Transport Assessment Mott MacDonald - South Ribbledocuments.southribble.gov.uk/Planning/StreamDocPage/obj.pdf?DocNo=... · Site\4.0 Reports\MM Reports\Outgoing\FINAL ISSUE\Cuerden

$Page 1: Transport Assessment Mott MacDonald - South Ribbledocuments.southribble.gov.uk/Planning/StreamDocPage/obj.pdf?DocNo=... · Site\4.0 Reports\MM Reports\Outgoing\FINAL ISSUE\Cuerden$
Transport Assessment

Mott MacDonald

December 2016

Cuerden Strategic Site


20 January 2017

Maple Grove Developments Ltd


370964 001 A \\mottmac\Project\Manchester Piccadilly\ITN\Projects\370964 - Cuerden Strategic

Site\4.0 Reports\MM Reports\Outgoing\FINAL ISSUE\Cuerden Strategic Site Transport Assessment ISSUE 230117 Part 1 rev B.docx

Mott MacDonald

Mott MacDonald 9 Portland Street Manchester M1 3BE United Kingdom T +44 (0)161 914 8880

mottmac.com

Lancashire County Council Maple Grove Developments Ltd

Cuerden Strategic Site


20 January 2017

Mott MacDonald Limited. Registered in England and Wales no. 1243967. Registered office: Mott MacDonald House, 8-10 Sydenham Road, Croydon CR0 2EE, United Kingdom

Maple Grove Developments Ltd


Mott MacDonald | Cuerden Strategic Site Transport Assessment

370964 | 001 | A | 20 January 2017 \\mottmac\Project\Manchester Piccadilly\ITN\Projects\370964 - Cuerden Strategic Site\4.0 Reports\MM Reports\Outgoing\FINAL ISSUE\Cuerden Strategic Site Transport Assessment ISSUE 230117 Part 1 rev B.docx

Issue and Revision Record

Revision Date Originator Checker Approver Description

- 25 Nov 2016

JK/MA KB KR DRAFT for Client Review

A 12/Dec 2016

JK MA KR DRAFT following Client review

B 14 Dec

2016

JK MA KR

C 19 Dec 2016

JK MA KR ISSUE following Legal review

D 20 Dec 2016

JK MA KR ISSUE following Vectos Review

E 27 Jan 2017

JK MA KR ISSUE following further Vectos/LCC review

Document reference: 370964 | 001 | D

Information class: Standard

This document is issued for the party which commissioned it and for specific purposes connected with the above-

captioned project only. It should not be relied upon by any other party or used for any other purpose.

We accept no responsibility for the consequences of this document being relied upon by any other party, or being

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This report has been pr epared sol el y for use by the party which commissi oned it (the ‘Client’) i n connecti on with the capti oned proj ect. It should not be used for any other purpose. N o person other than the Client or any party who has expressl y agreed ter ms of r eliance wi th us (the ‘Reci pient(s)’) may rel y on the content, i nformati on or any vi ews expressed i n the repor t. We accept no duty of care, responsi bility or liability to any other r eci pient of thi s document. This r eport is confi denti al and contains pr opri etar y intell ectual property.

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Forecasts presented i n this document were pr epared usi ng Data and the report is dependent or based on D ata. Inevitabl y, some of the assumptions used to develop the for ecasts will not be realised and unantici pated events and circumstances may occur. C onsequentl y M ott MacDonal d does not guarantee or warr ant the concl usi ons contained i n the repor t as there are li kel y to be differ ences between the for ecas ts and the ac tual results and those di ffer ences may be material. Whil e we consi der that the infor mation and opini ons gi ven i n this r epor t are sound all parti es must rel y on their own skill and j udgement when making use of it .

Under no circumstances may this report or any extr act or summar y ther eof be used in connection wi th any public or pri vate sec urities offering i ncluding any rel ated memorandum or prospectus for any securities offering or stock exchange listing or announcement.



Contents

Executive summary 1

1 Introduction 2

1.1.1 Proposed Development 2

2 Policy Context 4

2.1 Local Policy 4

2.1.1 South Ribble Borough Council 4

2.1.2 Cuerden Strategic Site Masterplan 4

2.2 Regional Policy 5

2.2.1 Central Lancashire Highways and Transport Masterplan 5

2.2.2 City Deal- Central Lancashire 6

2.3 National Policy 6

2.3.1 National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) 6

2.3.2 Planning Policy Guidance (PPG) 7

3 Existing Conditions 8

3.1 Introduction 8

3.2 Public Transport 9

3.2.1 Bus Accessibility 9

3.2.2 Rail Accessibility 10

3.2.3 Cycle accessibility 11

3.3 Public Right Of Way and Bridleway 12

3.3.1 Existing Site Use 12

3.4 Surrounding Highway Network 13

3.4.1 Strategic Highway Network and Terminus Roundabout 13

3.4.2 A582/A6 Corridor 13

3.4.3 Stanifield Lane 13

3.4.4 Wigan Road Corridor 14

3.4.5 Baseline Assessment 14

4 Highway Safety Appraisal 15

4.1 Introduction 15

4.2 Junction 1 A582/Lostock Lane 15

4.3 Junction 2 A6/A582 16

4.4 Junction 3 A6/Cuerden Way/Craven Drive 17

4.5 Junction 4 and Junction 11 A6/Wigan Road 17

4.6 Junction 5 A6/M6/Church Road 18

4.7 Junction 6 B5254/A5083 19



4.8 Junction 7 A49/B5083 20

4.9 Junction 8 M65/M6 21

4.10 Junction 9 Nook Lane/Wigan Rd 21

4.11 Junction 10 M65 Roundabout 22

4.12 Junction 12 Old School Ln/A582 23

4.13 Junction 13 A69/ Lancaster Lane/B5256 24

5 Proposed Development 25

5.1 Application Description 25

5.2 Floorspace Quantum 25

5.3 Form of Application 25

5.4 Highway Scoping 26

5.4.1 Study Area and Traffic Surveys 27

5.5 Internal Highway Arrangement 27

5.5.1 M65 Access 27

5.5.2 Retail Access Route 28

5.5.3 Retail Egress Routes 29

5.5.4 Employment Land South Access 29

5.5.5 Residential Development 29

5.5.6 Cycle Provision 29

5.5.7 Pedestrian Provision 30

5.5.8 Modal Share for the Retail / IKEA 31

5.5.9 Bus Routes 32

5.6 Site Wide Parking 34

5.6.1 Retail Parking Provision 35

5.7 Servicing 36

5.8 Emergency Access 36

5.9 Site Wide Management 36

6 Trip Generation and Distribution 37

6.1 Introduction 37

6.2 Trip Generation 37

6.2.1 IKEA Trip Generation 37

6.2.2 B8 Southern Employment Land 39

6.2.1 Parking Accumulation- Retail 42

6.3 Distribution 43

6.3.1 Employment Land Uses 43

6.3.2 Retail Land Uses 44

7 Baseline Modelling Results 47

7.1 Preamble 47

7.2 Results Analysis 47

7.2.1 LinSig Results 47

7.3 PICADY Results 50



7.4 ARCADY Results 50

8 Traffic Impacts with Development 56

8.1 Preamble 56

8.2 LINSIG Results – 56

8.2.1 A582 Lostock Lane/ A5083 Stanifield Ln / B5254 Watkin Ln 56

8.2.2 Cuerden Way/ A582 Lostock Lane 57

8.2.3 A6 Lostock Lane / Cuerden Way / South Rings 57

8.2.4 A6 Lostock Lane / B6256 Station Rd / A49 Wigan Rd 58

8.2.5 A5083 Lydiate Ln / A49 Wigan Rd 58

8.2.6 M6/M65 Roundabout/Signal 58

8.2.7 M65 Terminal 59

8.2.8 B5256 Leyland Way / B5256 Lancaster Lane / A49 Wigan Road 59

8.3 ARCADY Results 60

8.3.1 M6 / A6- J29 60

8.4 PICADY Results – Tables 54 and 55 60

8.4.1 A5083 Stanifield Rd / A5083 Lydiate Ln / B5254 Stanifield Rd 60

8.4.2 Nook Lane / A49 Wigan Road 60

8.4.3 Todd Lane /A49 60

8.4.4 A582 Lostock Ln / Old School 60

8.5 Proposed Internal Junctions 61

8.5.1 Wigan Road Signal Junction 61

8.5.2 Internal Roundabouts 61

9 VISSIM Modelling 72

9.1 Background 72

9.1.1 Summary 72

10 Mitigation and Off-Site Highway Works 75

10.1 Preamble 75

10.1 Off-Site Works 75

10.1.1 M65/M6 Slip and the Terminal Roundabout 75

10.1.2 Stanifield Lane 75

10.1.3 Lostock Lane 76

10.1.4 Wigan Road 76

10.1.5 Other Local Highway Works 76

11 Summary and Conclusion 77

11.1 Summary 77

11.2 Conclusion 78

Appendices 79



A. Drawings 80

B. Traffic Data Analysis 81

C. Accident Data 82

D. TRACSIS Data 83

E. Trip Generation and Modelling 84

F. VISSIM 85

G. Stage 1 Safety Audit 86

H. Correspondence with LCC 87

Mott MacDonald | Cuerden Strategic Site 1 Transport Assessment


Executive summary

● The Cuerden Strategic Site provides major opportunity to deliver significant economic and

employment benefits for the Central Lancashire area. The development could create over

4,500 new jobs for local people in a variety of sectors, including office, retail, manufacturing,

logistics, catering and hospitality, plus those created during the construction process.

● Significant investment is proposed to enhance the M65 terminal roundabout along with the

approach lanes from the M65 and the M6 slip road. A design is being developed to detail

design with Highways England and the Local Highway Authority.

● Extensive capacity based modelling exercises have been carried out to estimate the likely

additional impacts of the site on the existing highway network into the future years. This

includes background growth estimates in addition to locally committed developments.

● The models indicate that there is some inevitable additional pressures on the network

notably following the full build out of the site in 10-15 years. The shorter term retail traffic

impacts will be greater during the weekend periods when the network functions with spare

capacity.

● Additional VISSIM modelling has been carried out to understand the interactions of the

respective major junctions closest to the site. This highlights the marginal change in traffic

across the network and demonstrates the new signalised roundabout will function within

capacity.

● Off-site mitigation works proposed for the major links surrounding the site, which will help to

enhance public transport provision, pedestrian routes and links to the wider cycle network.

● Internal roads have good levels of capacity designed into them to avoid significant delay

during very busy periods. This has been balanced with the need to retain mature trees,

provide attractive green infrastructure and sustainable transport routes through the site.

● Access from Stanifield Lane will be restricted to ‘bus only’ to the employment/retail sites to

minimise the amount of vehicles using the route to cut through to Wigan Road or the M65.

There will be no through access to the retail or employment land for vehicles from the

residential development.

● The site will be accessible by public transport, with an opportunity for new bus routes

through the site and links to local railway stations. Bus stops have been designed into the

spine road and will connect well with the proposed land-uses.

● The development will provide new publicly-accessible open green space, which will include

new pedestrian, cycling and jogging paths.

● As part of the hybrid planning application, the retail, infrastructure and green infrastructure

will be part of the detailed application and the mixed use, employment uses and residential

uses will be the subject of parameter plans.

● The retail, mixed use and residential uses will contribute to the significant infrastructure costs

required to open up the site for the employment uses.



1 Introduction

This Transport Assessment is submitted to South Ribble Borough Council (“SRBC”) as part of a

hybrid planning application by Maple Grove Developments Limited and Lancashire County

Council (‘the Applicant’) for a major mixed-use development known as ‘Cuerden Strategic Site’-

‘the Site’.

The Site extends to 70 hectares and comprises land to the south of the M65, to the west of A49

Wigan Road, and east of Stanifield Lane. The extent of the Application Site is defined in red on

the Plan attached as Appendix A.

This report provides an overview and analysis following extensive consultation with Lancashire

County Council (LCC) Highways officers who have advised on the layouts, off-site

requirements, modelling, trip generation and distribution. The key objectives of the report are

to:

● Assess the existing conditions of the local highway, public transport and sustainable mode

networks;

● Quantify the likely vehicle and person trips that will be attracted to the site during its busiest

periods;

● Provide a likely distribution of traffic based on all available data and assign to the local

network;

● Provide full capacity analysis of each of the junctions in the local network;

● Analyse safety records and identify any potential patterns of incidents which may be caused

by preventable measures;

● Develop a range of infrastructure mitigation measures to help alleviate the likely transport

impacts of the Cuerden Strategic Site development;

Initial scoping notes and subsequent meeting notes with Lancashire Highways are included in

Appendix 2.

Highways England have been consulted to understand the interface with the Strategic Road

Network (SRN) and how this can be addressed as part of the project.

1.1.1 Proposed Development

The application proposes a major mixed-use development of the Application Site.

The description of development is as follows:

Hybrid planning application comprising: Detailed (Full) submission for retail floorspace

(Use Classes A1 & A3) and associated car parking, site access, highway works and

strategic landscaping. Outline submission for employment floorspace (Use Classes B1,

B2 & B8), hotel (Use Class C1), health & fitness and leisure (Use Class D2),

Crèche/Nursery (Use Class D1), Retail (Use Classes A1, A2, A3, A4 & A5), car showrooms

(Use Class Sui Generis), Residential (Use Classes C2 & C3) and provision of associated

car parking, access, public open space, landscaping and other works.

Report Structure



● Section 2: Policy Context; local, regional and national policy specific to transport and the

site.

● Section 3: Existing Conditions; analysis of the existing transport network in the vicinity of the

site and current issues encountered.

● Section 4: Proposed Development; quantified development framework, infrastructure,

parking.

● Section 5: Highway Safety Appraisal.

● Section 6: Trip Generation and Distribution.

● Section 7 : Baseline Modelling Outputs.

● Section 8 : Modelling Output with Development.

● Section 9: Mitigation and Off-Site Highway Works.

● Section 10: VISSIM Modelling.

● Section 11: Summary and Conclusions.



2 Policy Context

2.1 Local Policy

2.1.1 South Ribble Borough Council

The Site has been identified as an employment site for a number of years. Within the South

Ribble Borough Site Allocations and Development Plan Document the relevant policy to the site

is contained under Policy C4, a summary of which is included below:

Policy C4 - Cuerden Strategic Employment Site

Planning permission will be granted for development of the Cuerden Strategic Site subject to the

submission of:

a) an agreed Masterplan for the comprehensive development of the site to provide a strategic

employment site, to include employment, industrial and Green Infrastructure uses;

b) a phasing and infrastructure delivery schedule;

c) an agreed programme of implementation in accordance with the Masterplan and agreed

design code.

Alternative uses, such as retail, leisure and housing may be appropriate where it can be

demonstrated that they help deliver employment uses on this strategic site. The scale of any

alternative enabling development will be limited to that which is clearly demonstrated to be

necessary to fund essential infrastructure and which will not prejudice the delivery and

maintenance of the primary employment function of the site. Any proposed main town centre

uses must satisfy the sequential and impact tests set out in the National Planning Policy

Framework (NPPF), relevant policies of the Core Strategy and this Local Plan. Cuerden

Strategic Site Masterplan sets out the strategic objectives of the development.

It is clear from Policy C4 that infrastructure plays a critical part in the development of the site to

ensure that it is accessible and appropriate to the creation of a viable employment area.

