Highways Agency - Safe roads, Reliable journeys, Informed travellers

Related pages

• 1. Introduction
• 2. Existing Conditions
• 3. Scheme Proposals
• 4. Engineering Assessment
• 5. Environmental Assessment - 1
• 5. Environmental Assessment - 2
• 5. Environmental Assessment - 3
• 5. Environmental Assessment -4
• 5. Environmental Assessment - 5
• 5. Environmental Assessment - 6
• 5. Environmental Assessment -7
• 5. Environmental Assessment -8
• 5. Environmental Assessment -9
• 5. Environmental Assessment -10
• 5. Environmental Assessment -11
• 5. Environmental Assessment -12
• 5. Environmental Assessment -13
• 5. Environmental Assessment -14
• 5. Environmental Assessment -15
• 5. Environmental Assessment -16
• 5. Environmental Assessment -17
• 5. Environmental Assessment -18
• 5. Environmental Assessment -19
• 6. Traffic and Economic Assessment

5. Environmental Assessment -16

5. Environmental Assessment (continued)

5.16 Pedestrians, Cyclists, Equestrians and Community Effects

5.16.1 Introduction

The Government's Transport White Paper sets the framework for a number ofissues in relation to health and transport. This refers mainly to the encouragementof physical fitness by reducing reliance on private cars and making it easier to cycleand walk in safety.

The Highways Agency's 'Encouraging Sustainable Travel - Strategic Plan forAccessibility' aims to improve access to everyday facilities for those without accessto a car, thereby realising one of the governments key transport objectives. It aimsto ensure that the needs of disabled people are met, ensure the severance effectwhich strategic roads can have on communities is reduced and improve access topublic transport.

With reference to community severance, the Strategic Plan for Accessibility statesthat objectives will include measures to enable disabled people, pedestrians,cyclists and equestrians to cross busy trunk roads with improved safety andpersonal security. It further states that links for these users to key destinations willbe improved.

This chapter considers the potential effects of the proposed routes on localjourneys made by modes of transport other than the car, thereby assessing theimpacts of the scheme on personal activity. The potential for community severanceis also considered.

5.16.2 Method of Assessment

The approach to this assessment is predominantly qualitative. The methodology isbased on the from TAG. A pedestrian survey has not been carried out at this stageof the scheme development. The following maps were consulted at CambridgeshireCounty Council:

The Definitive Map and Statement of Public Rights of Way for the former County ofCambridgeshire 1952 (amended 1957 and 1962);

The Definitive Map and Statement of Public Rights of Way for the former County ofHuntingdonshire 1953 (amended 1961).

Consultation was undertaken with the Senior Access Officers in CambridgeshireCounty Council to ascertain the degree of severance and potential impact eachoption would have on the PROWs. This consultation will inform the mitigationmeasures deemed necessary as part of the Stage 3 Environmental Assessment ofthe preferred route.

5.16.3 Existing Conditions

PUBLIC RIGHTS OF WAY

Access to the countryside via Public Rights of Way (PROW) provide importantrecreational interests for local residents. PROW are made up of footpaths,bridleways (which may be used by cyclists) and byways. These are illustrated inthe Planning Constraints Map. Each PROW has a reference number which wasretrieved from the Definitive Rights of Way Map at Cambridgeshire County Council.The reference number for each PROW changes as it traverses parish boundaries.

The route corridor predominately runs through rural countryside, impacting on arange of PROW. National Trails, as shown on Ordnance Survey Maps (225 and209, Scale 1:25000) have been referred to as they are important local attractions.These include the Ouse Valley Way and the Fen River Way.

The following section outlines the range of PROW within the study area. They arefurther referred to in subsequent tables.

There are approximately 18 no. footpaths located close to or bisected by the route.The majority of these are located in close proximity to Cambridge and Huntingdon,extending into the open countryside. This is particularly evident in the vicinity of theM11 Junction 14, within the environs of Fen Ditton, Conington, Fenstanton/FenDrayton, west of Brampton and south east of Ellington (between Brampton Woodand Grafham). Intricate network of footpaths is also located in close proximity toDry Drayton, Bar Hill and between Hilton and Hemingford Grey.

