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2.4 Traffic Flows
Traffic surveys were undertaken in March /April 2000 to obtain actual observed traffic information on the A2 and the surrounding network, which consisted of the following:
- Turning movement surveys (at 4 major junctions on the A2);
- Manual Classified Counts (MCCs) at 39 sites;
- Automatic Traffic Counts (ATCs) at 36 sites; Journey time surveys; and
- Bluewater origin interview surveys to ascertain travel patterns.
Traffic information was also collected using Automatic Traffic Counts on the M25, M20, M2, A2 and the Dartford Crossing.
The area road network is a combination of urban, inter-urban and rural while the A2 itself is inter-urban in character. The A2 network in the area operates at or close to its capacity during peak traffic periods. Journey time surveys indicate that during peak periods there can be substantial variations in journey times as a result of traffic congestion. The traffic information collected shows that there is a distinct tidal movement of traffic towards London in the morning peak period and away from London in the evening peak period.
Two-way existing traffic volumes on the A2 between Bean Junction and Pepperhill amount to around 117,000 Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT). Approximately 12% of the flow consisted of heavy goods vehicles. The two-way morning and evening peak hour flows along the same section were approximately 9,100 vehicles per hour and 8,900 vehicles per hour respectively. This is illustrated in Figure A5.1 in Appendix 5.
From the traffic surveys analysis it is clear that queuing regularly occurs at key junctions, such as Bean Junction and M25 Junction 2 during the AM and PM peaks. Queuing gets worse when incidents occur on the road network.
On the London bound carriageway there is an uphill gradient of approximately 4%. The effect of this is to exacerbate congestion because of the slow moving heavy goods vehicles restricting carriageway capacity.