2.1.2 Cuerden Strategic Site Masterplan

A full masterplan was generated following consultation with landowners, key stakeholders and

statutory consultees, it was adopted by South Ribble Borough Council in 2015. The masterplan

establishes key drivers which the site needs to achieve the economic and employment benefits

for the region. Specific to transport the masterplan highlights a number of guiding principles

established by Lancashire County Council as the Highway Authority. The masterplan took due

cognisance of the Central Lancashire Highways and Transport Masterplan (outlined below) to

provide an overview of the strategic highway access requirements key to these are the

following:

Highways

The M65 terminus provides an opportunity for primary access. As part of any scheme to deliver

a new arm at the junction safety and capacity issues would need to be addressed. A package of

improvements on the strategic motorway at the terminus junction with the M65, the spur and

signalised roundabout with the A582/A6 would be required. Consideration should be given to

existing and proposed user requirements at this location including that of VOSA and sustainable



modes. Currently, LCC Highways and the Highways Agency (Highways England) would

endorse only one new arm off the junction; (which would require the whole junction to be

signalised);

The M6 Junction 29. A supporting package of measures would be required linking M6 to M65 at

Junction 29 and on the link between J29 and the M65 terminus roundabout to support the safe

and effective movement of vehicles (and weaving);

Public Transport and Rail

In terms of public transport, the A5083 is an important bus corridor and in the early phases of

the development it will be important to maximise the interface with the network, ensuring good

pedestrian links with crossings and quality standard bus stops infrastructure to be provided

within the site to support public transport;

Lostock Hall and Bamber Bridge railway stations are located on the East Lancashire line and

are currently managed by Northern Rail, the sole service operator for the station. Both stations

are served by an hourly service; Monday-Saturday towards Preston;

The A49 Wigan Road is less constrained in terms of capacity and the site would provide an all

movement access point onto this corridor. LCC highways support an access on this important

corridor (expected to be signalised). This access would provide a valuable connection to local

communities in Eastern Leyland, Buckshaw, Bamber Bridge and Clayton-le-Woods, as well as

providing a route for drivers who are not confident in using strategic routes or routes that are

perceived as strategic;

Any junctions must be tested to demonstrate that they would operate efficiently and safely with

consideration that maintains the local environment and connectivity of dwellings and building on

and served off Old School Lane and Stoney Lane. The potential for such access to change the

behaviour of traffic using Farington Road must also be carefully considered, and this may

present and support future highway changes;

Located to the north of the Cuerden site, both Lostock Hall and Bamber Bridge provide

opportunities for the site when linked to supporting direct pedestrian routes. These links to the

station need to be considered as part of the transport strategy to address current gaps in

accessibility resulting from severing effect caused by the A582. Consideration must be given as

to design solutions to reduce this severance effect.

It is clear that there has been considerable development specific consideration of the highways

and transport inputs to the planning stages. This report has been produced in line with these

key recommendations along with regular consultation with the Lancashire County Council

Development Support / Network Management officers to seek clarity and approval of the various

stages of production. Highways England and their contractors have also provided guidance on

interface with the SRN.

2.2 Regional Policy

2.2.1 Central Lancashire Highways and Transport Masterplan

The Central Lancashire Highways and Transport Masterplan was produced in March 2013 to

address the transport implications of existing and continuing economic growth in the most

populated part of the county. It is recognised within the document that additional capacity within

the network will need to be released in order to keep people and goods moving in the area. Its

core objectives are to:



● Allow new development to be accommodated;

● Facilitate significant public transport improvements;

● Enable more effective management of the highway network; and

● Enhance the public realm to improve its attractiveness and therefore encourage more

walking and cycling.

The Cuerden Strategic Site is named within the document as one of the major areas identified

for significant growth as it is well located for motorway access but has connections to the west

as well via the A582.

Three options for the future development were explored as part of the public consultation for the

site, these involved a combination of measures to enhance highway capacity, improve public

transport corridors and facilities and create better pedestrian and cycling facilities throughout the

area.

Specific to the Cuerden Strategic Site; the upgrading of the South Ribble Distributor (A582) to

improve capacity between the B5253 and the Flensburg Way to the west is stated as part of the

strategy and has been subsequently taken forward as part of the Preston, South Ribble and

Lancashire City Deal programme (City Deal).

Further public transport improvements are earmarked for the Moss Side- Leyland-Cuerden-

Penwortham Corridor including better bus stop infrastructure and connectivity with rail links.

2.2.2 City Deal- Central Lancashire

The City Deal is part of the Central Government programme to drive economic growth in and around strategically important locations within the UK. The Lancashire Enterprise Partnership (LEP) leads the governance and delivery of the City Deal and comprises the respective leaders of SRBC, LCCand Preston City Council. Currently City Deal monies have already been invested on the A582/B5253 roundabout to improve capacity and cycle provision. Further work to widen the highway is programmed within the next two years,which corresponds with the Central Lancashire Highways and Transport Masterplan.

2.3 National Policy

2.3.1 National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF)

The National Planning Policy Framework was introduced in March 2012 to streamline planning

and policy decision making at a local and national level. It provides a succinct document which

categorises the major planning considerations required of a local authority or a developer.

Transport is addressed as a key element of NPPF.

Transport is identified within the core strategic aims of the NPPF document that planning

should: actively manage patterns of growth to make the fullest possible use of public transport,

walking and cycling, and focus significant development in locations which are or can be made

sustainable.

Section 4 of the Framework document is specific to Transport and the need to concentrate on

sustainable modes. It identifies that: The transport system needs to be balanced in favour of

sustainable transport modes, giving people a real choice about how they travel.



Paragraph 32 contains specific reference to the role of Transport Assessments in the planning

process. This focuses on the need to prioritise sustainable and safe transport links whilst

ensuring that transport infrastructure improvement; cost effectively limit the significant impacts

of the development. Importantly the guidance highlights that; Development should only be

prevented or refused on transport grounds where the residual cumulative impacts of

development are severe.

The document also focuses on the importance of land-use and transport being interconnected:

Planning policies should aim for a balance of land uses within their area so that people can be

encouraged to minimise journey lengths for employment, shopping, leisure, education and other

activities.

The overarching aims for the NPPF linked to transport concentrate on sustainability, good local

planning and proportion intervention where required.

2.3.2 Planning Policy Guidance (PPG)

Guidance on Transport Assessment (GTA 2007) was recently superseded by sections within

Planning Policy Guidance (PPG). The new guidance provides greater detail on specifics from

the principles established within NPPF. The guidance continues to use much of the technical

approach of GTA 2007. However, there is a new degree of flexibility which can be incorporated

at the scoping stage. This allows local authorities to shape the requirements of the Transport

Assessment/Statement to reflect the local conditions.

The PPG document also highlights the importance of the Local Plan allocation within transport

considerations for individual sites. Local Authorities are also encouraged to consider transport

as a key part of the development of the Local Plan.



3 Existing Conditions

3.1 Introduction

This section outlines the existing conditions at the Site. Figure 3.1 outlines the redline

boundary of the strategic masterplan. It is located to the south of Bamber Bridge which is

2.5 miles to the south of Preston. Leyland is approximately 1.5 miles to the south of the

site. The site has access to the M65 and M6 and National Rail links. The sections below

will outline the existing sites connections to public transport, walking and cycling

infrastructure.

This section provides the findings of a desk-top study detailing the current baseline of the

accessibility of the site with emphasis on public transport.

Using the 2011 census statistics, in South Ribble and Chorley approximately 70% of

journeys to work are made using the car. There are only 5% of trips made using public

transport and 10% walking or cycling.

Central Lancashire will benefit following a successful bid to the Local Sustainable

Transport Fund, which will see improvements to increase sustainable travel along the

corridor from the M6 at Bamber Bridge to Preston City Centre which includes Cuerden.

-

Figure 3-1 Plot boundaries of the proposed development framework.



3.2 Public Transport

3.2.1 Bus Accessibility

There are bus stops located along Stanifield Lane which borders the west of the Site.

These can be seen in the map on Figure 3.2. Three services currently stop at these stops

offering frequent services to the surrounding areas including Preston, Chorley and

Leyland. A summary of the services and their frequencies can be found in Table 1 below.

There are few bus stops in the immediate vicinity of the site. Marked stops are present

on Stanifield Road to the west. All consist of a basic flag and timetable attached to street

furniture or freestanding pole and no raised kerbing, or shelters.

A stop with a layby and shelter is present on Cuerden Way adjacent to the Sainsbury’s

superstore; this is relatively remote from the main site and provides for relatively

infrequent services.

The east of the Site includes the flagship high frequency 125 route between Bolton and

Preston routes via Walton Summit and the A6 through Bamber Bridge, this could be a

viable route if diverted via Wigan Road (A49). This provides 6 services per hour during

the AM and PM Peaks as well as on Saturday. The service reduces on Sunday to 2

services per hour.

Discussions have been held with the LCC Public Transport team regarding the potential

to divert the 125 and the 109 (outlined in Table 1 below) into the Cuerden site. The

volume of passengers accessing the site for both employment, retail and leisure purposes

will be attractive to the operators, but at this stage diversions are not committed.

However, discussions with operators have indicated that, in their position, the site

presents good opportunity to run new routes to the site, picking up the new bus

infrastructure proposed. This will mean that the site businesses, retail, mixed use and

residential will be within a frequent bus service.

Table 1: Bus Service Serving Stanifield Lane

Service Operator Route Weekday AM Peak

Frequency

Weekday PM Peak

Frequency

Saturday Frequency

Sunday

Frequen

cy

111 Stagecoach Earnshaw Bridge –

Leyland - Preston

5 per hour 5 per hour 5 per hour 2 every hour

109/109A Stagecoach Chorley – Buckshaw –

Leyland - Preston

4 per hour 4 per hour 4 per hour 2 every hour*

Source: Lancashire County Council 2016

*N.B. Please note that there is no 109A service on a Sunday



Figure 3.2 Location of bus stops and routes surrounding the proposed site

3.2.2 Rail Accessibility

Bamber Bridge Railway Station is located 1,650m to the north of the site centroid.

Lostock Hall Railway Station is located approximately 1,500m to the northwest of the site

centroid. A summary of the services available at each of the stations can be seen in

Table 2 below. Both stations are managed by Northern Rail which is currently undergoing

a large investment programme as part of the new franchise run by Arriva. The two

stations are on the East Lancashire Line linking to Blackburn and Colne to the east and

Preston. The

Leyland Rail Station is 3km from the site and connects to services between Preston,

Manchester and Liverpool Lime Street. Although not on the main West Coast Mainline

peak hour services are regular and link to the three major north west cities and significant

large towns between, such as Bolton, Wigan and Chorley. The station has recently been

upgraded to improve accessibility for the mobility impaired including a new over bridge,

lifts, waiting facilities and bicycle racks.

Table 2: Summary of Rail Services; Bamber Bridge and Lostock Hall

Service Weekday AM Peak Frequency

Weekday PM Peak Frequency

Saturday Frequency

Sunday Frequency

Preston and Blackpool Railway Station

1 per hour 1 per hour 1 per hour 1 every 2 hours

Colne Railway Station


Source: National Rail Timetable (2016)



*N.B. It should be noted that there is one weekday direct service per day to and from York and Leeds (06:25 and

17:35) respectively. However, it is possible to change at Preston to get to York and Leeds.

Table 3: Rail Frequencies Leyland Rail Station

Service Weekday AM Peak Frequency

Weekday PM Peak Frequency

Saturday Frequency

Sunday Frequency

Preston Railway Station

2 per hour 2 per hour 2 per hour 1 per hour

Liverpool Lime Street


Blackpool North 1 per hour 1 per hour 2 per hour 1 per hour

Manchester Victoria


Manchester Piccadilly


Source: National Rail Timetable 2016

3.2.3 Cycle accessibility

The application site is surrounded by on and off road cycle routes. There are also a

number proposed as can be seen in light blue on the map shown in Figure 3.3. As can be

seen, there is an off-road cycle route to the east of the site, through Cuerden Valley Park

as well as a cycle lane along the A49 which is approximately 1.8m wide.

Figure 3.3 Map displaying current and proposed cycle lanes in the vicinity of the strategic masterplan



3.3 Public Right Of Way and Bridleway

The site is surrounded by a number of public rights of way. As can be seen from the map

in Figure 3.4, the footpath 9-12-FP 7 through the site connecting to Lydiate Lane to the

south. All of these routes consist of rough surfaced paths and are unlit away from the

adopted highways. It is unlikely that these routes would be heavily used in the hours of

darkness or after inclement weather conditions.

The mineral extraction to the south of the site has been expanded thus the footpath has

not been updated to reflect this. However, this does not directly affect access to the Site.

The bridle way 9-120-BW 11 connects the footpath 9-12-FP 7 to Stoney Lane and further

footpaths to the west of the site.

Figure 3.4 Map displaying the Public Rights of Way within the immediate vicinity of the site

3.3.1 Existing Site Use

The existing use of the site is a mixture of farms, fields and drains.

Old School Lane and Stoney Lane are located within the Strategic Site Master Plan boundary.

These are surfaced single tracks approximately 2-3m wide providing access for residential

dwellings along Old School Lane and Brookhouse Farm. Both these routes are public rights of

way.



3.4 Surrounding Highway Network

3.4.1 Strategic Highway Network and Terminus Roundabout

The site boundary abuts the M65 and the M6 westbound slip to the north. The M65 reduces to

one lane from two approximately a kilometre to the east whilst the M6 slip merges from the left

as a single lane. The two lanes then proceed a further 300m to the M65 terminus roundabout

which only permits northbound movement towards Preston on the A6. The speed limit is 50

mph on the approach to the terminus and is fully lit by street lighting columns.

The traffic heading westbound to the terminus is noticeably tidal in nature with larger flows

approaching in the morning from the east on the M65 and reversed in the evening. The M6 slips

appear to have relatively large flows but without significant fluctuations between east and west

bound manoeuvres.

The roundabout when approached from the north permits access to the M65 eastbound only

and the slips to the M6/M65 roundabout which is a signalised, grade-separated junction that sits

below the M65 carriageway. Clear advanced directional signage on the A6 approach indicates

the lane positioning required for access to the M65 and M6, this helps to minimise weaving

movements.

The Driver Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) retain a vehicle testing station for HGVs

accessed directly from the roundabout with restricted access for general traffic between the

southbound and westbound approach arms. The site contains a weighbridge and has relatively

low numbers of trips per day associated with it. The surveyed movements, during the AM and

PM peak hours observed 2-3 two way movements during this period, this is likely to equate to

approximately 20 movements across the day based on peak hours approximating to 10% of

traffic.

Highways England (HE) retain ownership of the M65 and M6 slip up to the give way line of the

roundabout, which is under the control of Lancashire County Council. HE’s roads are managed

by contractors BBMM Area 10 team.

3.4.2 A582/A6 Corridor

The A582 is also known as the South Ribble Distributor, it connects with the A6 due west of the

Sainsbury’s supermarket off Cuerden Way at a large signalised roundabout. The roundabout

permits free flow for westbound traffic onto the A582, Lostock Lane which proceeds as dual

carriageway to the newly remodelled junction with the B5253. West of the B5253 the running

lanes reduce to single carriageway in both directions with a 40mph speed restriction. This

section of highway is subject to further funding through the City Deal programme to create a

fully dualled link through to its junction with Flensburg Way.

