POSITION PAPER – Traffic and Highway issues preventing the delivery

the proposed Carterton West Development

We believe the Carterton West Option is undeliverable because of a number of
technical, planning and political issues. This document highlights the traffic and
highway issues concerning the site identified as “Carterton West”. We oppose the
Carterton West Option, as it will have a catastrophic impact on Carterton, the
local environment and surrounding villages.
The road and services infrastructure is inadequate to support the Carterton West Option development, and
surrounding villages will be affected by a significant increase in both traffic and noise. With 1300 additional new
houses, planning guidelines suggest that at least 2600 cars will need to be accommodated by the surrounding road
structure and network. These vehicles can be expected to generate 4 – 5 journeys per day, making some 10,000 -
13,000 journeys each and every day.

This significant level of increase and substantial impact on the local road network will mean, as a minimum:

• All surrounding roads (including B4477, Upavon Way, Alvescot Road and those lanes leading to Shilton and
Filkins) will require upgrading, which will mean widening, resurfacing and potential re-modelling to alleviate
dangerous bends. This will not be achievable without Compulsory Purchase of adjacent land and property.

• A proportion of traffic will pass through Alvescot, Black Bourton, Bampton and Buckland on the way to the A420
for South Oxford or Didcot

• Many new houses will attract people who work in Swindon, so that traffic travelling westward will also create a
problem on the inadequate B roads through Kencot and Filkins. This scheme will severely impact upon all the
surrounding villages

• The current rat run along Corbett Road and Milestone Road to RAF Brize Norton will be further utilised, with this
increased traffic and with traffic calming on Alvescot Road. This is not a suitable route for any increased volume
of traffic and no assessment of the traffic impact on this route has been carried out

• All road junctions and roundabouts connected to the surrounding road network will require upgrading, to allow
the substantial increase in traffic. Again this will require the acquisition of land and property.

• The upgraded roads will require suitable footpaths and verges, which combined with the necessary widening or
straightening will mean significant land acquisition to allow this work to be completed.

• Due to the significant increase in traffic, all surrounding roads, as well as those roads within the development
site, will be required to be adequately lit. This means huge areas to the west of Carterton (including the villages
of Alvescot, Shilton and Filkins) will suffer severe light pollution and a significant visual impact associated with
these highway works.

• Air quality in all these areas will be seriously affected.

Planning guidelines dictate that any development of over 300 houses requires at least two major access points from a
highway of suitable capacity and design. As the proposed Carterton West Option is suggesting 1300+ dwellings, then
there is a possible requirement for at least three major access points. Two or three major access points from any of
the roads surrounding the Carterton West Option development site is undeliverable, as there are no suitable
locations.

Developers Proposals
Traffic assumption figures stated are low. A visit to current estates in Carterton illustrates that many households own
3-4 cars, so taking an average of 2 per home would be the minimum. This is borne out by Carterton Town Council’s
(CTC) response to a recent planning application for 200 homes, where they indicate that 400+ cars must be allowed
for in terms of traffic generation.

Logically, the real quantity is likely to be more like 2000 cars leaving the site in a morning, which is 3 times as much as
indicated in the Developers document. This doesn’t account for business traffic such as deliveries in and out early
morning. It is clear that further expansion of the site is planned by the proposed Developer, so undoubtedly traffic
figures will be even higher in future.

It is estimated that 11% of the trips will be through Filkins, which equates to over 80 extra vehicles in an hour. This is
an underestimate and cannot be regarded as negligible, as stated in the Developers report. The real figure is likely to
be much higher and around 240 extra vehicles in addition to current traffic.

The Developer states that only 2% of cars will go through Bampton to Didcot and Abingdon, but many of people will
also use this as a route to Oxford. Therefore, the real figure will be much higher. This will also increase traffic through
Alvescot and Black Bourton. There is no assessment of the traffic impact on Bampton, which already has problems
(hence, the traffic calming), Tadpole Bridge at Buckland Marsh or the junction with the A420. This is an accident black
spot and experiences significant queuing at peak periods.

The report indicates that Upavon Way needs no upgrading, as there are no houses fronting on to it. In fact, there are
houses on the west side and no consideration is given to the effect on cars joining Upavon Way from side roads on
the eastern side. There is also the school entrance to consider.

Despite the underestimated traffic impact figures, the Developer concedes that Upavon Way junctions need
upgrading, including a new roundabout at Burford Road lights and modifications at Monahan Way. They also propose
new speed limits; a roundabout at Filkins; traffic calming on the Alvescot Road and a ghost island for right turning
traffic off the Alvescot Road. There is no assessment of the likely effectiveness of these proposed changes. There is
insufficient space at Filkins for a roundabout, so this will necessitate compulsory purchase and there is no indication
of how this will be funded. The Carterton road upgrades as suggested are modest, but with a more realistic traffic
assessment, clearly further improvements will be needed and again, the source of funding is not clear.

There is no consideration given to how access to Carterton will be affected by the construction of a roundabout at the
junction of Burford Road and Upavon Way and other necessary works. This would necessitate closing the road for a
considerable period and alternative access points are far from obvious.
Once traffic calming is used as a solution, as proposed on Alvescot Road, then this represents a design failure. Traffic
calming is used as a last resort when there are no other options. This proposal indicates that Alvescot Road simply
does not have the capacity for the extra traffic that will be generated.

The current rat run along Corbett Road and Milestone Road to RAF Brize Norton will be further utilised, with this
increased traffic and with traffic calming on Alvescot Road. This is not a suitable route for any increased volume of
traffic and we note that no assessment of the traffic impact on this route has been carried out.

The bridge across the Shill Brook needs 200m long approaches, which is why there is a sharp bend and long run up to
the correct level and a further sharp bend, before the crossing. This means churning up more land in the area
protected by paragraph 1.24 in the SHLAA document. The route into the site is tortuous, with 2 sharp bends, which
will be unsafe.

Proposals indicate that the Alvescot Road entrance is a secondary access, whilst for over 300 homes, traffic planning
dictates that 2 major access points are required. Alvescot Road is not suitable for a major access route in to the site,
so the site is not deliverable from this perspective alone.

Therefore, there are serious problems with both proposed access routes and there are simply no alternatives.

Although past accidents within Carterton have been considered, no accident statistics are given for roads connecting
the surrounding villages. We suspect this is because they are high. We have been aware of several accidents between
Alvescot and Filkins and within Filkins itself. It is likely that a much wider upgrade of the road network is required,
especially through the villages. This upgrade may include the provision of pavements and lighting.

Comment is made regarding the Oxfordshire County Council (OCC) stating ‘the West site is the only development site
that does not have a direct impact on the Rural Road Network as traffic is attracted to destinations on the higher
classified routes.’ This does not make sense as the opposite is true. In fact, the report tabled at the cabinet meeting
th
on 12 January 2011, indicated OCC’s preference for the Carterton East Option, if a strategic site was necessary. This
is presumably because there are limited funds available for improvements in infrastructure.

We note that the existing public right of way remains in its current location. That means it will traverse roads and go
through housing estates, rather than across the countryside. This is against the requirement of the Highways Act,
which states that any development around a public right of way should not spoil the enjoyment of the user. It cannot
be diverted either, as the Highways act indicates that an alternative route cannot be significantly more inconvenient
and it’s a long walk around the proposed estate. This is therefore a serious design flaw in the proposal.