Highways Agency - Safe roads, Reliable journeys, Informed travellers

A27 Polegate Bypass

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.

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:

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).

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