Due east of the A582/A6 roundabout the A6 proceeds through two large signal controlled

junctions the first feeding the retail parks on either side of Lostock Lane and the second

connecting Wigan Road to the A6 and B6258 before the approach of the M6/A6 roundabout.

The route is 40 mph from the roundabout to the Wigan Road junction and is fully lit.

As the A6 approaches the A582 from the east it continues northbound forming two lanes toward

Preston City Centre at the A582/A6 roundabout.

3.4.3 Stanifield Lane

Stanifield Lane is a north-south distributor and connects Leyland with the A582 due west of the

site boundary. It has a varying speed limit between 30mph around residential settlements



increasing to 50mph and a small section at National Speed Limit as it passes the site. Lydiate

Lane connects Stanifield Lane with Wigan Road to the east and forms a wide flared priority

controlled junction with Stanifield due south of the proposed development. The route has

limited footway availability to its northern end but is fully lit.

At its junction with the A582, footway and cycleway provision has been included in the recent

roundabout upgrade.

3.4.4 Wigan Road Corridor

The A49 Wigan Road is a single carriageway road linking the A6 at its junction with the B6258

(Bamber Bridge) to the north and the B5256 Lancaster Lane to the south with Euxton/Chorley

beyond. It has a 50mph limit on the carriageway closest to the site boundary which reduces to

30 mph as it approaches residential areas further south. It has street lighting and has relatively

few direct accesses. It passes under both the M65 and the M6, with a significant sag curve

present at the M6 underpass.

New residential developments approximately a kilometre south of the site boundary are

approaching completion, this has triggered the construction of a large priority controlled

roundabout.

3.4.5 Baseline Assessment

A further analysis of the baseline traffic conditions is included in Section 7.



4 Highway Safety Appraisal

4.1 Introduction

This section summarises the findings of the highway safety appraisal undertaken for the

surrounding highway network. An analysis of the 5-year collision data from April 2011 to

May 2016 was undertaken at junctions 1 through to 13 which was agreed with Lancashire

County Council Highways ahead of the traffic surveys. A summary of the collision findings

is given below. Data was provided in separate packages and dates vary within the

parameters set out above. Specific date ranges are included for each junction for clarity.

4.2 Junction 1 A582/Lostock Lane

An analysis of collision data from April 2011 to December 2015 was undertaken at

Junction 1 A582/Lostock Lane. It is known that the junction was significantly remodelled

in 2016 to provide additional capacity through signalisation and cycle and pedestrian

provision. The inclusion of the historic and recent records provides an overview of the

change in collision risks, however it is too soon to obtain reasonable safety statistics on

the effect the new layout has had. The severity and year of collisions are summarised in

Table 4. A total of 38 collisions occurred over the 5 year study period, none of the

collisions involved a fatality, three involved serious injury and 35 involved slight injuries.

Table 4: Severity & Year of Collisions on Junction 1 A582/Lostock Lane

Severity 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Total

Fatal 0 0 0 0 0 0

Serious 0 2 0 1 0 3

Slight 4 11 6 2 12 35

Total 4 13 6 3 12 38

Source: Lancashire Constabulary Accident Stats

The highest number of accidents occurred in 2012 with 13 accidents.

The light condition data during the accidents can be found in Table 5, and weather

conditions can be found in Table 6. Only six accidents occurred during darkness and at

the same time only five accidents happened whilst it was raining. Two of the three serious

accidents happened at night, but the data shows that the street lights were also lit. There

appears to be no trend regarding collisions and the weather or quality of lighting.

Table 5: Light conditions on Junction 1 A582/Lostock Lane

Light Condition No of collisions

Light 32

Dark 6

Total 38




Table 6: Road Surface conditions on Junction 1 A582/Lostock Lane

Road surface No of collisions

Dry 33

Wet 5

Snow 0

Total 38


The type of accidents that occurred were either rear end shunts or due to a driver

misjudgement. Out of the 38 accidents, 15 were rear end shunts. These collisions were

due to the driver at the roundabout looking for a gap and failing to concentrate on the car

in front. Six incidents involved cyclists, hence recent cycle facility upgrades.

4.3 Junction 2 A6/A582

An analysis of collision data from January 2011 to May 2016 was undertaken at Junction

2 A6/A582. The severity and year of collisions is summarised in Table 7. Out of the total

20 collisions, none involved a fatality, three involved serious injuries and 17 involved

slight injuries.

Table 7:Severity & Year of Collisions on Junction 2 A6/A582

Severity 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Total

Fatal 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Serious 1 1 0 1 0 0 3

Slight 6 3 1 1 3 3 17

Total 7 4 1 2 3 3 20


The light condition data during the collisions can be found in Table 8, and weather

conditions can be found in Table 9. Only four accidents occurred during darkness, but at

the same time only six accidents happened whilst it was raining. Only one of the three

serious accidents occurred when it was dark and at this point records show the street

lights were present and lit. There seems to be no trend regarding the weather or quality of

lighting.

Table 8: Light conditions on Junction 2 A6/A582


Light 15

Dark 5

Total 20


Table 9: Road Surface conditions on Junction 2 A6/A582


Dry 12

Wet 7

Unknown 1

Total 20




The type of accident appears to be either rear end shunts or due to a driver

misjudgement. Out of the 20 accidents, nine were rear end shunts thus accounting for

nearly half of the overall total of accidents. Only one accident involved a cyclist, so

improving cycling facilities would be unlikely to have an accident saving benefit.

4.4 Junction 3 A6/Cuerden Way/Craven Drive

An analysis of collision data from April 2012 to April 2016 was undertaken at Junction 3

A6/Cuerden Way/Craven Drive. The severity and year of collisions are summarised in

Table 10. Over the five years a total of five collisions occurred, none of the collisions

involved a fatality, three collisions involved serious injury and two involved slight injuries.

Table 10: Severity & Year of Collisions on Junction 3 A6/Cuerden Way/Craven Drive

Severity 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Total

Fatal 0 0 0 0 0 0

Serious 1 0 1 1 0 3

Slight 0 0 0 0 2 2

Total 1 0 1 1 2 5


The highest number of accidents took place in 2016 with 2 accidents.

Light condition data during the collisions can be found in Table 11. and weather

conditions can be found in Table 12. No accidents occurred in darkness. Only one

accident took place whilst it was raining and resulted in slight damage. There appears to

be no trend regarding collisions and the quality of lighting or the weather.

Table 11:Light conditions on Junction 3 A6/Cuerden Way/Craven Drive


Light 5

Dark 0

Total 5


Table 12:Road Surface conditions on Junction 3 A6/Cuerden Way/Craven Drive


Dry 4

Wet 1

Total 5


The very few accidents that took place seem to be either rear end shunts or due to a

driver misjudgement. Out of the five accidents, three were rear end shunts and account

for over half of the overall total of accidents over the 5 years.

4.5 Junction 4 and Junction 11 A6/Wigan Road

Junction 4 and 11 were classed as one junction when modelling due to their proximity. An

analysis of collision data from November 2011 to February 2016 was undertaken at



Junction 4&11 A6/Wigan Road. The severity and year of collisions is summarised in

Table 13. A total of 8 collisions took place and all were of slight severity.

Table 13:Severity & Year of Collisions on Junction 4&11 A6/Wigan Rd

Severity 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Total

Fatal 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Serious 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Slight 1 0 3 1 2 1 8

Total 1 0 3 1 2 1 8


The highest number of accidents occurred in 2013 with 3 accidents.


conditions can be found in Table 15. No accidents occurred in darkness and at the same

time only one accident occurred whilst it was raining and resulted in a slight accident.

Therefore, there appears to be no trend regarding collisions and the weather or quality of

lighting.

Table 14: Light conditions on Junction 4&11 A6/Wigan Rd


Light 8

Dark 0

Total 8


Table 15: Road Surface conditions on Junction 4 & 11 A6/Wigan Rd


Dry 7

Wet 1

Total 8


The very few accidents that occurred seem to be either rear end shunts or due to a driver

misjudgement. Out of the eight accidents, seven were rear end shunts.

4.6 Junction 5 A6/M6/Church Road

An analysis of collision data from May 2011 to May 2016 was undertaken at Junction 5

A6/M6/Church Road. The severity and year of collisions are summarised in Table 16. A

total of 28 collisions occurred over the 5 years. Of these collisions, none involved a

fatality, two were serious and 26 were of slight damage.

Table 16:Severity & Year of collisions on Junction 5 A6/M6/Church Road

Severity 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Total

Fatal 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Serious 0 1 0 1 0 0 2

Slight 3 4 3 6 6 4 26

Total 3 5 3 7 6 4 28




The highest number of accidents occurred in 2014 with seven accidents.

The light condition data during the collisions can be found in Table 17 and weather

conditions can be found in Table 18. Only two accidents occurred in darkness and at the

same time only one accident occurred while it was raining and one with an “other”

weather condition. There seems to be no trend regarding collisions and the weather or

quality of lighting.

Table 17: Light conditions on Junction 5 A6/M6/Church Road


Light 26

Dark 2

Total 28


Table 18:Road Surface conditions on Junction 5 A6/M6/Church Road


Dry 26

Wet 1

Other 1

Total 28


The accidents that occurred seem to be caused from rear end shunts, driver

misjudgement and due to weather conditions. Out of the 28 accidents, 16 were rear end

shunts and account for over half the accidents over the 5 years.

4.7 Junction 6 B5254/A5083

An analysis of collision data from March 2012 to July 2014 was undertaken at Junction 6

B5254/A5083. The severity and year of collisions are summarised in Table 19. A total of

four collisions occurred over the five years and were of slight damage.

Table 19: Severity & Year of Collisions on Junction 6 A6/M6/Church Rd

Severity 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Total

Fatal 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Serious 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Slight 0 2 0 2 0 0 4

Total 0 2 0 2 0 0 4


The light condition data during the collisions can be found in Table 20. and weather

conditions can be found in Table 21. No accidents occurred in darkness and at the same

time only one accident occurred while it was raining. There seems to be no trend

regarding the weather or quality of lighting.



Table 20:Light conditions on Junction 6 A6/M6/Church Rd


Light 4

Dark 0

Total 4


Table 21:Road Surface conditions on Junction 6 A6/M6/Church Rd


Dry 3

Wet 1

Total 4


The accidents that occurred seem to be either rear end shunts or driver misjudgement.

Out of the four accidents, three were rear end shunts and account for over half the

accidents over the 5 years.

4.8 Junction 7 A49/B5083

An analysis of collision data from October 2012 to April 2016 was undertaken at Junction

7 A49/B5083 The severity and year of collisions are summarised in Table 22. A total of

three collisions occurred over the 5 years, all were of slight damage. No serious or fatal

accidents occurred.

Table 22: Severity & Year of Collisions on Junction 7 A49/B5083

Severity 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Total

Fatal 0 0 0 0 0 0

Serious 0 0 0 0 0 0

Slight 2 0 0 0 1 3

Total 2 0 0 0 1 3



conditions can be found in Table 24 All of the accidents occurred in fine weather.

Table 23:Light conditions on Junction 7 A49/B5083


Light 2

Dark 1

Total 3


Table 24: Road Surface conditions on Junction 7 A49/B5083


Dry 3

Wet 0

Total 3




The accidents that occurred seem to be caused by primarily driver misjudgement with

drivers trying to overtake a car. Only one incident was a rear end shunt.

4.9 Junction 8 M65/M6

An analysis of collision data from March 2011 to May 2016 was undertaken at Junction 8

M65/M6. The severity and year of collisions are summarised in Table 25. A total of 22

collisions took place over the 5 years. Of the collisions, none involved fatalities, two were

serious damage and 20 were of slight severity.

Table 25:Severity & Year of Collisions on Junction 8 M65/M6

Severity 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Total

Fatal 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Serious 1 0 0 0 1 0 2

Slight 6 4 3 3 1 3 20

Total 7 4 3 3 2 3 22



conditions can be found in Table 27. Accidents occurred in both rain and fine weather.

There appears to be no correlation regards to the lighting condition/ weather condition to

how many accidents there were.

Table 26: Light conditions on Junction 8 M65/M6


Light 16

Dark 6

Total 22


Table 27: Road Surface conditions on Junction 8 M65/M6


Dry 16

Wet 5

Other 1

Total 22


Accidents seem to be primarily caused by driver misjudgement and speed, as 13 were of

this cause. The remaining accidents consist of seven rear end shuts and two were down

to weather conditions.

4.10 Junction 9 Nook Lane/Wigan Rd

An analysis of collision data from June 2013 to September 2016 was undertaken at

Junction 9 Nook Lane/Wigan Rd. The severity and year of collisions are summarised in



Table 28. A total of four collisions occurred over the 5 years. All collisions were of slight

damage; no collisions were serious or fatal.

Table 28: Severity & Year of collisions on Junction 9 Nook Lane/Wigan Rd

Severity 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Total

Fatal 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Serious 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Slight 0 0 2 0 2 0 4

Total 0 0 2 0 2 0 4


The light condition data during the collisions can be found in Table 29. and weather

conditions can be found in Table 30. Accidents occurred in both rain and fine weather.

There seems to be no correlation between the lighting condition/ weather condition and to

how many accidents took place.

Table 29: Light conditions on Junction 9 Nook Lane/Wigan Rd


Light 3

Dark 1

Total 4


Table 30: Road Surface conditions on Junction 9 Nook Lane/Wigan Rd


Dry 3

Wet 1

Total 4


The accidents that occurred seem to be primarily driver misjudgement as three were due

to this factor. Only one accident was a rear end shunt.

4.11 Junction 10 M65 Roundabout

An analysis of collision data from June 2014 to October 2015 was undertaken at Junction

10 M65 Roundabout. The severity and year of collisions are summarised in Table 31. A

total of four collisions occurred over the 5 years. Of the collisions, one fatality occurred

and three of slight damage.

Table 31: Severity & Year of collisions on Junction 10 M65 Roundabout

Severity 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Total

Fatal 0 0 0 0 1 0 1

Serious 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Slight 0 0 0 1 2 0 3

Total 0 0 0 1 3 0 4





conditions can be found in Table 33 Accidents occurred in both other and fine weather.

There seems to be no correlation between the lighting condition/ weather condition and to

how many accidents there were.

Table 32: Light conditions on Junction 10 M65 Roundabout


Light 3

Dark 1

Total 4


Table 33: Road Surface conditions on Junction 10 M65 Roundabout


Dry 3

Other 1

Total 4


There seems to be some alignment issues with this junction, two of the four accidents

seem to be caused by drivers losing control after coming to a tight bend at the junction.

Three accidents were because of drivers’ misjudgement and one accident was a rear end

shunt. On further interrogation of the STATS 19 data, the fatality was caused by a

pedestrian walking in the carriageway of the M6 during the hours of darkness. This would

suggest human error ahead of design issues at the junction.

4.12 Junction 12 Old School Ln/A582

Only one collision occurred at Junction 12 Old School Ln/A582 in September 2015 and is

summarised in Table 34. The collision took place in 2015 on a clear day with a good

lighting condition. A rear end shunt collision took place and caused slight damage.

