'Before data was collected rather than the more usual two, as the previous week was half-term holiday and therefore not representative.
2.4 For the 'After study, the ATC sites were maintained during the first two weeks of scheme opening, with an additional site to monitor flows on the new A27 bypass.
View larger image
Traffic Counts Wider Area
2.5 Traffic data from East Sussex County Council and Highways Agency permanent automatic count sites has also been used to make up seven screenlines in the Polegate and Eastbourne area to evaluate any changes to strategic and local traffic patterns following the opening of the A27 and A22 schemes. The screenlines are as shown in Figure 2.3 2.5 below:
View larger image
View larger image
View larger image
2.6 The screenlines are defined as:
- Screenline 1 West of Polegate / Eastbourne: A259, A27, A22;
- Screenline 2 East of Pevensey: A271, A259 (Middle Bridge);
- Screenline 3 West of Pevensey: A27, B2191, A259;
- Screenline 4 North of Polegate: A22, B2104;
- Screenline 5 South of Polegate: A2270, A22 (New), B2104;
- Screenline 6 North East of Eastbourne Town Centre: U2236 (Nevill Avenue Hampden Park), A2280, A259, U2180 (Royal Parade); and
- Screenline 7 North & East of Eastbourne/South of Polegate: A2270, A22 (New), B2104, B2191, A259.
2.7 This survey area is close to Eastbourne and thus may reflect increased traffic volumes in the months of July and August, due to tourism, thus this Traffic Impact Study has been based on a comparison between 'Before counts undertaken in May and 'After counts undertaken in September 2002.
2.8 However, as counts are continually monitored in the area, we have also briefly assessed the seasonal variations on three key routes in the area to identify any potential traffic flow changes that may accrue in this area.
2.9 The County permanent count site on the A2270 Eastbourne Road Lower Willingdon (Site number 49 Screenline 5) has also produced some HGV data. A 'Before and 'After comparison was made for the 5-day average two way flow between November 2001 and November 2002. The count details can be found in Annex A.
Journey Times
2.10 Journey Time Surveys were undertaken on three routes, identified as 'red, 'blue and 'pink routes, which are illustrated in Figure 2.2. The 'red and 'blue routes are existing routes through Polegate, from the A22 (T) and A27 (T) respectively, and the 'pink route is the length of the new bypass. 'Before journey time surveys previously conducted in February 2001 were used for comparison with surveys post scheme opening (July 2002). The surveys were undertaken over the morning (0730 0900 hours) and evening (1630 1800 hours) peak periods, as well as an inter-peak period (1000 1130 hours).
View larger image
Results
Report May 2003
3. Results
Traffic Counts Local Area
3.1 Figure 3.1 below, shows a summary of the 'Before and 'After ATC results in the local area of Polegate. The traffic volumes illustrated represent 24 hourly volumes for an average weekday.
View larger image
3.2 Figure 3.1 shows the 24 hour traffic volumes for an average weekday at four locations around Polegate. The diagram shows that in the first week of opening, the bypass was used by some 23,500 vehicles (two-way). In the first week of opening other effects were observed, these were:
- Reductions of nearly 10,500 (54%) vehicles on the old A27 Hailsham Road through Polegate where two-way traffic volumes fell from 19,400 to 8,900 vehicles per day;
- North of Polegate, the A22 ATC site shows an increase from nearly 25,000 vehicles per day to 30,400, an increase of 22%; and
- Similarly, the A27 (T) ATC east of Polegate shows an increase from 9,200 to 12,900, an increase of nearly 40%.
- Clearly, additional traffic had been drawn into the corridor in that the 23,500 vehicles per day using the new A27 bypass, has not been matched by a 23,500 reduction through the town. The increase in traffic observed on the A22 north of Polegate and the A27 east of the town confirmed that extra vehicles were using these roads to access the new bypasses. There are however significant reductions on parallel routes such as the B2104 and A2270 and these are discussed below.
3.3 To identify the origins of this additional traffic, traffic counts were obtained for other roads in the area, and this goes some way to explaining the traffic flow changes identified for this local area.
Traffic Counts Wider Area
3.4 The traffic data obtained from East Sussex County Council and Highways Agency permanent count sites demonstrates that there have been changes to the traffic patterns in the Polegate and Eastbourne area following the opening of the A27 (T) Polegate Bypass and A22 County Road. These changes are illustrated in Figure 3.2 below.