There are approximately 12 no. bridleways within the study area, some of thesecomprising small network, especially south of the A14. Other bridleways extendfrom the A14 in both a northerly and southerly direction located within the areabetween Cambridge and Fen Drayton. One bridleway connects the villages ofLolworth, Boxworth, Conington and Elsworth. Further west, one bridleway extendsfrom the village of Hilton, traverses the A1198 and B1040 terminating at OffordCluny. There are 2 no. tracks, Brookside Track and Mere Way located within thestudy area.

Dedicated cycleways, in addition to the above, are located within the urbansettlements of Cambridge and Huntingdon. The proposed future National CycleRoute network runs from Cambridge to Huntingdon via Histon, Westwick,Swavesey, St Ives and Hemingford Grey.

The National Trails are primarily located north and south of the A14, betweenHuntingdon and Cambridge, and include the Ouse Valley Way and Fen River Way.The Ouse Valley Way follows the contours of the River Great Ouse, extending in anorth south direction between St Neots and St Ives and running further northtowards Godmanchester and Houghton. The Fen River Way runs along the RiverCam in the centre of Cambridge, following the contours of the river northwardstowards Kings Lynn.

There are two byways located within the study area; Byway 3 runs in a northerlydirection from the A14 between Histon and Milton. Byway 4 extends in a northerlydirection, from the A14, between Fen Drayton and Swavesey.

The Cambridge Guided Bus-way (CGB) is intended to provide a high quality publictransport connection between Huntingdon and Cambridge. This proposed transportinfrastructure is planned to open in 2007, subject to the outcome of the forthcomingpublic inquiry. The aim of the CGB is to provide a fast, reliable, convenient,accessible and high quality service for the various settlements located north of theA14, between Huntingdon and Cambridge.

SETTLEMENTS

The A14 links the major urban settlements in the study area, Cambridge andHuntingdon. Cambridge is a high level service centre, and attracts visitors from thewhole of the study area, principally for work, but also for comparison shopping. Anumber of smaller settlements are found in a corridor approximately 5 km eitherside of the road. Many people living in those communities work in Cambridge, andto a lesser extent Huntingdon, and need to use the A14 for this purpose. There isalso interaction between the remaining settlements, with those offering a greaterrange of services, such as schools, shops and other community facilities, exerting apull on their smaller neighbours. The settlements are listed in Table 5.58 below.

Table 5.58 - Settlements Located within the Study Area

In addition to the settlements mentioned above, there are a number of businessesand facilities in the study area which serve the local and wider communities. This isparticularly true for strategic traffic. These facilities include:

• The Trinity Foot public house and the Buckingway Industrial Park are located on the northern side of the A14. A service station, including restaurant and motel, is located on the south side of the existing A14.
• Hemingford Abbots Golf Complex is located south of the A14, between the A1198 and B1040. Brampton Park Golf Course is located west of the River Great Ouse, south east of Brampton. Cambridgeshire Moat House Golf Club is located south of the A14 and east of Bar Hill.
• Buckden Marina is located west of Offord Cluny and south of the orange route. It occupies 92 acres of Cambridgeshire countryside, with the River Great Ouse skirting its eastern boundaries.
• Hinchingbrooke County Park is located south west of Huntingdon and extends to over 170 acres of meadows, grassland, woodlands and lakes. Milton Country Park comprises a mixture of woodland and water areas. Both country parks are popular local attractions. Brampton Wood is located southeast of Huntingdon. It is a popular area for walking, bird watching and nature appreciation.
• There are a number of rural enterprises located throughout the study area. These include a number of equestrian centres which utilise the local bridleway network as part of their business. There is a wide range of former gravel pits throughout the area, many of which are currently used for leisure activities such as fishing, bird watching etc. An area of land located at High Harthay farm, to the south of the A14 and west of the A1, is used for paintballing.

5.16.4 Potential Impacts and Mitigation

SCHEME PROPOSALS

The A14 Improvement Scheme has three distinct elements; on-line widening fromFen Ditton to M11 Junction 14; parallel widening between Junction 14 andFenstanton; and an off-line section, starting at a point (dependant on what option)between Fenstanton and Ellington.