Table 34:Severity & Year of Collisions on Junction 12 Old School Ln/A582

Severity 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Total

Fatal 0

0

0

0

0 0

0

Serious 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Slight 0 0 0 0 1 0 1

Total 0 0 0 0 1 0 1




4.13 Junction 13 A69/ Lancaster Lane/B5256

The severity and year of collisions is summarised for Junction 13 A69/Lancaster

Lane/B5256 in Table 35. A total of eight collisions occurred over the 5 years, no collisions

involved fatalities, two were serious damage and six were of slight damage.

Table 35:Severity & Year of Collisions on Junction 13 A69/Lancaster Lane/B5256

Severity 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Total

Fatal 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Serious 1 0 0 0 1 0 2

Slight 0 1 0 1 4 0 6

Total 1 1 0 1 5 0 8


The light condition data during the collisions can be found in Table 36 and weather

conditions can be found in Table 37. There was no pattern found regarding whether the

weather or light conditions contributed to more accidents.

Table 36: Light conditions on Junction 13 A69/Lancaster Lane/B5256


Light 6

Dark 2

Total 8


Table 37: Road Surface conditions on Junction 13 A69/Lancaster Lane/B5256


Dry 7

Wet 1

Total 8


The accidents that occurred seem to be primarily due to driver errors with six of the

accident being caused by this. Two accidents were rear end shunts; one being of slight

severity and one being serious.



5 Proposed Development

5.1 Application Description

The application proposes a major mixed-use development of the Site.

The description of development is as follows:

Hybrid planning application comprising: Detailed (Full) submission for retail floorspace

(Use Classes A1-A3) and associated car parking, site access, highway works and

strategic landscaping. Outline submission for employment (Use Classes B1-B8), hotel

(Use Class C1), health & fitness and leisure (Use Class D2), Crèche/Nursery (Use Class

D1), Retail (Use Classes A1-A5), car showrooms (Use Class Sui Generis), Residential

(Use Classes C2/C3) and provision of associated parking, access, public open space,

landscaping and other works.

5.2 Floorspace Quantum

The application seeks permission for the following land uses and quantum of floorspace.

Table 28: Development Quanta

Proposed Development

GFA

Sq m/No. Units

Business (Use Class B1)

Employment (Use Class B2 – B8)

Retail (Use Classes A1-A5)*

Hotel (Use Class C1)

Gym (Use Class D2)

Creche/Nursery (Use Class D1)

Car Showroom (Sui Generis)

Residential/Extra Care (Use Class C2 & C3)

36,000

80,000

70,400

8,000

2,000

2,000

7,200

210 units

Source: DLA Architects

*Detailed application

The overall quantum of permitted floorspace will however be capped at 193,300 sq m gross and

210 residential and extra care units.

5.3 Form of Application

The application takes the form of a hybrid planning application, with the majority of the retail,

access and strategic infrastructure submitted in full, and the remaining elements submitted in

outline with all matters reserved, save for access to the residential component of the scheme.

The outline elements will be supported by a set of parameter plans and a Design Code

document that will control future reserved matters applications.

The submitted Parameter Plans define the principles of development sought within the planning

application which cover the following:

● Application Site Boundary;



● Scheme Development Plots;

● Uses & Quantum of Development;

● Maximum Building Heights;

● Vehicle, Pedestrian and Cycle Access Routes; and

● Strategic Landscaping.

The Design Code document details the major elements of land use, layout, form and scale,

maximum and minimum floorspace quanta and other key development principles. Once

approved, these will provide a basis for future Reserved Matters submissions.

The Site will be delivered in phases and the quantum of development and disposition across the

site will be as set out in the table below.

Table 39: Maximum GFA and Plot Development

Use Class

MAX GFA

Sq m/No. Units

MAX Plot Development

Sq m/no. Units

Plot 1 – Employment North


Financial & Professional Services (Use Class A2)

26,000

1,000

26,000

Plot 2 – Mixed Use

Retail (Use Classes A1-A5)

Hotel (Use Class C1)

Gym (Use Class D2)

Crèche/Nursey (Use Class D1)

Car Showroom (Sui Generis)

2,600

8,000

2,000

2,000

7,200

20,000

Plot 3 – Employment South

Employment (Use Classes B2 & B8)


80,000

10,000

80,000

Plot 4 - Retail

Retail (Use Class A1)

Restaurants & Café (Use Class A1 & A3)

65,000

1,800

66,800

Plot 5 - Residential

Residential (Use Class C3)

Extra Care (Use Class C2) up to 90 units

Up to 210 units (in total

210 units

Source: DLA Architects/Barton Willmore

5.4 Highway Scoping

As part of the transport scoping, Lancashire County Council Highways have been consulted

throughout the pre-planning process. The concept and design of the internal highway layouts

and the required interface with the existing network, has been brought forward through a



collaborative arrangement between Mott MacDonald and LCC Highways based on the access

strategy within masterplan for the site. The concept and required approach closely aligns with

the Central Lancashire Transport and Highways Masterplan and this has been reviewed and

referenced throughout the process.

A full scoping note is included within the Appendix H along with progress notes.

5.4.1 Study Area and Traffic Surveys

A full study area was identified and subsequently approved by LCC, which includes 13

Junctions throughout the localised network. As established in Section 3, many of the highways

in the vicinity of the site are major strategic routes through Central Lancashire and beyond.

Below is a full list of the junctions that were surveyed using fully classified turning counts:

1. A582 Farrington Rd/ A5083 Stanifield Ln / B5254 Watkin Ln (4-arm signalised roundabout);

2. Cuerden Way/ A582 Lostock Ln (4-arm signalised junction);

3. A6 Lostock Ln / Cuerden Way / South Rings (4 arm signalised junction);

4. A6 Lostock Ln / B6256 Station Rd / A49 Wigan Rd (4-arm signalised junction);

5. M6 / A6 (4-arm roundabout);

6. A5083 Stanifield Rd / A5083 Lydiate Ln / B5254 Stanifield Rd (3-arm- p/c junction);

7. A5083 Lydiate Ln / A49 Wigan Rd (3-arm-signalised junction);

8. M6 / M65 (Part Signalised 4-arm roundabout);

9. Nook Lane / A49 Wigan Road (3-arm- p/c junction);

10. M65 / Proposed Development Access (2-arm Roundabout);

11. Old Lostock Lane /A49 (p/c junction);

12. Todd Lane South/ A582 Lostock Ln / Old School Ln (p/c, left in left out);

13. B5256 Leyland Way / B5256 Lancaster Lane / A49 Wigan Road (4 Arm Signalised

Junction).

In order to test the Weekend Peak and Weekday AM and PM peaks, traffic surveys were carried

out in the final two weeks in June with the exception of the M6/M65 roundabout, which required

a slightly longer lead-in to obtain permissions from Highways England and their Area 10

Contractors to survey. Junctions 1-13 (with the exception of 8) were surveyed on Wednesday

15 June, Saturday 25 June and Sunday 26 June 2016.

Junction 8 was surveyed on Wednesday 13 July and Sunday 17 July to obtain the relevant

datasets. All surveys were checked for clashes with events and were within normal school term

times.

In addition to the fully classified turning counts, queue length surveys, pedestrian surveys and

weeklong automated traffic counts were all carried out to obtain as full a picture as possible of

the local highway network.

5.5 Internal Highway Arrangement

5.5.1 M65 Access

The framework drawing for the site is included in Appendix A. Please refer to this for visual

representation of the plans.



The masterplan defined the required access points to the site following consultation with both

Highways England and LCC. It was established at this stage that a third arm to the M65

terminus roundabout would be required and that the only safe point that the arm could be

constructed was through its western embankment. Options were tabled with access to the

south, but this did not leave sufficient clearance from the end of the M65.

As a result of the new access, a fully signalised solution to the roundabout would be necessary

which radically alters its function currently as a ‘change of direction.’ Essentially the layout

routes M65/M6 traffic north, whilst providing a segregated section of the road for access to the

DVSA testing site. There is no opposed or merging flow movement.

The masterplan highlighted the need for advanced gantries and the potential for VMS signage

indicating routes to the development site from the M65 and the M6 slip. Further detailed

consultation alongside representatives from Highway England’s (HE) Area 10 team soon led to

the conclusion that weaving and merging traffic management issues would be the single most

important aspect of the approaches. Design and option testing has reflected this critical safety

requirement. The suggested design to be taken forward includes segregated approach lanes

from the M6 slip and the M65 controlled at the stopline by the roundabout signals. Please see

Appendix A for the suggested layout design. This has been shared with HE and is subject to

ongoing discussions.

5.5.2 Retail Access Route

The proposed highway enters the Site from the western side of the M65 terminal roundabout

and falls to the first internal roundabout, which provides access to the northern business park

and the south for the majority of other traffic. The carriageway quickly forms into three lanes;

the two easternmost proceed towards the retail park without signal control to allow for greater

fluidity of traffic flow during busy periods. The western lane proceeds southbound to the primary

employment (B2/B8) uses. The retail carriageway continues as two lanes running alongside the

existing Stoney Lane alignment. Footways and a cycle lane are present to the northern kerb

and two uncontrolled accesses for mixed use plots join the carriageway in this section.

As the road approaches the retail plots of the development, it forms a roundabout with

continuation of the retail access road running northwards, a secondary egress for the retail car

park joining from the eastern side and one way egress for the retail based traffic to the south.

This continues to the south side of Stoney Lane mirroring the carriageway to the north in a

westbound direction.

As the retail route continues north and eastwards it retains two lanes but brings the opposing

flows together separated by a central median. Two kerbed roundabouts provide direct access

into the eastern and western sections of the retail car park. There are two half width laybys

included for bus services routing through the site; one on the eastbound carriageway closer to

the ancillary A3 units and the second westbound stop close to the Wigan Road access. A

controlled pedestrian crossing links the eastbound bus stop with pedestrian routes across the

car park.

The junction with Wigan Road will form a fully signalised junction with pedestrian crossing

facilities and will provide an important secondary access/egress route for the site. Access from

Wigan Road will be a single lane in a westbound direction before widening to two lanes after the

eastern most roundabout.



5.5.3 Retail Egress Routes

As described above, the key access and egress routes to the retail development will retain two

lanes in either direction for the majority of their extents. The egress to the M65 terminus follows

a route to the south of the existing Stoney Lane bridleway alignment. This splits from the

eastbound route described above at the roundabout due west of the main retail units. The

carriageway continues westwards with left in left out access point for a proposed pub restaurant

(outline) and food retail (outline).

The highway then joins a gyratory arrangement which permits north and southbound flows to

the employment plots whilst allowing two lanes of the retail traffic to turn northwards to the large

northern roundabout closest to the M65 terminal. Pedestrian routes cross the carriageway north

of the gyratory using a toucan crossing. Footway is included alongside the carriageways to

provide a broad pedestrian accessibility to all plots.

An additional egress route is proposed on the service access between the IKEA block and the

adjacent retail units. The egress allows traffic to filter throught the service access to Wigan

Road. This is proposed to be used as an emergency release during periods when congestion

within the car park is particularly intensive- nominally during emergencies or extreme seasonal

peaks. This will be subject to a management regime to be agreed with the on-site team and will

be controlled by IKEA.

5.5.4 Employment Land South Access

For the B2/B8 sites to the south of the overall development site, access will be achieved via the

gyratory described in section 5.5.3 from the M65 terminal roundabout as the principal access

point. South of the gyratory the carriageway forms a single lane in either direction linking to

access points to each of the plots.

A left in arrangement is proposed for the main southbound spine road to the retail plot sitting

between the eastern B2/B8 distribution unit and the westbound retail egress road. This

prevents food retail customers needing to continue eastbound towards the main retail park and

slingshot back towards the retail unit to the west.

Direct access from Stanifield Lane will be permitted for public service vehicles only and

controlled via a bus gate. A holding car park for employees routing from the south and west will

be accessible to avoid unnecessary circuitous traffic movements via Lostock Lane to the M65

terminal and into the primary site access.

5.5.5 Residential Development

As part of the proposals, residential properties will form part of the outline application. The

access to the development will be formed on to Stanifield Lane with adequate visibility and

clearance from the A582 roundabout to the north. Connections and linkages to the existing

properties will be retained as far as possible from School Lane and Stoney Lane, though layouts

will be confirmed through reserved matters applications.

5.5.6 Cycle Provision

Cycle lanes are included alongside the access road linking Wigan Road with the retail park,

through to the employment uses and residential land to the west. Stoney Lane will also be

retained to ensure that existing rights of way are maintained as far as possible. An additional

and positive aspect of the retention of Stoney Lane is the segregated link it provides through the

core of the site. This will prove popular for novice cyclists and help to promote modal shift for

shorter distance journeys both to and through the development site. It is also proposed that the



site will include 150 secure storage cycles spaces to help encourage a modal shift for both

customers and staff.

Figure 5.1 indicates the 8km isochrone for cycling, indicating Leyland and Preston City Centre

being within a convenient cycle distance from the site.

Figure 5.1 8Km Cycle Isochrone

5.5.7 Pedestrian Provision

Footpaths are proposed across the northern part of the site, linking the business park,

residential area and the hotels with the key east-west route on the Stoney Lane alignment. The

majority of these routes provide attractive environments by combining with the substantial areas

of green infrastructure and sustainable drainage features.

Pedestrian footways are proposed to mirror most of the highway access routes. This fosters a

good sense of natural surveillance throughout the site.

Footways adjacent to the highway are a minimum of 2m widening to 3m where space permits.

Signalised crossing points are positioned at key desire-lines;

● The northern retail access between the eastbound bus stop and internal pedestrian routes;



● North of the Employment/Retail interface gyratory connecting to Stoney Lane;

● Between the retail car park and the proposed mixed use sites to the east;

● Linking across the main access from the M65 terminal to the business park;

● Outside the hotel/gym across to the mixed use land; and

● Across Lostock Lane linking to the Old School Lane alignment.

Figure 5.2 Cycle and Pedestrian Links through the Site

Source: DLA

5.5.8 Modal Share for the Retail / IKEA

The industry standards TRICs database has been used to estimate the likely typical modal split

for the retail section of the site. The peak hour tends to be at the weekends between 13:00 –

14:00. Graph 1 displays a summary of the modal split. This indicates that the majority of the

customers and staff are likely to be getting to the site via private car (94.5%). Importantly, the

majority of car trips are shared with other people (69.5%) which means that single occupancy

vehicle trips are modest (24.6%)



There is an opportunity to manage and reduce some of this demand through the Travel Plan.

This will be more effective with staff, which the Travel Plan will have more influence over. This is

because regular travel patterns can be monitored and assessed for potential alternatives. IKEA

also allows customers to order in store and for the product to be delivered to their home,hich

reduces the need to take products home in private vehicles and increases the convenience of

travelling to the site on public transport.

Graph 1: The modal split from TRICs database for Saturday peak hour 13:00 – 14:00

Source: TRICS 2016

5.5.9 Bus Routes

Bus routing is dependent on the commercial decisions of the respective operators. However,

the Cuerden Strategic Site presents a significant opportunity to enhance patronage on key

routes to the South Ribble areas.

Below are potential bus services close to the site, which may offer opportunities to divert

through the site and tie into key rail routes. Importantly, both east and west routes proposed are

high frequency which have greater potential to remove potential site users out of their cars.

Stagecoach’s flagship route between Bolton and Preston (125) could feasibly divert through the

development site from the east, similarly the 109 route between Leyland and Preston would

connect well with the Leyland railway station.