3.5 A summary table showing 5-day average two way traffic flows in the months from May to September and the differences in traffic volume over this period is contained in Annex A of this report.
View larger image
3.6 In order to explain the main effects of the schemes, we have compared traffic volumes collated in May and September, and thus the changes should exclude effects of 'build-up and the effects of the scheme opening in the holiday season. 'Build-up is a recognised reaction to a new highway scheme, whereby the true demand is not met for a few weeks after opening as drivers get to know the new route and the potential benefits to their journey that the new roads may bring.
3.7 We outline below the main effects shown in Figure 3.2 across the seven screenlines as identified in the previous section. Each screenline represents a set of individual count sites and help to explain traffic movements along corridors or groups of corridors.
Screenline 1 West of Polegate / Eastbourne
- The A27 west of Polegate has shown a slight increase in traffic flow of 1,400 vehicles per day, increasing from 21,100 vehicles per day (vpd) to 22,500 vpd, an increase of 7%;
- The A22 shows no change in traffic volumes between May and September; but
- The A259 shows a reduction of 900 vehicles between May and September, the traffic volumes have reduced from 13,800 to 12,900 vehicles per day, a reduction of 7%.
- A significant amount of additional traffic has not been drawn into the corridor, across Screenline 1. There has been no switch from the A22/A271 route running north of Hailsham onto the A27, however there is evidence of a transfer of traffic from the A259 to the A27.
Screenline 2 East of Pevensey
- There is a decrease of 1,100 vehicles per day from 10,900 to 9,800 vpd (10%) on the A271 at Boreham Street between May and September;
- The A259 Middle Bridge shows a corresponding increase in traffic of 1,100 vehicles per day, increasing from 19,800 to 20,900 vpd.
- Daily traffic volumes crossing Screenline 2 has therefore remained constant at 30,700 vehicles per day, with evidence of a transfer of traffic from the A271 to the A259 Middle Bridge. There has therefore been no additional traffic drawn into the corridor due to the opening of the new routes.
Screenline 3 West of Pevensey
- There is an increase of 4,400 vehicles on A27 east of the new scheme, changing from 9,000 vpd to 13,400 vpd, an increase of 49%;
- There is a decrease of nearly 2,700 trips on the B2191 through Pevensey & Westham, changing from 10,900 to 8,230 vehicles per day, a decrease of 24%.
- The A259 Pevensey Bay Road has also shown a decrease, falling from 16,700 to 15,200 vpd, a reduction of 1,500 (9%) vehicles per day;
- Therefore, there has been negligible new traffic generated by the scheme and the opening of the A27/A22 schemes has led to a switch of traffic from the B2191 and A259 onto the A27 and in many cases onto the A22 New Route.
Screenline 4 North of Polegate
- Unfortunately there is no before data in May for the A22 north of the Polegate Bypass, as the Automatic Count Site (ATC) was removed to enable construction of the Nightingale Farm section of dual carriageway. However this site was working again in June and data for June 1-18 is used to represent the before situation.
- Traffic volumes on the A22 have increased from nearly 25,000 vehicles per day in June (First two weeks only) prior to the bypass opening, to nearly 33,000 vehicles per day in September (Four week average), which represents an increase of nearly 8,000 vehicles per day or 32%. This increase is higher than the local area assessment (paragraph 3.2 on Page 10), which showed an increase of 22% from nearly 25,000 to over 30,000 vehicles per day in the first week of the bypass opening, clearly suggesting a build up of traffic on the A22 over the first four months.
- However, there is a significant decrease of over 5,000 vehicles per day on B2104 Ersham Road between Hailsham and Langney, where traffic volumes have decreased from 10,800 vehicles per day to 5,660 vehicles per day, a fall of 48%;
- The traffic volumes show a major switch of traffic from the B2104 to A22 to access the new schemes. There are still 2,900 vehicles unaccounted for across this Screenline in that the increase on the A22 is greater than the decrease on the B2104. Some of this traffic may have come from The A271 and the A267 north of Hailsham, and the rest from traffic rerouting from the unclassified roads south of Hailsham across the Pevensey Levels.