• Fen Ditton to M11 Junction 14: No strategic change is proposed to the road system which serves Fen Ditton, Milton, Histon/Impington and Girton.
• M11 Junction 14 to Fenstanton/Hemingfords: Those sections of the improvement which involve parallel widening include the provision of a local access road to serve local traffic. This could reduce community severance for a number of settlements.
• Off-line section of route: The various route options involve creating a new route in open countryside, which would bisect a number of minor roads, including the A1198 and B1040. The impact on individual settlements depends wholly on local conditions, and this is summarised in Table15.59.

At present, where a local access road is proposed, full details have not yet beendeveloped. However, to satisfy the planning policies outlined in the next Section onPolicies and Plan, it will be necessary to incorporate in the final design, detaileddesign measures to encourage and facilitate walking, cycling, equestrian activitiesand public transport. These can involve the physical separation of roads, footpaths,cycle routes and bridleways; measures to make public transport more attractivesuch as bus lanes and lay-bys; use of landscaping measures to make roads moreattractive and protection from the noise of the motorway.

The proposed scheme would result in a majority of strategic traffic leaving theexisting A14 either east of Fenstanton or west of Hemingford Grey, dependant onthe routes. This diversion of traffic would make journeys along the existing A14 upto Ellington safer and more pleasant for pedestrians and local vehicular traffic. Thescheme proposals would facilitate an accessible route for strategic traffic,encouraging people to walk and cycle along the existing A14 in safety, thusimproving physical fitness. The existing A14 would be principally used for localvehicle and NMU traffic.

Hinchingbrooke Country Park is currently severed from Huntingdon by the existingHuntingdon Viaduct. The reduction in traffic along this route could encourage agreater use of this area by the local population, improving access for cyclists andpedestrians. The diversion of traffic from the vicinity of this park would help toencourage passive recreation.

The greater part of the improvement scheme located between Fenstanton and FenDitton remains online, except for a section north of Bar Hill where it diverges offline.The purple route would require the demolition of four dwellings in the vicinity ofFenstanton subway and a service station on the south side of the existing A14,located close to Fenstanton.

NON-MOTORISED USER (NMU) ROUTES

Criteria for Significance

The significance of the impacts of the route options on PROW is assessed asfollows:

• Substantial Adverse - The option impacts on PROW resulting in a substantial loss of amenity and use for NMU;
• Moderate Adverse - Existing public right of way would now cross the proposed route, would not incorporate a significant diversion, loss in amenity would result;
• Slight Adverse - no impact, minor loss in amenity;
• Neutral - no impact, no loss in amenity;
• Beneficial - no impact, opportunity for NMU to access proposed LAR.

All options would impact a range of footpaths, bridleways and long distance pathswithin the study area.

Tables 15.59, 15.60, 15.61 and 15.62 outline the physical impact of the routeoptions, running in a west to east direction, on the range of Public Rights of Waywithin the study area.

The following, details the impact of the proposed routes on the public rights of waywith regard to their usability and amenity:

• BW 8: All option have a slight adverse impact on its usability; negligible impact on its amenity.
• FP23: All options have a slight adverse impact on its usability; negligible impact on its amenity.
• BW19: All options have a substantial adverse impact on amenity; negligible impact on usability.
• FP2: A1 Alternative Blue and A1 Alternative Orange have a substantial adverse impact on amenity and slight adverse impact on usability.
• FP37: Blue A1 Alternative would have a substantial adverse impact on amenity and negligible impact on usability.
• BW1: All options have a negligible impact on usability and moderate adverse impact on amenity.
• Ouse Valley Way: All options have a substantial adverse impact on amenity and negligible impact on usability.
• BW1 (west of Debden Top Farm): All options have a substantial adverse impact on amenity and slight adverse impact on usability.
• Mere Way: Blue and Orange options have a substantial adverse impact on amenity and slight adverse impact on usability. Purple option has a negligible impact on both amenity and usability.
• FP10: Blue and Orange options have a substantial adverse impact on amenity and moderate adverse impact on usability. Purple option has a negligible impact on both amenity and usability.
• FP1: All options have a substantial adverse impact on amenity and moderate adverse impact on usability.
• FP2: Blue/orange option has a substantial adverse impact on amenity and negligible impact on usability. Purple option has a negligible impact on usability and amenity.

