Comment

Representation ID: 15770

Received: 11/05/2016

Respondent: National Highways

We understand that modelling is currently being undertaken to determine what the impact of development could be on the highway network and therefore what measures may be required to mitigate these impacts. It is therefore unclear at this stage whether it will be possible to sufficiently mitigate the impact of the allocated development locations or whether the impact will be too great to feasibly ensure that the network operates within capacity at the end of the plan period.

Comment

Representation ID: 15771

Received: 11/05/2016

Respondent: National Highways

The Local Plan does not provide any details of infrastructure funding, which may be unknown at this stage if the specific infrastructure schemes that are required have not yet been identified. It is important that once the schemes are identified that the funding method for each is outlined, including any Central Government or Local Government funding that is available, the amount that could be collected from developers and any shortfall that could occur. It is recommended that an IDP is prepared to provide further details regarding the infrastructure provision and funding.

Comment

Representation ID: 15773

Received: 11/05/2016

Respondent: National Highways

PBA, on behalf of Brentwood Borough Council, have prepared an evidence base to support the development proposals within the LP. The intention of this modelling is to determine how many additional vehicles will be generated on the network as a result of the LP and where improvements may be required to ensure the network continues to operate effectively throughout the plan period. AECOM on behalf of Highways England have prepared a separate technical note detailing a review of this section of the evidence base.

Comment

Representation ID: 15782

Received: 11/05/2016

Respondent: National Highways

We consider that the trip generation and distribution assumed by PBA is broadly reasonable. Some concerns have been raised regarding the assignment of trips across the network, primarily the decision to assign all trips between two zones to the same route, whereas in reality we consider that a number of different routes may be used, particularly if routes become congested and users change to an alternative route to avoid the congestion. However, we consider that the current methodology could result in a robust impact on the Strategic Road Network and therefore may be reasonable to take forward. If, however, the local highway authority plans to deter drivers from making use of certain routes or congestion hotspots cause a significant change in route choice, the total development trips on the strategic road network could alter from that presented within the Highway Modelling Report. The assessment undertaken suggests very high impacts to the Strategic Road Network.

Comment

Representation ID: 15783

Received: 11/05/2016

Respondent: National Highways

Junction capacity assessments of the Strategic Road Network have not been presented within the Modelling Report, despite experiencing significant increases in trips at the junction as a result of development. It is recommended these are undertaken to determine the predicted operation of the junctions following LP development and to determine what measures may be required to mitigate the impact. Consideration may also need to be given to undertaking merge/diverge assessments at various locations to determine whether changes are required to support the LP development.

Comment

Representation ID: 15824

Received: 11/05/2016

Respondent: National Highways

Technical note provided by Highways England, written by AECOM to document a review of the Brentwood Draft Local Plan evidnce base (in the form of spreadsheet modelling). The technical note should be read in conjunction with the separate technical note entitled ' 'TN_Draft Brentwood Local Plan Review_v4' (dated March 2016).

Comment

Representation ID: 15827

Received: 11/05/2016

Respondent: National Highways

As there is no validated traffic model for Brentwood, PBA have adopted an alternative approach using available information. OmniTRANS has been used to build a simplified model of Brentwood Borough. The defined zoning system and an Integrated Transport Network (ITN) layer were imported. Additional zones were created to represent the proposed areas for major development sites. The mean link speeds from TrafficMaster (including junction delays) were added to the links. This model allowed skim times and distances to be calculated for each zone pair. A base year assignment was undertaken on the basis of census data and a synthetic distribution based on the trip lengths and the relative attractiveness (land use) of various zones. This was judged to be approximately correct but did not undergo any formal validation process. These time and distance skims were used to determine the distribution of development trips and also the assignment of those trips. In all of the assessed scenarios, the total level of trip growth resulting from planned developments was greater than the growth implied by TEMPro. Hence, there was no requirement to allow for additional developments. Indeed, the overall growth assessed was higher than that implied by national forecasts. he assigned turning movements of the development traffic at the assessed junctions were added to the observed turning movements To calculate future year scenarios. Hence, the future year assessments were not reliant on the base year assigned traffic flows.

Comment

Representation ID: 15838

Received: 11/05/2016

Respondent: National Highways

According to the modelling report the expected developments in the LP can be placed into three
categories:
Committed housing developments for all options (brownfield sites and urban extensions);
Committed employment developments; and
Various options for strategic housing developments.

Comment

Representation ID: 15839

Received: 11/05/2016

Respondent: National Highways

Committed Sites: Most of the committed housing sites (shown as yellow dots in Figure 1) are relatively small and will not have significant trip generation. There are a few places where sites (or combinations of sites) will have a significant impact. Three sites in West Horndon (south of the A127) are expected to include about 500 dwellings. A site close to the High Street in Brentwood is expected to include 200 dwellings.

Comment

Representation ID: 15842

Received: 11/05/2016

Respondent: National Highways

Committed Sites: Most of the committed housing sites (shown as yellow dots in Figure 1) are relatively small and will not have significant trip generation. There are a few places where sites (or combinations of sites) will have a significant impact. Three sites in West Horndon (south of the A127) are expected to include about 500 dwellings. A site close to the High Street in Brentwood is expected to include 200 dwellings.