Melton Mowbray Traffic Issues

The way forward

The County Council completed a study into traffic problems in Melton Mowbray and what can be done about them. This leaflet contains a summary of our conclusions.

TRAFFIC STUDY PROCESS

Traffic surveys in and around the town were carried out in 2003 and in the early part of 2004. Using the survey information, a computer traffic model of the main road network has been prepared.

THE TRAFFIC ISSUES IDENTIFIED

Consultations have taken place with various groups in Melton Mowbray, including the Borough Council, Access Groups, the Chamber of Trade and others.

The main issues identified are:

Congestion on the main roads into and around the town.
Bus services should be improved.
Pedestrian access to the town centre can be difficult.
Cycling and parking are also concerns in the town.

OTHER SURVEY RESULTS

Surveys of visitors to Melton Mowbray have been carried out by Melton Borough Council. The main findings were:

The pedestrianised centre of the town was highly rated.
Access to the town by car and buses was highly rated.
Vehicle movements around the town centre were rated as negative

POSSIBLE OPTIONS TO REDUCE CONGESTION

The County Council believes the long-term answer is a bypass, but in the short term there are certain junctions that have been particularly identified as causing congestion.

These are:

Norman Way/Wilton Road – including the nearby Norman Way/Scalford Road junction.
Norman Way/Thorpe Road
These junctions also cause difficulty for pedestrians, especially elderly people and those with mobility difficulties.

Question: Should the County Council carry out improvements at these junctions to reduce congestion and improve pedestrian access?

BYPASS OPTIONS

We have used the traffic model to assess 3 possible bypass options (although there are others):

The Local Plan Route (LPR)
An amended Local Plan Route (ALPR)
A south east route (SE)

The plans below show these routes schematically.

The traffic model predicts the benefits of these options in terms of reduced traffic flow. The outcomes are shown in the 2 tables below.

Melton Borough Council has to allocate new housing and commercial development in and around Melton Mowbray as part of its Local Development Framework. The final decision on a bypass will have to take note of where this development is placed. It should also be noted that part of any bypass will have to be constructed on green-field land.

The table below gives the predicted overall reduction in all-day traffic flows on the major radial routes into Melton Mowbray for the various bypass options.

		Predicted reduction in traffic flow	Predicted reduction in traffic flow	Predicted reduction in traffic flow
Radial Route	Existing Traffic Flow	LPR	Amended LPR	SE Route
Nottingham Rd	13,200	4,300	5,100	400
Asfordby Rd	10,100	4,200	5,900	100
Leicester Rd	12,600	3,900	4,400	1,400
Burton Rd	15,700	3,000	3,300	3,600
Thorpe Rd	13,300	0	0	8,300
Total Benefit	(64,900)	15,400	18,700	13,800

The following table indicates the predicted reduction in traffic on the main town centre roads.

		Predicted reduction in traffic flow	Predicted reduction in traffic flow	Predicted reduction in traffic flow
Town Centre Road	Existing Traffic Flow	LPR	Amended LPR	SE Route
Norman Way	13,270	4,000	4,000	700
Sherrard St./ Thorpe End	6,400	60	40	1,900
Leicester St.	8,540	1,100	1,300	600
Wilton Rd	15,740	4,200	4,900	400
Total Traffic or Traffic reduction	43,950	9,360	10,240	3,600

Question: Do you agree that the County Council should plan for a Melton Mowbray bypass? If so, which option do you prefer?

A RING-ROAD FOR MELTON MOWBRAY?

The most effective way of reducing congestion in the town would be to construct a full ring-road. The schematic plan below shows the possible route which would partly use any bypass built earlier. The tables show the predicted traffic reduction on roads in the town if a ring-road was built. However, a full ring-road would be much more expensive than any of the bypass options and would take much longer to achieve.

		Predicted reduction in traffic flow
Radial Route	Existing Traffic Flow	Ring Road
Nottingham Rd	13,200	5,200
Asfordby Rd	10,100	3,500
Leicester Rd	12,600	5,400
Burton Rd	15,700	4,900
Thorpe Rd	13,300	5,600
Total Benefit	64,900	24,600

		Predicted reduction in traffic flow
Radial Route	Existing Traffic Flow	Ring Road
Norman Way	13,270	5,900
Sherrard St./Thorpe End	6,400	5,100
Leicester St.	8,540	4,500
Wilton Rd	15,740	5,400
Total Traffic or Total reduction	43,950	20,900

Question: Do you think the County Council should plan in the long-term for a complete ring-road for the town?

OTHER PROPOSALS

Bus services and facilities are important as an alternative to the car and for people who do not have a car available. The County Council will be carrying out a further review of bus services to see if improvements can be made. A similar review of walking and cycling will be carried out, both in liaison with Melton Borough Council.

Question: Are there any specific improvements to bus services or facilities, or to cycling and walking facilities, that you would like to see?

HAVE YOUR SAY

On these web pages we have a short online questionnaire for you to send in your response. Paper copies of this leaflet are available at various locations around Melton Mowbray or can be requested from the contact details given below.

The consultation period ended on Monday 14th March 2005.

NEXT STEPS

The County Council will consider all responses received before deciding on proposals to be included in the County Local Transport Plan.

QUERIES AND COMMENTS

If you have any specific queries and comments about the contents of this web page, contact details are set out below.

Contact: Martin Broomhead
Tel No: 0116 305 8289
e-mail: mbroomhead@leics.gov.uk

If you require this information in another version e.g. large print, or an alternative language, please telephone 0116 305 8289 or e-mail: mbroomhead@leics.gov.uk