Initial conversations have been held between the LCC Public Transport Team and Stagecoach.

At this point the operators are supportive and are keen to deliver a service through the site but

would need to consider the impacts of route diversion on existing service delivery along with



the potential to run new routes to the site. The future patronage levels would be would be a key

consideration in the viability of the routes.

The Cuerden Strategic Site will present an attractive opportunity especially for local employees

to access the site via public transport modes. A range of options are possible for bus access

from the east (Wigan Road) and the west (Stanifield Lane). Frequent services (125) to the east

pass Bamber Bridge but do not travel via Wigan Road, instead routing via the A6. A new

service or newly diverted service has the potential to pick up key population areas to the south

including Chorley and Euxton linking to Lostock Hall and Walton-le-Dale to the north.

Services on Stanifield Lane will link via enhanced pedestrian routes during the earlier phases of

the scheme before a bus gate access is opened up to the southern employment land. This will

allow services to and from Leyland to connect to the key sites within the development boundary.

Bus services could feasibly integrate local rail stations at Lostock Hall and Bamber Bridge

permitting longer range commuting from Preston and East Lancashire. Connectivity from

Leyland Rail station would also present an attractive prospect for overall connectivity to the

north and south.

From initial journey to work (Census 2011) modal split for South Ribble approximately 7% of

commuters currently use public transport. On full build out of the site up to 4500 jobs could be

created which would equate to employment demand of 300-315 bus / rail trips. With effective

implementation of the Travel Plan this number could feasibly increase to more than 400 trips.

The retail element, assuming an increase to 5% percent of customers travel by public transport,

could number 50 trips per hour or more depending on shopper demand during peak times.



Figure 5.3: Bus Routes Existing and Potential Additional Routes

Source: MML/LCC/DLA

5.6 Site Wide Parking

Car parking throughout the site has been reviewed against the SRBC standards contained

within the Local Plan Appendices and highlighted by Policy F1. The policy stated that the

parking standards are for guidance and any parking above these should be justified through the

Transport Assessment. Given the location of the site, it is considered as being outside of

established town centres. Parking levels for the larger land uses; B2/B8 and the retail are very

close to the standards. As surrounding highways form strategic connections through Central

Lancashire overflow on-street parking is to be avoided as far as practicable. Therefore higher

numbers of spaces, especially for the retail site should help alleviate any problems at

particularly busy peaks.

Table 40: Site Wide Parking

Use GFA (sqm)

SRBC Standard

SRBC Mobility

Impaired

Parking number

proposed

Mobility Impaired

proposed

Difference from standard

Office/

Business Park

25,926 1 per 30sqm

6+2% 1057 61 +193



Use GFA (sqm)

SRBC Standard

SRBC Mobility

Impaired

Parking number

proposed

Mobility Impaired

proposed

Difference from standard

Hotel 120 Beds 1 per bed plus staff

3 or 6% 187 14 Dependent on staff

Car Showroom 7,125 1 per 50sqm

4%+4 304 +161

Food Retail 1,765 1 per14sqm 3 or 6% 112 5 -14

Pub/ restaurant 762(650) public

1 per 8sqm public space

3 or 6% 76 3 -5

Industrial B2/B8 80,000 1 per 100sqm

(B8)

6+2% 813 49 +13 (based on B8)

Retail (large GFA) 64,366 1 per40sqm 4+4% 1998 with staff

88 +389

Source: DLA/SRBC Core Strategy Appendix 4

The general picture of parking across the main development areas within the site are close to or

within SRBC standard; slightly higher numbers are stated for the B1 office park and the car

showrooms. Many of the spaces for the car showrooms will be occupied by cars subject to

sales and therefore are higher to cover external demand from customers. The B1 Office uses at

this stage is likely to be phased later in the construction programme. Experience shows in the

locality that restricted office car parking leads to overflow issues on access roads notably at

Walton Summit Business Park in Bamber Bridge.

5.6.1 Retail Parking Provision

Retail parking provision for the site is a total of 1998 spaces broken down into the following

quanta, the retail spaces can be accessed by all visitors to the site regardless of shopping

destination:

Retail Carpark:

● Customer Spaces: 662

● Accessible Spaces: 32

● Parent and Child: 18

● Electric Charging: 4

● Staff: 151 (accessed from service yard road)

● TOTAL: 867

● Motorcycle Spaces: 18

● Cycle: 100

IKEA Carpark:

● Customer Spaces: 909

● Accessible Spaces: 56

● Parent and Child: 31

● Electric Charging: 10

● Staff: 122 (accessed from service yard road inc 3 disabled staff parking spaces)

● TOTAL: 1131



● Cycle: 50

Staff spaces have been designed in line with end user requirements and aim to provide a

sustainable level of parking. The allocation of spaces and shift patterns will be managed by the

retailers through travel plans

5.7 Servicing

The retail units will be serviced from Wigan Road. It is proposed that IKEA will have 10

deliveries per day and 6 deliveries in total for the other retail developments . This gives a total of

16 deliveries for the retail element per day. The restaurant will be serviced by a loop off the

main servicing route from Wigan Road. It is assumed that there will be a total of 4 deliveries per

day for the restaurant. Combined with the retail, there will be a total of 20 deliveries on a typical

day primarily for stock, usually outside of the surrounding highway’s peak hours, this will be on a

7 day week basis.

5.8 Emergency Access

Emergency access will be achievable from all three access points of the site to allow the

maximum level of permeability. Site management will control access between the rear service

yards and the main car parking areas but this will be made available in emergency situations.

5.9 Site Wide Management

CBRE has been appointed at the site wide manager at Cuerden Strategic Site. As part of the

management strategy they will control access to the staff restricted areas and servicing to

ensure they are protected from abuse by the general public.



6 Trip Generation and Distribution

6.1 Introduction

This section outlines how the trip generation for the proposed Site has been calculated. It

outlines the methodology and assumptions used for the calculations and sources of data within

the Trip Generation section. The generation of linked trips has been explored and trip

distribution then explored in more detail.

6.2 Trip Generation

6.2.1 IKEA Trip Generation

IKEA stores typically do not follow the usual pattern for retail land use. They are influenced

more by their population catchments as direct competition locally is usually limited. As such,

most IKEA stores majority stock the same products with a similar warehouse size, which means

that customers will generally choose a store which is most convenient for them within an

acceptable drive-time from home.

The TRICS survey database offers trip generation for an IKEA store in Wembley. Due to its

location within London, this has been deemed not a suitable/comparable site. In addition the

unique nature of IKEA stores trip generation means other homeware stores have been not been

used as alternatives for trip generation proxies.

As with other retail land use where the Gross Floor Area (GFA) can be used to calculate trip

rates, this tends to assume a straight line correlation between GFA and trip rates; ie the larger

the GFA, the more trips that are generated. However, research carried out by Vectos (IKEA’s

retained traffic and transport consultancy) and cited in a transport assessment for a site in

Exeter outlined how increasing an IKEA stores’ GFA does not necessarily increase the number

of trips in the weekday and Saturday peak. Indeed in the case of Southampton, which is one of

the largest IKEA stores in the study it was shown to generate the least Saturday peak trips.

(See Table 42).

Similar IKEA stores include the proposed sites in Exeter and Sheffield. Their locations are

shown in Figure 6 and 7. Both are located in close proximity to a motorway adjacent to retail

units which could provide linked and diverted trips; the M5 in the case of Exeter and the M1 with

Sheffield.

The proposed two way flows for the Exeter and Sheffield IKEA stores are displayed in Table 41.

Table 41: Comparison of Sheffield and Exeter Estimated Trips

Weekday PM Peak Hour (17:00-18:00)

Saturday Peak (13:00-14:00)

IKEA Store Parking Spaces

Size In Out Total In Out Total

Sheffield 988 36,500sqm 214 209 423 582 640 1,222

Exeter 950 28,000sqm 171 180 351 506 515 1,021

Source: Vectos Transport Planning



Figure 6: Location of IKEA Sheffield


The two way trips for the Exeter IKEA store Transport Assessment (TA) (Vectos), surveyed

Cardiff IKEA store as a precedent. Observed flows from other IKEA stores have also been taken

from the proposed Sheffield TA. These are for Milton Keynes and Southampton which are

shown in Table 42. The table also includes the population within a 60 minute drive and GFA.

This provides useful reference for trip generation but indicates no correlation present between

trip generation and floor size/population. In the case of the Cuerden site, the proximity of the

Strategic Highway Network, results in the proposed additional retail and broad catchment for the

site is 2.08 million.

Table 42: Comparative Trip Rates IKEA Stores UK

IKEA Store Floor Size (sq

m)

60 min Population

Parking Spaces Weekday PM Peak Trips

Sat Peak Trips

Exeter 28,000 1,300,000 950 351 1,021

Cardiff 26,000 1,661,754 800 351 1,021

Bristol 29,700 2,331,469 510 499 927

Milton Keynes 24,650 2,580,047 820 663 1,139

Southampton 35,000 2,425,298 900 245 728

Average 28,670 2,059,713 796 421 967

Source: Vectos Transport Planning and SBA (WYG)

For the Cuerden IKEA store, an average of the Exeter, Sheffield and Bristol IKEA stores have

been taken. The Cuerden IKEA has a floor size of approximately 35,000 m2. and will provide a

robust estimation of the trip generation for the proposed store in Cuerden based on both

predicted and observed flows.



As can be seen from Table 42, the larger the gross floor area in the case of the Southampton

IKEA store does not necessarily equate to a higher number of trips. Catchment information has

been provided by Vectos specific to the Preston site which is included in Appendix C.

Catchments of between 1.3 and 2.6 million population were reviewed. It was predicted that the

Preston catchment, once adjustments for the Ashton and Warrington stores were taken into

account would extend from the northern boroughs of Greater Manchester in the south to

Lakeland in the north. The Pennines provide a natural boundary with Leeds and Gateshead

accounting for most of Yorkshire and the North East.

To give a representative trip figure and of the estimation process for IKEA an average of the five

sites investigated was used. In each case the IKEA site had differing retail offers and

catchments and there was no clear correlation between the sites, parking numbers and the

traffic generation either predicted or observed.

The Retail Impact Assessment has been used within the estimations of distribution of traffic on a

regional basis, see section 6.3. Though for the trip numbers, as in common with other IKEA

sites, observed flows have been used.

Figure 7: Location of IKEA Exeter


6.2.2 B8 Southern Employment Land

Interrogation of the TRICS database gave little information on specific distribution style

developments. This type of land use, although part of the B2/B8 category, is likely to generate

proportionately higher trips than warehousing which is more commonly listed on the database.

Sites within TRICS although extensive, did not contain the type of target end user that is

expected for the Cuerden site.



Surveys were subsequently procured by Brookhouse, development partners for the southern

employment site and residential uses. The surveys included information for the Omega North

development near Warrington. The land uses here more closely reflect the aspirations of the

development and market interest that Brookhouse has received, this includes flagship

distribution centres for large national and international businesses. It was therefore seen as

appropriate to apply the observed trips from the site across a 24 hour period in June 2016 on

Lockheed Road to obtain realistic trip rates for distribution depots. A full breakdown of the

counts and subsequent trip rates is included within Appendix E

Table 43: Distribution Trip Rates based on Observed Data per 100sqm Based on Omega North, Warrington

Time Arrive Depart Two way

0800-0900 0.12 0.06 0.18

1300-1400 0.22 0.13 0.35

1700-1800 0.15 0.13 0.28

Source: Brookhouse/Traffic Sense Ltd

The remaining land uses have been calculated using TRICS outputs where more specific data

is not available. This is the most common and verifiable methodology to understand vehicular

trips based on land usage. Summaries for each of the land uses are included in the Appendix

E.

This includes:

● Retail (excluding IKEA);

● Residential;

● Mixed use areas (broken down by use where appropriate, eg Hotel; and

● B1 Office Business Park.

Retail figures have been based on Retail Parks excluding food retail selection criteria with GFA

greater than 10,000sqm in areas similar to the proposed development; primarily edge of town

suburban areas referenced in Appendix E The results are included in Table 44 below.

6.2.2.1 Linked Retail Trips and Discounting

Importantly for a development of this nature there will be a large number of trips to the site

which are shared between both the IKEA and the wider retail units. Linked trips are very difficult

to objectively define as they can vary significantly across different retail parks. TRICS research

papers in the past ten years have proven to be inconclusive on a reasonable discount to apply.

However, using evidence from surveys conducted by IKEA and their consultants in the past 5

years, there is a range for sites with similar profiles as the Cuerden Strategic site.

SBA (now part of White Young Green) conducted customer interviews at the existing Bristol,

Lakeside and Gateshead IKEA stores to calculate linked trips; all sites have substantial

additional retail offer in line with the proposed Cuerden site. Customers were asked whether

they were visiting IKEA as a primary trip, or whether they intended to visit other locations before

or after IKEA on the day of the survey. The findings are summarised in Table 44.



Table 44: Customer Survey Linked Trips

IKEA Store Other Non-Food Retail Area

Weekday PM Peak Saturday Peak

Bristol C10,000sqm 25% 35%

Lakeside (2011) 133,200sqm 38% 36%

Lakeside (2012) 25% 50%

Gateshead 194,000sqm 39.5% 45.9%

Average 31.9% 41.2%

Source: SBA (WYG) Sheffield IKEA TA/Intu Shopping Centres/Eastgate Shopping Centre

From reviewing the TRICs research papers and IKEA customer interviews conducted by SBA it

is evident that the retail offer may have some impact on the linked trips. The variance observed

on the Lakeside site in the two separate surveys is greater than the differences between the

larger and smaller retail offers. There are a number of other factors involved which promote the

attractiveness of linked trips that are harder to determine, such as goods on offer, ease of

access to other retail units and secondary attractctions. A reasonable assumption to use for

linked trips between the proposed IKEA store and the surrounding retail units will potentially be

30% during the weekday PM peak but increasing to 40% during the Saturday peak based on

the rounded average of the observed sites above

Table 45 displays the adjusted two way trip calculations based on this level of discounting.