Table 5.59 - Effects on PROW - Route Options (Enhanced Junction Strategy) : Section 1 Ellington to A1198 Godmanchester

Table 5.60 - Effects on PROW - Options (Enhanced Junction Strategy) : Section 2 A1198 Godmanchester to Bar Hill

• BW10: Blue/orange/purple options would have a negligible impact on usability and negligible impact on amenity.

There would be no additional impacts on all other PROW to those which alreadyoccur due to the existing A14.

Limited Junction Options

Blue Route

It is anticipated that the blue route would have the following impacts on PROWusers:

• The reconfiguration of the Dry Drayton, Bar Hill and Trinity Foot Junction would not impact any additional PROW other than those referred to in Table 15.59 to 15.62.
• The Fen Drayton interchange or the Ellington interchange would not directly impact any PROW routes, other than those referred to in Tables 15.59 and 15.60.
• The omission of the Godmanchester junction would not directly impact any PROW routes.

Orange Route

It is anticipated that neither the reconfiguration of the Dry Drayton, Bar Hill, TrinityFoot or Ellington junction would impact any PROW Routes. The inclusion of theFen Drayton interchange and omission of the Godmanchester would not impactany PROW routes.

Community Severance

Criteria for Significance

The significance of community severance is assessed as follows:

• Beneficial - Proposed route would reduce necessity to travel on A14 to access local settlements, community facilities etc and make it easier for community residents to move within the study corridor;
• Neutral - no significant change;
• Adverse - significant barrier to movement such as long diversions etc.

Offline widening could increase the severance between villages on opposite sidesof the A14 by increasing the length of journey between them. However, at presenttraffic on the A14 is so heavy that the road acts as a very sever barrier to peopleusing cars or non-motorised transport. The table below seeks to summarise theseverance effect on individual villages. On balance, and providing the genericmeasures outlined above are implemented, a significant reduction in communityseverance could result. This is particularly true where there is daily movement ofschool children to other villages.

LAR's would facilitate the movement of the local population between the varioussettlements in the study area

The off-line widening would increase the degree of community severance betweenthe villages located on either side of the existing A14. This would be particularlysignificant for the local population living along the A1198, as the introduction ofroundabouts and local access roads, as part of both the orange and purple/blueschemes would increase journey-length to access Godmanchester andHuntingdon.

There are a range of schools, shops and other community facilities withinFenstanton and Hemingford Grey. The purple option could possibly increase thedegree of severance between these areas and the smaller villages of Hilton andConington. This would result in a slight adverse impact.

All options will separate local and strategic traffic. This would make it easier andsafer for residents located in the villages north of the A14 to travel to the shoppingcentre at Bar Hill.

The options would not adversely impact on vehicular access between Buckden andOfford Cluny with Brampton and Huntingdon.

Limited Junction Options

Blue Route

The provision of local access roads off the Dry Drayton, Bar Hill and Trinity FootJunction would not create additional severance to that which is highlighted in theTable 15.63. The omission of interchanges may adversely impact on local shopsand businesses which currently benefit from 'passing trade' associated withstrategic traffic.

The provision of a free flow interchange at Fen Drayton would have less of animpact on community severance as that which would be expected due to thereference route options.

The provision of LARs at Hilton, Conington and at the Godmanchester junctionwould not create additional community severance. The omission of an interchangeat the Godmanchester junction would reduce the journey time for local trafficnorthwards along the A1198 to Godmanchester and Huntingdon.

Orange Route

There would be no additional impacts to those stated previously. The provision ofLARs and overbridges would not adversely impact on the movement of the localpopulation between the various settlements in the study area.

Access to Recreational Activities

There are a number of equestrian centres located in the area of which rely on localbridleways as part of their enterprise. All route options run in close proximity ofthese bridleway, impacting significantly on the tranquillity of these paths which areused by local equestrians.

Woolpack Fisheries is located at Fenstanton Pits. The purple option would runalong the northern boundary of these pits, adversely impacting on the amenity andtranquillity of this area. The blue option would run to the south of these pits andwould impact indirectly on the rural character of this area.