Screenline 5 South of Polegate
- In September, there were over 22,000 vehicles per day observed on the new A22 County scheme;
- To balance this increase, the largest reduction in flow is observed on the B2104 Friday Street, North of Langney where traffic volumes fall 10,500 vpd from 25,600 vpd 15,100 vpd, a fall of over 40%;
- There is also a reduction of 5,000 vehicles per day on the A2270 through Willingdon, where daily traffic volumes have dropped from 29,700 to 24,700, a fall of 17%;
- Thus, there has been a major shift of traffic from parallel roads onto the new A22, but the traffic volumes on the new scheme of 22,600 vehicles per day is still 7,100 vehicles per day larger than traffic volume reductions observed elsewhere on this screenline. Although this difference is explored in screenline 7, it is possible that the majority of the traffic that has switched from the B2104 Ersham Road, south of Hailsham, on to the A22 north of Polegate will have continued down the A22 new route. In addition, some of the traffic switching onto the A27 west of Polegate from the A259 would continue into Eastbourne on the A22 new route. The remaining shortfall is likely to be a combination of local Polegate traffic and traffic from the minor roads crossing Pevensey Levels.
Screenline 6 North-East of Eastbourne Town Centre
- Assessment of Screenline 6 was made to check if traffic volumes into / out of Eastbourne from the north-east had been radically affected by the new A27 and A22 schemes,
- There has been a reduction of 400 vehicles per day on the U2236 in Hampden Park, where trips have fallen from 3,800 in May to 3,400 in September, a reduction of 11%;
- There is an increase of 1,100 vehicles per day on the A259 at Seaside Road, where traffic volumes have increased from 30,100 vehicles per day to 31,200 vehicles per day, a increase of around 4% or 408 vehicles per day;
- To balance this increase, there is an decrease of 1,000 vehicles per day on Royal Parade parallel with the A259 at Seaside Road;
- There has also been a small increase of 800 vehicles per day on the A2280 Cross Levels Way which represents an increase of only 3% and this is balanced by the decrease on the U2236 Neville Avenue in Hampden Park.
- The traffic volumes show a switch from the minor roads in Hampden Park and Royal Parade to the A2280 Cross Levels Way and the A259 Seaside. Traffic crossing the screenline has stayed at the same levels since the scheme has opened, suggesting that the A22 New Route is primarily used to access the eastern side of Eastbourne. However, it is possible that additional traffic from the A22 is accessing the town centre via shortcuts through the Roselands area to avoid the A259 Seaside Road.
Screenline 7 North & East of Eastbourne / South of Polegate
- Screenline 7 is a combination of sites a, b, & c from Screenline 5 and b&c from Screenline 3. This screenline gives a clear indication of how traffic flows entering Eastbourne on all available classified routes has changed since the opening of the A22 New Route.
- Significant amounts of traffic have transferred from the A259 and the B2191 onto the A27 and in many cases onto the A22 new route. In addition, traffic has transferred from the A2270 and B2104 onto the A22 new route;
- Traffic volumes crossing this screenline have increased by 4% and the volume of traffic on the A22 new route is greater than the reductions experienced elsewhere on the screenline which suggests that additional traffic has been drawn onto the A22 new route. The additional traffic, approximately 3,000 trips, is likely to be made up of vehicles from Stone Cross, the Wannock and Lower Willingdon area and by traffic travelling across Pevensey Levels.
Traffic Volumes in Summer Months
3.8 Annex A contains average weekday flows for each month (where available) between May and September. Rather surprisingly for this recognised tourist destination, the traffic volumes in July and August are not significantly higher than for other months.
3.9 In order to investigate this further, Annex B summarises average daily flows for three sites in the area for August and September. This comparison has been made to assess whether weekend flows in August are higher than for September. This shows that:
- Only one of the three sites, the A27 East of Pevensey has August weekend flows higher than for September. This site shows that Saturday and Sunday traffic volumes in August are 22% higher than in September; but
- The other two sites, the A259 at East Dean and the A22 North of Polegate, show little or no change in weekend traffic volumes between August and September.