Table 45: Total Site Wide Trip Generation Summary

Trip Rate Calculations

Land Use Max GFA

(Sq m)

Weekday AM (07:30-08:30)

Weekday PM (16:30-17:30)

Saturday/Sunday Peak (13:00-14:00)

Arrival

s

Departur

es

Two-Way Trips

Arrival

s

Departures

Two-

Way Trip

s

Arrivals

Departur

es

Two-Way Trips

Plot 1 Business Park

Business (B1) 26,500 362

50 412 39 296 335 0 0 0

Financial & Professional Services (A2)

1,000 14 2 16 1 11 13 0 0 0

(50%) B8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Total 27,500 376

52 428 40 307 347 0 0 0

Plot 2 Mixed Use

Retail (A1-A5) 2,600 4 1 5 24 27 51 81 79 160

Hotel (C1) 8,000 26 35 61 28 19 47 18 20 38

Gym (D2) 2,000 5 4 10 11 11 23 4 5 8

Car Showroom (Sui Generls)

7,200 51 24 75 21 33 54 27 39 67

Creche / Nursery (D1)

2,000 87 79 166 67 75 142 0 0 0

Sub Total 21,800 173

144 317 151 165 316 130 143 273



Trip Rate Calculations

Plot 3 Manufacturing

Employment (B2 & B8)

80,000 128

63 191 161 136 297 230 142 371

(25%) B1 20,000 273

38 311 29 223 253 0 0 0

Sub Total 100,000

401

101 502

190 360 550

230 142 371

Plot 4 Retail

Retail (A1) 30,000 45 11 56 273 314 587 932 914 1847

IKEA (A1) 35,000 23 5 28 184 190 374 486 498 984

Restaurants & Café (A1 & A3)

1,800 3 1 3 16 19 35 56 55 111

Linked Retail Trips 31,800

33 8 41 202 233 436 593 582 1174

Sub Total 66,800 56 13 69 386 423 810 1079 1080

2158

Plot 5 Residential

Residential (C3) 120 16 45 61 38 22 59 24 19 43

Extra Care (C2) Up to 90 units

90 12 33 45 28 16 45 18 14 32

Sub Total 210 28 78 106 66 38 104 42 33 75

Total 216,100

1034

388 1422 834 1293 2127

1481 1397

2878

Source: Various and TRICS 7.3.1

6.2.1 Parking Accumulation- Retail

Parking accumulation has been calculated using IKEA arrival and departure profiles (Table 46)

for the Cardiff store as a reasonable proxy based on a similar retail offer and shared by their

transport consultants; Vectos. The IKEA flows have been added to the overall retail flows

following the discounting for linked trips identified above to predict the levels of parking

accumulation during the busiest weekend peaks

There is clearly a build up around midday peak hours (between 12pm and 3pm) for incoming

traffic with exiting traffic increasing after 3pm. Below is the estimated profile specific to the

Cuerden Strategic Site. This indicates that during the busiest periods accumulation is within the

1998 (including staff) spaces available for retail.

Table 47: Estimated Combined Retail Parking Accumulation

Preston

Start 186

Time In Out

Accumulation

09:00 348 68

466

10:00 723 299

890

11:00 892 562

1220

12:00 962 723

1460

13:00 1,079 859

1680



Preston

Start 186

14:00 1,073 1,092

1661

15:00 935 1,081

1515

16:00 761 1,149

1127

17:00 407 814

720

18:00 250 553

417

19:00 117 382

152

Total 7,547 7,581

Source: Vectos/MML/IKEA

6.3 Distribution

The distribution of traffic to the site is critical in understanding the likely impacts at the

respective highway interfaces. Retail and employment land uses will differ in their distribution

profile based on trip origins and the likelihood of travel on certain routes. Employment traffic is

more likely to focus on local networks with some employees travelling further and via the

Strategic Road Network (SRN). Alternatively large retail attractors such as IKEA can draw

customers from a wide geographical area and will be more reliant on the trunk road network.

There are some minor changes to the distribution between the IKEA and other retail sites; this

was fed through from the Retail Impact Assessment (RIA) which analysed using identical

journey paths from the respective RIA study zones.

6.3.1 Employment Land Uses

For the majority of the non-retail uses on the site a gravity model has been used to estimate the

distribution in accordance with Journey to Work Data from Census 2011 statistics. This

includes the B1 office, B2/B8, mixed use sites and residential.

The gravity model uses distance, as the crow flies, to distribute traffic. The distributed traffic has

then been assigned to the local road network using an internet mapping package for a typical

day at 08:00. This takes account local traffic and assigns a route accordingly. The majority of

movements enter and exit the local highway network via the strategic routes.

The main entry / exit routes are the A6 South / M6 South to and from Chorley, and the M61

North towards Preston.

From the gravity model, 85-90% of visitors to the Cuerden site will use the main access, with

approximately 10-15% utilising the access onto the A49. Approximately 40-50% are expected to

arrive via the motorway network and as such there are a significant proportion of movements on

all of the key motorway junctions.

In terms of the local highway network, the greatest proportion of distributed traffic use the

London Way / Lostock Lane junction. Similarly Lostock Lane (A582) on approach to Flensburg

Way will be the key east-west movements

Importantly the Site presents employment opportunity across the M65 corridor eastwards with

good highway and public transport links to Burnley and Blackburn. Rail links to Bamber Bridge

and Lostock Hall present opportunities for non-car based journeys to the area.



Table 46: Employment Distribution Estimates

Routes %

M6 (from/to North) 15

M6 (from/to South) 12

M65 (from/to East) 22

A6 (from/to North) 6

A6 (from/to South) 9

A582 (from/to West) 26

Wigan Road (from/to North) 2

Wigan Road (from/to South) 5

Source: Derived from NOMIS Census 2011

6.3.2 Retail Land Uses

As part of the planning study for the Cuerden site a full RIA has been carried out by Barton

Willmore. This involved extensive telephone surveys and provides outputs for the IKEA and

non-IKEA retail catchments. This provides an indication of the trade draw that will be brought to

the new development from other retail developments in the vicinity.

Within the retail impact assessment raw data, a percentage of diversion by geographical zone is

defined for the two retail types. GIS outputs were then obtained and a centroid assigned to

each area.

Once the centroid was defined, the shortest route to the Cuerden site was defined using an

internet mapping package, which allowed likely assignment on the immediate localised

network., This takes account for the impact of congestion to driver route choice. The percentage

of trade draw for each zone was used to distribute the anticipated generated traffic from the

proposed development. This has been summarised in Table 47 with full distribution outputs

included within Appendix B

Table 37: % Trade Draw by Zone

Zone Draw by Zone %

IKEA Other Retail

1 5.25 6.00

2 6.50 7.50

3 5.00 5.75

4 5.50 6.25

5 1.50 1.50

6 2.50 2.75

7 4.00 4.75

8 3.25 4.00

9 15.00 15.00

10 2.75 3.50

11 3.25 4.25

12 4.00 3.75

13 5.25 4.00

14 5.25 4.00

15 6.50 5.75

16 4.50 3.75

17 3.50 2.00



Zone Draw by Zone %

18 2.25 2.25

19 3.50 1.75

20 2.75 2.50

21 1.75 2.25

22 4.25 4.50

23 2.00 2.25

Source: Barton Willmore

Figure 8 Retail Trade Zones

Source: Barton Willmore

Table 48: IKEA Retail Estimated Distribution

Routes









Source: Barton Willmore/Googlemap

Table 49: Other Retail Estimated Distribution

Routes




Routes








Source: Barton Willmore/Googlemaps

There are broad similarities between the two distribution estimates, which correspond with the

likelihood of linked trips described in section 6.2.2.1. The majority of trips on a regional level are

also likely to use the SRN to access the site, whilst local trips from the north and west are

predicted to use the A582. Wigan Road will play an important role as the secondary access

with around 10-15% of overall trips using this route. This helps to alleviate additional pressures

on the larger roundabouts without causing significant capacity issues on Wigan Road itself.



7 Baseline Modelling Results

7.1 Preamble

Each of the individual junctions included within the scoping exercise has been modelled using

localised highway capacity software packages. This approach permits a good level of

quantitative analysis for the junction as results give a readily comparable dataset for reviewing

impacts and where mitigation may be appropriate. See plan in Appendix A for junction locations.

As part of the survey process, queue lengths were recorded during the corresponding peak

hour to understand the actual traffic queues when compared with those estimated through the

modelling results. This validation process helps to understand the overall accuracy of the model

when compared with the real world scenario.

The following packages have been used to estimate the baseline impacts at the respective

junctions:

7.1.1.1 LinSig (Signalised junctions)

● A582 Farrington Rd/ A5083 Stanifield Ln / B5254 Watkin Ln (4-arm signalised roundabout);

● Cuerden Way/ A582 Lostock Ln (4-arm signalised roundabout);

● A6 Lostock Ln / Cuerden Way / South Rings (4 arm signalised junction);

● A6 Lostock Ln / B6256 Station Rd / A49 Wigan Rd (4-arm signalised junction);

● A5083 Lydiate Ln / A49 Wigan Rd (3-arm-signalised junction);

● B5256 Leyland Way / B5256 Lancaster Lane / A49 Wigan Road (4 Arm Signalised Junction);

7.1.1.2 ARCADY (Roundabouts)

● M6 / A6 (4-arm roundabout);

7.1.1.3 PICADY (priority controlled junctions- ‘give way’)

● A5083 Stanifield Rd / A5083 Lydiate Ln / B5254 Stanifield Rd (3-arm- p/c junction);

● Nook Lane / A49 Wigan Road (3-arm- p/c junction);

● Old Lostock Lane /A49 (p/c junction);

● Todd Lane South/ A582 Lostock Ln / Old School Ln (p/c, left in left out).

The following results are for the 2016 baseline survey results to validate the models used. For

all junctions the weekday AM and PM peaks and the weekend Saturday and Sunday peaks

have been modelled.

7.2 Results Analysis

7.2.1 LinSig Results

Table 49 contains the core results of the baseline modelling exercise for each of the peak hour

time periods across the weekday and weekend. Capacity results are expressed as a ‘Degree of

Saturation’ (DoS) percentage and related to the ratio of traffic flow and the calculated capacity

of the respective junction arm. It is common to assume 85% as being the limit of the capacity,

though queuing generally remains stable up to 90%. Beyond this point queuing becomes



increasingly unpredictable. Urban areas during peak hours frequently record in excess of 100%

capacity.

Observed queue lengths are included along with a GEH value (validation function of predicted

and observed flows)- the lower the GEH the closer the validation of the model. Results below 5

are accepted to validate.

7.2.1.1 Junction 1 A582/A5083/B5254

The junction was recently reconfigured as part of the initial phases of the City Deal programme.

The latest signal timing data and layouts have been obtained from the local highway authority.

Broadly the junction is very busy during both the AM and PM peak periods with similar DoS

values for each of the arms. Straight ahead movements and consequent queues and capacity

on Farington Road and Lostock Lane are close to or at theoretical capacity (86-89%), though

capacity for left turns from Lostock Lane remains low. Watkin Lane also experiences heavy

flows during all periods but observed queues do not exceed 11 pcu as an average across the

peak periods though these can spike intermittently with queuing in excess of 15 vehicles.

Stanifield Lane generally functions well, the right hand turn lane to Lostock Lane experiencing

the higher saturation flows and associated queues.

The weekend Saturday peak scenario appears to be less intensive with degrees of saturation

below those during the weekday. However, the figures on Sunday are high for both Watkin

Lane and Farington Road indicating that Sunday may prove to be the busier of the weekend

network peaks.

7.2.1.2 Junction 2 London Road /Lostock Lane/A6

This is the key junction down to the M65 terminus and links the main A6 Northbound routes to

Preston City Centre. Again the junction has had recent investment to improve capacity with

additional signals. The junction also operates on a MOVA optimisation programme.

Results are broadly similar during the AM and PM peak weekdays to Junction 1 with lanes

heading North, South and Eastbound all with 80% DoS. Average queuing across the peak is

recorded as being low at between 2 to 9 pcus (observed) on all arms across all the observed

periods, which indicates that the optimisation system helps to manage the traffic demand

effectively. The Lostock Lane arm experiences a higher level of queuing on the approaches

than other arms.

Weekend results remain relatively high in terms of DoS values but queuing observed and

modelled appear to be well controlled. Sunday again presents results to suggest that this is the

busier of the two weekend days, though values on the M65 NB arm are slightly below those of

the Saturday values.

7.2.1.3 Junction 3 Cuerden Way/A6/South Rings

This junction serves as the main access point from the A6 for both Sainsbury’s and Aldi to the

north and the South Rings Business Park/ B&Q to the south. Results suggest that the AM peak

has a lower level of traffic routing through it than the PM comparison. This would fit with the

pattern of development in the area, with supermarkets and other retail outlets generally having

lower impacts prior to store openings.

During the PM results for the eastbound A6 indicate DoS values approaching saturation, this is

similar for the westbound movement. Again observed queues do not appear to be high which

could suggest the modelled queues are pessimistic. Capacities on the side arms (Craven Drive

and Cuerden Way) are well within the acceptable parameters.



The weekend paints a very different picture with significant modelled capacity issues predicted

during both Saturday and Sunday peaks. The worst of these are on the main A6/Lostock Lane

arms with DoS calculated over 90% on certain lanes. However, observed queues are well

within acceptable parameters rarely exceeding 5 pcus. An 8pcu queue being the worst case on

the Sunday results. It is likely that the dynamic optimisation provided by the MOVA technology

improves general throughput before queueing builds exponentially.

7.2.1.4 Junction 4 B6258/A49 Lostock Lane/A6 Wigan Road

Modelled impacts at the A49/A6 suggest that the AM peak operates just over the recommended

85% capacity thresholds notably on the main east and westbound movements on the A6 and

traffic joining from the A49 Wigan Road. There is spare capacity on the B6258 and queuing is

low. Modelled queue lengths validate within the GEH thresholds and observed figures generally

indicate that queues are not exceeding 8 pcus. The DoS values appear to be indicating a worse

case than is experienced on the network.

The PM peak notably deteriorates, DoS values indicate capacity problems on all of the

aforementioned arms of the junctions >90%. Observed queues are higher for the EB Lostock

Lane traffic at 10 and 15 pcus though they are significantly lower than the predicted modelled

queues, at the same location (29 and 16) and notable also on Wigan Road with differences

between observed and modelled flows being 9 and 10pcus for the respective lanes at the

stopline.

Weekend figures reflect a similar pattern to other junctions. Saturday peaks operate with ample

spare capacity. Whilst Sunday peaks appear to closely mirror the AM peak scenarios with high

modelled DoS values but similarly low levels of observed and modelled queues.

7.2.1.5 Junction 7 A5083 Lydiate Lane/A49 Wigan Road

Modelled results for all scenarios report significant spare capacity and minimal queuing on all

arms. Typically the PM peak appears to be marginally busier with DoS values of 65% as a

worst case. The junction is away from the heavier flows routing from the main Strategic Trunk

Road network and adjoining land-uses are typically residential or similar low trip generators.

7.2.1.6 Junction 8 M6/M65

A major grade-separated roundabout with free-flow slips from the M6 direct on to the M65

westbound and from the M65 eastbound to the M6 Northbound. The eastbound M65 approach

is signalised.

All modelled scenarios suggest spare capacity is available at the junction, the free-flow slips

help to keep dominant flows moving with little interaction with the gyratory. Queue lengths both

observed and modelled all appear to be within acceptable thresholds.

7.2.1.7 Junction 13 Leyland Way/Lancaster Way/A49 Wigan Road

Although more remote from the site than other junctions, the Leyland Way/Lancaster Way is on

the main non SRN route between Chorley, Euxton and Bamber Bridge. AM weekday peak

results suggest a worst case with Lancaster Lane and Wigan Road South being reported within

the model results as having capacity issues with DoS beyond 90%. Ahead and left movements

from Leyland Way also suggest some localised problems- notably traffic heading south.

The pattern continues in the PM to a lesser extent, though Leyland Way ahead and right turn

lanes are within capacity suggesting a potential tidal flow from the M6 J28 to Euxton and



Chorley in AM, whilst the left and ahead on Leyland Way worsens in the PM scenario as

vehicles head north on Wigan Road to residential areas around Lydiate Lane.

Both weekend scenarios appear to operate well within capacity, suggesting a less retail

dominated part of the network.

7.3 PICADY Results

Table 49 provides the baseline summary results for the priority controlled (give way) junctions

across the study area. Broadly fro PICADY results an RFC value of 85% or below is considered

acceptable.