The purple/blue option would incorporate a viaduct which would traverse BramptonFlood Meadows, adversely impacting on the amenity of this area. The orangeoption would traverse Buckden Gravel Pits, adversely impacting on local wildlife.Buckden Gravel Pits provides water sports and other leisure activities.

Both A1 Alternatives (blue route and orange route) would run in close proximity toan area of water located between the A1 and Brampton Park residential estate.Both routes would adversely impact on this resource which is used by locals forfishing etc.

An area of land used for paintballing activities is located south of the A14 at HighHarthay farm. The blue/purple/orange route would run in close proximity to thisarea adversely impacting on this leisure activity.

Limited Junction Options

Blue and Orange options

The Blue and Orange options would not create any additional adverse impacts tothose which would result due to the reference route options. All LARs wouldfacilitate access to local recreational attractions.

5.16.5 Mitigation Measures

Detailed scheme design proposals will incorporate provision for public rights ofway. This would most likely involve diversions to the existing public rights of way orthe use of over/under bridges if appropriate. Therefore, people still wishing to makepedestrian movements would be able to do so with no hindrance to movement.

All route options would affect the usability of these paths, significantly reducingtheir amenity value. This would be due, not only to the physical impact on thesePROW, but also to the increase in noise levels and car vehicle exhaust fumes,adversely impacting on local air quality. The general rural ambience of the area andamenity value of the PROW would be adversely affected by the development of allroutes.

In many cases as outlined above, a route option either traverses or truncates aPROW, necessitating some form of appropriate mitigation measure. The schemecould provide opportunities to enhance and improve the existing network of PROWwithin the study through the mitigation measures, referred to in paragraph 15.49. Inaddition, linkages between existing PROW to provide longer networks which couldbe used for recreational purposes and also as a means to reach employment andshopping facilities could also be seen as appropriate forms of mitigation. Suchlinkages, resulting in longer PROW networks would help to offset the overalladverse impact of both on-line and off-line improvements within the study area.

The impending development of the Oakington/Longstanton new settlement willfurther increase the level of NMUs within this area. Therefore detailed mitigationmeasures will be incorporated into the design of the preferred route option at Stage3 Assessment. These measures will refer to each PROW affected by the preferredroute option.

5.16.6 Summary

The study area is served by an extensive network of public rights of way, whichwould be traversed or impacted by all routes. In addition, all options would traversethe Ouse Valley Way and Fen River Way both of which are important amenityresources and local attractions. In most cases their continuity would be maintainedby the provision of overbridges or short diversions.

The existing level of community severance would not be increased. It is anticipatedthat journey time for residents located along the A1198 would be increased with theconstruction of the new junctions and associated local access roads as part of boththe orange and blue/purple routes. This impact would not be significant but thejourney would be safer.

The local access road which runs from Cambridge to the western side ofFenstanton would allow greater access for the local population to travel toHuntingdon and Cambridge, facilitating a safer and easier journey. This localaccess road would allow for direct access to Bar Hill, the Crematorium and tovillages located both north and south of the A14.

The blue/purple and orange routes would traverse Brampton Flood Meadows andBuckden Gravel Pits, adversely impacting on the amenity of both these areas. Thepurple and orange routes would run in close proximity to Fenstanton Pits which is alocal fishery. This area would not be directly impacted by the either of these routes.All options run to the north of Brampton Wood, traversing a number of public rightsof way. It is anticipated that appropriate mitigation measures will alleviate theimpact of all route options on PROW. In some cases, short diversions couldfacilitate linkages within the network, thereby improving the networks overallattractiveness and usage.

The M11 Junction 14 would impact two footpaths located south of this area. Thered option would traverse the Fen River Way and one public footpath locatednortheast of Cambridge. However, it is likely that such development would notsignificantly alter the current amenity or use of these footpaths by locals.

The limited junction options would not create additional adverse impacts to thosewhich have already been referred to as part of the 'Reference Route Options'. Noadditional PROW would be severed and LAR would facilitate the movement of localtraffic between the range of settlements and recreational interests. The omission ofthe Trinity Foot, Bar Hill and Dry Drayton junctions would reduce the length ofjourney time for locals travelling between villages located to the north and south ofthe existing A14.

With appropriate mitigation measures, all proposals are assessed as neutral interms of impact on existing PROW, local rural enterprises and communityseverance.