3.10 There may be many reasons for this, which may include:
- The number of additional tourist journeys in the area, are balanced by fewer journeys made by local residents;
- Traditionally, most non-tourist towns or cities show a fall of traffic in August due to many residents not being at work, thus this effect may be counterbalancing the influx of tourists. 3.11 Clearly, this is supposition based on little evidence, but may be considered further as part of the 1-Year After Study.
Journey Times & Speeds
3.12 In order to compare journey times and speeds, journey time information collected in February 2001, as part of the 'Before surveys, has been compared to information collected in the week after the scheme opening. As daily traffic volumes are likely to be slightly larger in July 2002 (as a result of tourist traffic) than in February 2001, the differences in journey times and speeds shown here are likely to be conservative.
3.13 A summary of the results from the journey time surveys is included in Annex A for comparison between 'Before and 'After results.
3.14 Table 3.1 below compares the new A27 route travel times (i.e. between the roundabouts at each end of the scheme) and the equivalent journey on the old A27 route, measured before the A27 Bypass was open. This highlights a best journey time saving of some 4 minutes in the am and pm westbound peaks.
| Direction | Period | Route Used | Time Saved using bypass | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Old A27 (Before) |
A27 Bypass (After) | |||
| Eastbound | AM | 03:40 | 01:55 | 01:44 |
| INTER | 03:31 | 02:00 | 01:30 | |
| PM | 03:40 | 02:07 | 01:33 | |
| Westbound | AM | 06:18 | 01:55 | 04:23 |
| INTER | 04:27 | 02:00 | 02:27 | |
| PM | 05:49 | 01:55 | 03:53 | |
3.15 Taking into consideration the changes in route length and comparing journey times in February 2001 with July 2002, Figure 3.3 shows that average speeds have increased between 8 kph and 20 kph in the am peak period. A full list of timings can be found in Annex A.
View larger image
Conclusion
Report May 2003
4. Conclusion
4.1 The new A27 (T) Polegate Bypass, which opened on 19th June 2002, has attracted around 23,500 vehicles per day on an average weekday, with an immediate reduction in traffic using the old A27 Hailsham Road through Polegate of around 10,000 vehicles over an average weekday, which represents a 54% reduction in traffic levels.
4.2 There appears to be no strategic re-routing to the corridor. Some traffic has switched from the A259 west of Eastbourne and the A271 east of Eastbourne onto the new routes. West of Eastbourne and Polegate has seen slight increases on the A27, which has largely come from the A259 East Dean Road through East Dean, where a reduction of 900 vehicles per day (7%) was observed.
4.3 North of Polegate, there is an increase in flow on the A22 of 32%, largely balanced by a reduction on the B2104 Ersham Road, south of Hailsham, with some additional traffic using the A22 to join the A27 at Polegate rather than using the A271.
4.4 East of Polegate, there are increases in traffic volumes on the A27 Pevensey bypass of 4,400 vehicles per day (49%), with corresponding reductions of nearly 2,700 vehicles per day (24%) on the B2191 through Pevensey & Westham and 1,500 vehicles per day (9%) on the A259, south of Pevensey.
4.5 The new A22 County Road carries over 22,000 vehicles per average weekday. This has been largely matched by a decrease (20,000 vehicles per day) in traffic levels on other routes into Eastbourne.
- Particularly the B2104, where traffic levels have declined by 10,500 vehicles per day (a 41% decrease).
- A 5,000 vehicle per day (17%) decrease in daily traffic was also observed on the A2270 through Willingdon.
- The rest of the decrease is largely met from reductions on the B2191, where traffic volume reductions of 2,670 vpd (24% reduction) and
- A259 southwest of Pevensey, where daily traffic volumes of 1,500 (9% reduction) are shown.
4.6 A major benefit of the A27 / A22 scheme is the reduction of heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) on the A2270 through Willingdon. There has been a decrease of 307 HGVs per day, which represents a 44% reduction on Eastbourne Road.
4.7 The journey time results illustrate that time savings of over 4 minutes are possible for movements that previously used the A27 Hailsham Road through Polegate but now use the new bypass. Traffic speeds have increased by up to 20 kph on the Hailsham Road as a result of the traffic flow reductions and speeds on the bypass are shown to be around 90kph.
4.8 The 'One Year After Assessment for this Schemes Post Opening Project Evaluation will be undertaken in June 2003. This assessment will undertake a more thorough assessment of traffic movements in the area.