7.3.1.1 Junction 6 A5083/B5253 (Lydiate Lane/Stanifield Lane)

The results for Lydiate Lane in the AM peak are within the capacity of the junction for all arms.

This is helped by the large flare on Lydiate Lane as it joins Stanifield Lane which allows for easy

left turn exiting manoeuvres whilst queuing right turning traffic waits for appropriate gaps in

traffic. Queues are evident in the observed and modelled outputs for this movement. The PM

Peak is similarly within capacity though the model indicates some queuing on the southbound

Stanifield Lane arm this does not appear to be the case for observed flows. Weekend peaks all

operate with significant spare capacity.

7.3.1.2 Junction 9 Nook Lane/ Wigan Road

Nook Lane is a small side road providing access to an industrial unit and the service yard for

B&Q. Currently modelled and observed flows are minimal and RFC values all indicate spare

capacity is available within this junction.

7.3.1.3 Junction 12 Todd Lane South/Lostock Lane (A582)

Todd Lane South forms a left in left out arrangement with the eastbound A582 carriageway

providing access to primarily residential areas before ultimately connecting with Brownedge

Road to the north. Again modelled outputs indicate little major delay associated with this

junction across all four time periods. Queuing (observed) indicates an occasional delay for

single vehicles.

7.3.1.4 Junction 12 Old School Lane/Lostock Lane (A582)

South of the A582, Old School Lane forms a similar left in left out arrangement to Todd Lane.

Access is currently to a small number of residential dwellings and the carriageway width beyond

its first 50m is limited to one vehicle width with passing places. The results reflect the low usage

of the junction with no delay or queuing both in the modelled results and from the observed

queue length surveys.

7.4 ARCADY Results

7.4.1.1 Junction 5 Church Road/Lostock Lane (A6)/M6 Slips

The theoretical capacity modelling results for the Weekday AM and PM Peaks for this junction

indicate that some arms struggle with demand. Notably the Lostock Lane arm in the AM peak

indicates an RFC for +95% along with the northbound M6 Slip. Observed queues appear to

show a slightly different picture with low queuing numbers; typically 24m or less.



The PM peak appears to suggest some congestion indicated from the theoretical modelling.

However, observed queue lengths indicate low level of queueing which rarely exceeds two to

three pcus. It is likely that high flows use the junction but drivers have time and opportunity to

enter the junction which the model could be overestimating due to the geometric parameters

measured.

Both weekend peaks operate with large amounts of spare capacity and offer little delay.



Table 50: Baseline LinSig Model Validation Outputs





Table 51: Baseline PICADY Model Validation Outputs



Table 52: Baseline ARCADY Model Validation Outputs



8 Traffic Impacts with Development

8.1 Preamble

Traffic modelling has been carried out in two separate scenarios, the first following completion

of the 2019 detailed phase primarily focused on the retail land uses. The second a further five

years into the future for 2024. Although current programme estimates are for completion of later

phases after this point, it is projected that the majority of the Cuerden site is likely to be

operational by this time and is therefore included in the model. This will help ensure a robust

assessment is provided.

Traffic growth has been factored into the future scenarios using TEMPRO figures taken from the

National Trip End Model, local committed development has also been included to provide a

degree of robustness to the assessment. Full outputs of the traffic figures are included in

Appendix C; linked spreadsheets are available on request. Within both future year scenarios, a

‘without development’ and ‘with development’ scenario has been considered to provide

understanding of the extent of impact the development will have when compared with

background traffic growth. As part of the modelling for the A582/Stanifield Lane junction,

provision has been included for the widening works as part of the City Deal programme. Though

the junction itself is already constructed and operating with a newly optimised system.

Linked trips have been used for the retail element of the Site as described in paragraph 6.2.2.1

though wider discounting, using pass-by traffic, for other land uses has not been factored into

the analysis. Primary trips within the peak hours associated with the Site will be created by

employment land and there will be significant proportions of pass-by traffic within these numbers

for the retail uses. Deducting these trips would lead to an overall reduction in total traffic

numbers in reality. However, outside of the Linked Trip retail surveys provided in Table 44,

quantifying these figures can vary significantly between assessments and need a strong

evidence base. By not discounting the analysis provides a highly robust scenario for the future

year forecasting.

Internal junctions have been tested with traffic demands, the new highway has a good level of

capacity throughout and roundabouts within the site will help to minimise delay for access to the

network.

Signalised roundabouts within the study network currently operate under an optimisation

control; MOVA. LinSig models are able to optimise traffic flows but, according to Transport

Research Laboratory (TRL), do not replicate the increases in capacity that the installation of

MOVA can induce. This can mean that the LinSig overestimates the degrees of saturation

levels on signalised roundabouts with MOVA operating.

8.2 LINSIG Results –

8.2.1 A582 Lostock Lane/ A5083 Stanifield Ln / B5254 Watkin Ln

8.2.1.1 2019

● There are some higher degrees of saturation indicated within the traditional network

weekday peaks primarily on Lostock Lane in both the with and without development

scenarios. The saturation levels are within a few percent either side of the recommended

85%. Queues do not tend to exceed 14 pcu.



● Weekend peaks generally operate with better capacity but some arms are close to the

thoeretical limits. The difference between with and without development scenarios appears

to create small percentage DoS increases but these are not significant enough to cause

severe congestive impacts.

● The creation of the dualled section of carriageway to Flensburg Way will improve the

situation with better throughput east-west balanced with the smaller, but still busy, links to

the north and south. The junction already operates under MOVA control which creates

additional capacity beyond that which is shown in the model results.

8.2.1.2 2024

● Background growth begins to push the DoS up on most arms of the roundabout during the

weekday peaks, though the overall collective impact is relatively low and does not exceed

96% saturation, which around the limit of predictable queuing impacts.

● Weekend peaks are closely reflecting the AM and PM weekday results, indicating that this is

and will remain a busy part of the network.

● Additional development traffic appears to have a small impact on the DoS results, there are

some increases on Lostock Lane as traffic head towards the primary access from the west

but these arms were broadly functioning within capacity.

8.2.2 Cuerden Way/ A582 Lostock Lane

8.2.2.1 2019

● There are small incremental changes between the with and without development scenarios

primarily on the north and southbound routes between the site and Preston. This is reflected

in both the weekday and weekend scenarios.

● The majority of arms are within the 85% thresholds with some lanes indicating flows up to

90% DoS. Again, the junction operates under MOVA therefore capacity is likely to be higher

than indicated by the model results.

8.2.2.2 2024

● AM weekday peaks indicate some DoS levels exceeding 90% for the without development

scenarios notably on the Lostock Lane arms but have a relatively small uplift as a result of

adding the ‘with development’ scenario. PM peaks function slightly better and in line with the

weekend peaks, which are busy but within the 90% DoS thresholds. This means that

queuing is relatively well controlled and not excessive.

● Differences between without and with Development scenarios appear to be low incremental

gains/losses depending on the arm and specific lane.

8.2.3 A6 Lostock Lane / Cuerden Way / South Rings

8.2.3.1 2019

● Development impact is predicted to be low for this junction as local traffic from the north is

likely to route south via London Way and the M65 terminal or the A49. Modelled outputs

show that the junction struggles with localised traffic at the weekend with Sunday being the

worst with some arms operating at over 100%. AM and PM peaks appear to operate

relatively well. This clearly suggests the retail offer accessed off this junction is having a

significant impact.

● A recent planning application has been approved (November 10 2016) for the introduction of

an additional egress from the Sainburys’ car park east of the junction. This will help to lower



the amount of green time required from the Cuerden Way as vehicles heading east can

egress without signal control.

8.2.3.2 2024

● The impacts continue to persist, though the AM / PM weekday and Saturday scenarios are

working. Improvements to alleviate vehicles leaving the Sainsbury’s car park will help.

Development trips at this location will be minimal.

8.2.4 A6 Lostock Lane / B6256 Station Rd / A49 Wigan Rd

8.2.4.1 2019

● The AM peak hour in the with and without development scenario is showing to be working

within the general levels of saturation, there are some lanes with above 90% DoS but

queues are generally below 15 pcu.

● PM scenario for both with and without development Lostock Lane Westbound and

Eastbound are above capacity with queuing indicated at around 42 pcus. The with

development scenario has minor incremental changes to queuing on what is already a busy

junction during PM peak hours.

● Weekend peaks cope well with the demand in the with and without development scenarios.

For 2019, the dominant development flow will be for the retail units to the east of the site. It

is the weekend peak when the larger volumes of the development trips will be evident on the

network.

8.2.4.2 2024

● Despite the additional background growth and further employment trips from the proposed

development, the impacts for the 2024 future year assessment reflect the 2019 results with

small incremental changes to the DoS values.

● Again the PM peak is congested whilst the AM and PM peaks are over 90% saturation but

with modest queues there is little difference between the with and without development

figures.

● The weekend peaks both operate within acceptable parameters for the with and without

development scenarios.

8.2.5 A5083 Lydiate Ln / A49 Wigan Rd

8.2.5.1 2019/2024

● All scenarios operate well within acceptable parameters, small uplifts from the development

traffic are evident but are not of concern as congestion will be minimal. This junction may

offer alternative route to the site from Leyland/Farington avoiding the northern end of

Stanifield Lane.

8.2.6 M6/M65 Roundabout/Signal

8.2.6.1 2019

● This junction is a critical interface to the wider strategic road network and within the AM and

PM peak operates with signals to provide opportunity for M65 eastbound traffic to join the

network with minimal delay. All 2019 scenarios function well within the expected parameters

both in the without and with development scenarios.



8.2.6.2 2024

● Moderate pressure could be felt at this junction as the employment sites are delivered. AM

will have increased DoS values for the with development scenario but queuing is not likely to

grow significantly and delay experienced at this junction is unlikely to increase as a result.

● Weekend peaks are likely to function within the normal parameters expected despite the

growth in retail traffic. Free flow slips from the M6 onto the M65 and vice versa (for

westbound traffic) help to reduce the congestive impacts at this junction.

8.2.7 M65 Terminal

8.2.7.1 2019

● This junction is where the major intervention and investment will be focused as part of the

delivery of the wider Cuerden Strategic site. The necessity of signals to control separate

arms of the junction will mean that there will be queuing on the approach to the roundabout.

This is currently relatively rare as the roundabout has no opposing flows or give ways. To

overcome the constraints at the stopline and provide additional queuing capacity, it is

proposed that two lanes are formed from both the M65 and the M6 slip lane. By allowing two

lanes for each approach, the demand for the development traffic along with the existing

vehicles and background growth will be catered for. The modelling predicts that some

queuing is inevitable at the approach but broadly that capacity will be below 90% in both the

weekday and weekend peak hours. The signalisation would not exist without the

development therefore the without development scenario has not been modelled.

● It will be critical to optimise the junction with a MOVA system. This will enhance overall

saturation capacities for all arms whilst also adjusting to what will be a variable demand

throughout the weekdays and weekends.

8.2.7.2 2024

● Additional demand for the employment land will increase the weekday pressures during the

AM and PM peak hours, though results suggest that these will function at or below 90% DoS

prior to consideration of the positive benefits the MOVA optimisation system has on

saturation capacity.

8.2.8 B5256 Leyland Way / B5256 Lancaster Lane / A49 Wigan Road

8.2.8.1 2019

● The junction operates during the weekday peak hour with high volumes of traffic causing

localised congestion. The AM scenario is notably worse than the PM peak, though the

changes between the 2019 with and without development scenarios are negligible.

Weekend peaks operate with spare capacity on all arms.

8.2.8.2 2024

● Patterns reflect the 2019 scenarios with the base (without development) including congestion

during the AM and PM peaks, though queuing is not generally excessive. The with

development scenarios are not significantly different, primarily as the majority of vehicles will

approach the site from the M65 terminal and avoid coming off the M6 earlier to route up

Wigan Road. Weekends are predicted to continue to operate with little delay on the network.



8.3 ARCADY Results

8.3.1 M6 / A6- J29

The results for all scenarios reflect a similar pattern across the weekend and weekday periods.

Notably the weekday peaks for the with and without development scenarios are very busy with

localised queueing on Lostock Lane in the AM peak and the M6 Southbound in the PM. The

additional traffic associated with some employment trips may cause impacts beyond 2024.

ARCADY as a modelling package struggles in areas with high levels of flow to capacity with

results quickly breaking down. In reality, variation in driver behaviours and opportunities for

additional gaps in traffic will be prevalent and are better accounted for in the VISSIM modelling

results.

The new development will bring in traffic from the M6 southbound, which is likely to continue on

to the M65 junction to the south before approaching the primary access on the M65 terminus.

Weekend results suggest good spare capacity with low congestive impacts to 2024.

8.4 PICADY Results – Tables 54 and 55

8.4.1 A5083 Stanifield Rd / A5083 Lydiate Ln / B5254 Stanifield Rd

The priority controlled junction at Lydiate Lane operates with a wide left turn flare, which helps

with the peak hour demands through it. Vehicles turning right from Lydiate Lane to Stanifield

Lane experience some delays and will do to the 2019 and 2024 scenarios, primarily in the

weekday peak hours. There is a worsening in the 2024 scenarios as background traffic

increases, but the development impacts are small by comparison.

8.4.2 Nook Lane / A49 Wigan Road

Nook Lane joins Wigan Road south of its junction with the A6. It provides access to a small

industrial estate. All scenarios to 2024 are indicating minimal delay and impact.

8.4.3 Todd Lane /A49

Todd Lane links with Lostock Lane as a left in- left out arrangement with the eastbound

carriageway. In capacity terms it experiences some levels of saturation up to the 2024

scenarios, but these are broadly confined to the AM peaks. Anecdotally during these busy

network peak periods, vehicles can wait until there are gaps in the platoons of traffic from the

nearby A582/Stanifield Lane signalised roundabout. Though queuing is rarely lengthy, this

pattern is anticipated to be similar and not significantly impacted by the introduction of the

development.

8.4.4 A582 Lostock Ln / Old School

Old School Lane is designated access only and connects to a small number of properties to the

south. Consequently vehicles numbers are small and are not anticipated to grow following the

development of the site. New accesses provided will link to the surrounding network whilst

preserving this route as a single track road with improved links for pedestrians and cyclists only.



8.5 Proposed Internal Junctions

Key internal roundabouts have been tested with the full build-out of the site to test the conflicting

flows from the southern employment sites, the mixed use, the business park along with the retail

development flows. This means the 2024 case has been tested only. For the Wigan Road

access, both the 2019 and 2024 scenarios have been tested as this will be operational on the

wider highway network with the retail flows.

8.5.1 Wigan Road Signal Junction

The results suggest that the new junction will work well in both the 2019 and 2024 scenarios.

The 2024 model indicates a greater degree of saturation, but these are well within the

recommended maxima. Queuing will be localised and is likely to clear within each cycle.

8.5.2 Internal Roundabouts

The site roads have been designed with high capacities to cope primarily with the retail peaks

within weekends and seasonal periods. Roundabouts are used throughout to minimise delay

and keep vehicles and other road users moving as efficiently as possible. Results all indicate

good levels of capacity during weekday and weekend peaks at the key nodes throughout the

site.



Table 53: LINSIG Model Summary Outputs 2019





Source: MML



Table 44: LINSIG Model Summary Outputs 2024





Source: <Insert Notes or Source>

Table 55: ARCADY Summary Outputs 2019

Source: MML



Table 56: ARCADY Summary Outputs 2024

Source: MML

Table 57: PICADY Summary Outputs 2019



Source: Mott MacDonald

Table 58: PICADY Summary Outputs 2024

Source: Mott MacDonald



Internal Junctions

Table 59: Wigan Road, New Access 2019

Table 58 Wigan Road, New Access 2024



Table 60 Internal Roundabouts to 2024

Table 61 Stanifield Lane/New Residential Access 2024



9 VISSIM Modelling

9.1 Background

The capacity based modelling exercises and results described in the preceding sections provide

the quantitative results for individual junctions along with the respective anticipated queues. In

order to understand the linkage of the junctions and how they operate on a broader scale, a

microsimulation model has been built using VISSIM, an industry standard modelling package.

The VISSIM model provides a detailed stochastic (includes the variance within a study period

commonly experienced in reality) overview of the network in real time showing individual

vehicles’ progression through the study network. This can highlight areas where queuing is

likely to start and the effect this has on neighbouring junctions. The focus for the VISSIM was on

the busier junctions adjacent to the site, including the new primary access and the interface

with the strategic road network (SRN). The ‘with development’ scenario was modelled for the full

buildout of the site with 2024 background growth.

A full VISSIM report is included in Appendix F, below is a summary of the findings:

9.1.1 Summary

A large amount of data collection was completed for the project, and the data for turning counts,

queue observations and pedestrian counts were completed over 5 separate days in 2016

although the main data for the model was taken over 2 days. The survey data on Wednesday

the 15th of June was used for the weekday AM and PM models and the survey data on the 25th

of June was used for the Saturday model. These days were chosen after analysing the

suitability of all the days of data.

The base model has been developed using electronic drawings from a topographic survey and

Ordnance survey. The MOVA traffic signal operation at the Bamber Bridge and M6/M65

junctions have been modelled utilising PCMOVA. The traffic counts have been used to develop

balanced flows as inputs into the VISSIM model for static assignment within the model for peak

hour periods with a 30 minute seed period to populate the model initially. The assessment

periods, cover the peak hours of 0730-0830 and 1630-1730 weekday and 1300-1400 for a

Saturday weekend in 15 minute intervals. The model throughput has been calibrated against

the observed turning movement counts.

The signalised junctions on the A6 at Cuerden Way and Wigan Road have been coded using

VisVAP to code vehicle actuated (VA) operation including demand dependant phases. The

maximum green time has been used as a calibration tool with minor adjustments made to help

calibrate the model against observed journey times. Other calibration tools include gap times at

priority junctions, reduced speed areas and driving behaviour modifications. The model has

been validated against the TrafficMaster journey times for sections along the A6.

M6 and M65 all of which validate to within 15% in all peaks except for one route in the AM,

which is only 2 seconds out. The base models are therefore considered suitable for the purpose

of assessing the impact of the proposed development traffic.

A forecast year of 2024 has been selected for assessment when the proposed development is

anticipated to be fully operational. Background traffic has been factored to 2024 based upon

local TEMPRO 7 factors. Committed development traffic for developments for Redrow Homes



and B&Q have then been added to the 2024 flows to form the Do Minimum (DM) scenario flows.

No network changes have been applied to the DM scenario.

The proposed development traffic flows have been added to the DM flows to form the Do

Something (DS) scenario flows. The DS includes network changes at the M65 J10 roundabout

where MOVA signalised control and a new development access arm to the west has been

incorporated.

The DM and DS scenarios have been assessed and compared to determine the impact of the

proposed development. In the AM peak the overall junction delay increases from 26 to 38

seconds, however, the only junction predicted to operate over capacity is the Bamber Bridge

A6/A582 roundabout with a LOS of F. However, it is possible that further changes to the MOVA

dataset could reduce the delay.

The development generally increases the cumulative travel times with the M6 least affected and

the A6 experiencing the largest impact. In the AM peak latent demand also remains on the

A582 approach to Bamber Bridge.

In the PM peak the overall junction delay increases from 33 to 52 seconds to an overall LOS D.

The PM peak results show a similar trend to the AM peak in that the Bamber Bridge junction is

predicted to operate over capacity with a LOS of F. The A6 / Wigan Road remains at a LOS of F

as per the DM, and all other junctions are predicted to operate within capacity. The development

generally increases the cumulative travel times in the PM peak. The M6 NB is the least affected

with SB approach to Bamber Bridge in the first section suffering the largest impact. This could

be reduced through changes to the MOVA dataset. In the PM peak latent demand also remains

on the A6 North, B6258 and A6 West.

In the Saturday peak, the overall junction delay increases from 17 to 20 seconds and that none

of the junctions are predicted to operate over capacity including with the development. The

worst operating junction is the A6 / Wigan Road junction, which is predicted to operate at

capacity.

The signalisation of the M65 roundabout with development access is predicted to operate well

within capacity in all peaks.

The development is predicted to result in some capacity peaks at the Bamber Bridge junction.

The model has currently assessed the development with the signal timings remain unchanged

from the base model. Therefore, it is likely that the performance of both the DM and DS models

could be improved with changes to the signal timings, particularly at the Bamber Bridge

A6/A582 junction.

The effects of congestion on the immediate road network will vary according to seasonal

fluctuations, it is clear that the weekday peaks will be the busiest periods. The modelling, both

for the capacity based and VISSIM alternatives have taken a highly robust approach to trip

generation and future growth.

Pass-by and non-primary trips are not discounted, also background growth locally adjusted

using TEMPro includes figures for housing developments/employment growth already within the

Local Plans. This means that some allowance is already made in the figures for the Cuerden

Strategic Site. However, DfT guidance recommends1 against disaggregation of NTEM planning

assumptions and TEMPro adjusted background growth. Addition of committed developments

1 http://assets.dft.gov.uk/tempro/version7/guidance/ntem71-release-notes-faqs.pdf



was a requirement of the Local Highway Authority in line with other development assessments

in the county.

As with most peak hours in urban areas, congestion can have secondary effects on traffic

patterns. Most notable of these is peak hour spreading where motorists adjust their journeys to

avoid known busy periods. Similarly route choice will come into consideration where alternative

routes to end destinations can be used. A static model, which assumes a fixed route for all

vehicles, has been employed in this case as it represents the worst case for traffic analysis.

Overall the modelling scenarios are highly robust with minimal discounting used within the trip

generation.



10 Mitigation and Off-Site Highway Works

10.1 Preamble

A number of mitigation requirements were identified at the masterplan phase of the project.

These were originally collated by Lancashire County Council with inputs from Highways

England at the masterplan stage. The original requirements have been built upon to reflect

safety and connectivity demands of the site. This is most evident on the proposals for the M6

Slip and M65 approach to the existing terminal roundabout. Although gantries and signage

were originally proposed, it quickly became evident following meetings with HE and their Area

10 contractors BBMM, that weaving on the approach to the roundabout will be a critical safety

factor, which would require alignment designs.

The size of the site dictates substantial internal highway links necessary to connect the

respective land-uses and improve public transport and pedestrian connectivity. This is achieved

through the development of the internal layout with the wider design team to take account the

varying constraints and requirements. Preservation of existing links, mature trees and creation

of pleasant greenspace has been a key consideration throughout the design process and has

helped shape the overall layouts and alignments of transport links. A Stage One Safety Audit

has been carried out on the proposed internal routes and junctions on to adjacent local roads

and is included in Appendix G.

10.1 Off-Site Works

10.1.1 M65/M6 Slip and the Terminal Roundabout

Signalisation of the M65 terminus will be important to form the new access into the

development. Currently the roundabout offers a change in direction with flows unopposed,

therefore it operates as a free flow to the A6 /A582 roundabout. Increasing traffic movements at

peak hours during the week and weekend will require control and some additional capacity to

allow for queuing at the signal stoplines.

The proposed layout will incorporate at least three lanes on the roundabout itself including

widening on the existing northern arm. Approach to the terminus from the M6 slip and M65 has

been carefully considered for capacity; a minimum of two lanes for each approach is required.

However, to minimise unsafe weaving between the lanes, there will be segregation between the

running lanes up to the stop lines of the signalised roundabout. This layout has been shared

with Highways England and will be developed further at the detail design stage to ensure safety

and design standards conform with their requirements. See Appendix A for the preliminary

designs.

10.1.2 Stanifield Lane

Stanifield Lane will benefit from an improved bus stop to link with both the residential site and

the through link to Stoney Lane and the link across to the retail provision on the site. Wider

footways adjacent to the site will assist in creating better sustainable routes and connectivity the

green landscape buffer to the employment zone will also help improve the pedestrian

environment.

Cycle lanes to connect with the current lanes constructed as part of the upgrade to the A582

roundabout to the north are also proposed, which will help improve the cycling connectivity to



Leyland. An access on to Stanifield Lane with a bus gate will be brought forward in later

phases of the scheme.

10.1.3 Lostock Lane

Lostock Lane (A582) is already a very busy route with significant severance for pedestrians and

cyclists. A new crossing point close to the Old School Lane alignment is proposed which will

link to the sustainable footways and cycleways which run north-south between the proposed

residential area and the business park. This route is likely to be the most accessible for

pedestrians routing from the north east avoiding the M65 and the associated strategic network.

10.1.4 Wigan Road

As the secondary access and retail servicing access is formed from Wigan Road, it will be an

important part of the overall connectivity of the site. A new signalised junction is proposed along

with pedestrian crossing points to the adjacent Cuerden Valley Park. This will act as an

alternative access and alleviate some of the pressure on the primary access point off the M65

terminal roundabout.

Footways will be significantly improved to Wigan Road as existing provision is poor. This will

connect to the north and south and help improve linkage to new housing development currently

under construction to the south and towards the retail outlets off the A6 to the north.

10.1.5 Other Local Highway Works

The City Deal infrastructure improvements commence at the A582/Lostock Lane/Stanifield Lane

roundabout and continue west and then north along the A582 through Farington, Whitestake

and Penwortham into Preston City Centre. The A582/ Stanifield Lane roundabout has already

been upgraded as have the junctions at Tank roundabout, Chain House Lane and also Golden

Way through to Penwortham has been widened to a full dual carriageway.

The target is to continue the improvements of the A582 by upgrading it to a dual carriageway

along its whole length; this will particularly benefit Lostock Lane as it will address congestion

heading east west. A planning application and consultation is due in 2017, if approved, works

will commence as soon as the necessary procedures to assemble the land have been

completed.



11 Summary and Conclusion

11.1 Summary

● The Cuerden Strategic Site provides major opportunity to deliver economic and employment

benefits for the Central Lancashire area. The development could create over 4,500 new jobs

for local people in a variety of sectors, including office, retail, manufacturing, logistics,

catering and hospitality, plus those created during the construction process.

● Significant investment is proposed to enhance the M65 terminal roundabout along with the

approach lanes from the M65 and the M6 slip road. Layouts are being developed with

additional detail at this stage to satisfy the requirements of Highways England and the local

highway authority.

● Extensive capacity based modelling exercises have been carried out to estimate the likely

additional impacts of the site on the existing highway network into the future years. This

includes background growth estimates in addition to locally committed developments.

● The models indicate that there is some inevitable additional pressures on the network

notably following the full build out of the site in 10-15 years. The shorter term retail impacts

will be greater during the weekend periods when the network functions with spare capacity.

● Additional VISSIM modelling has been carried out to understand the interactions of the

respective major junctions closest to the site. This highlights the marginal change in traffic

across the network and demonstrates the new signalised roundabout will function within

capacity.

● The residual impact of the development following the implementation of the proposed

mitigation works is not considered to be severe.

● The majority of trips are recorded as primary (newly generated) from the employment and

mixed use areas. Further discounting related to pass-by trips has not been applied aside

from linked trips associated with the retail development. This ensures that robust figures

have been processed through the modelling.

● Similarly background growth has been applied along with data from committed

developments in the area. This will lead to some double counting of trips already factored

into the NTEM and TEMPro background figures. It was agreed with LCC to include these in

line with other development assessments in the county.

● Off-site mitigation works are proposed for the major links surrounding the site which will help

to enhance public transport provision, pedestrian routes and links to the wider cycle network.

● Internal roads have good levels of capacity designed into them to avoid significant delay

during very busy periods. This has been balanced with the need to retain mature trees,

provide attractive green infrastructure and sustainable transport routes through the site.

● Access from Stanifield Lane will be restricted to bus only to the employment/retail sites to

minimise the amount of vehicles using the route to cut through to Wigan Road or the M65.

There will be no through access to the retail or employment land for vehicles from the

residential development.

● The site will be fully accessible by public transport, with an opportunity for new bus routes

through the site and links to local railway stations. Bus stops have been designed into the

spine road and will connect well with the proposed land-uses.

● The development will provide new publicly-accessible open green space, which will include

new pedestrian, cycling and jogging paths.



● As part of the hybrid planning application the retail, infrastructure and green infrastructure

will be part of the detailed application and the mixed use, employment uses and residential

uses being the subject of parameter plans.

● The retail, mixed use and housing uses will contribute to the significant infrastructure costs

required to open up the site for the employment uses.

11.2 Conclusion

The Cuerden Strategic Site is a major development opportunity for the area. From the

masterplanning phase of the development it has been clear that access and transport will be

critical factors for integrating the site with its surroundings. The primary access from the M65

terminus has always been intended to draw in the majority of the trips from the surrounding

highways. This aims to keep traffic to the major high capacity routes in the area. Using the site

for rat-runs or through routes will be minimised by preventing all traffic access from Stanifield

Lane.

A development of this nature will draw in new traffic to the network. It has been the purpose of

the strategy within the masterplan and the further detail within this report to assess the impacts

and propose additional infrastructure interventions to mitigate the additional demand on the

highway network. This is in tandem with the City Deal programme of highway development

works on the A582, which are being delivered to improve east-west movements through the

South Ribble area.

The deliverability of the scheme is dependent on the provision of the right level of infrastructure

to open up the site for the jobs and opportunities it will create. It is proposed that the local road

and public transport infrastructure described within the report will be delivered through a S278

Agreement (Highway Act 1980) with LCC Highways. For the works to the M65 roundabout and

approaches, it is proposed that a Section 6 Agreement (Highway Act 1980) will be required

between LCC Highways and HE, for works to be delivered by LCC on HE land. New internal

roads will be brought forward under a S38 Agreement between LCC Highways and the

developer team.

This assessment provides a quantitative analysis of the impacts, which indicate changes in

traffic levels and profiles throughout the week. The traffic generation assumptions have been

highly robust and include due consideration of the future growth and committed developments.

With the implementation of the infrastructure mitigation proposed it is respectfully concluded,

that the residual impacts from the site will not be severe.



Appendices

A. Drawings 80

B. Traffic Data Analysis 81

C. Accident Data 82

D. TRACSIS Data 83

E. Trip Generation and Modelling 84

F. VISSIM 85

G. Stage 1 Safety Audit 86

H. Correspondence with LCC 87



A. Drawings



B. Traffic Data Analysis



C. Accident Data



D. TRACSIS Data



E. Trip Generation and Modelling



F. VISSIM



G. Stage 1 Safety Audit



H. Correspondence with LCC



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