Lincolnshire County Council has submitted an objection to plans for the Western Growth Corridor housing development in Lincoln due to concerns that it could make “already difficult congestion far worse”.
Amended plans were submitted by the city council earlier this year to its own planning committee, for 3,200 new homes built on land west of Tritton Road. Among the latest revisions, large parts of the development’s proposed spine route have been designated for buses, pedestrians and cyclists only.
The county council is worried that only minor junction improvements would be made on Doddington Road to deal with the extra cars from these homes, saying this approach would add an unacceptable amount of traffic to an already congested city.
The city council said it will fully consider the points raised and respond to them in due course.
Councillor Eddie Strengiel, who represents the Birchwood division on Lincolnshire County Council, said: “With 300 houses and nothing to directly mitigate the effects of extra cars on the road, it’s clear the scheme has real potential to make already difficult congestion far worse.
“We would ask that City of Lincoln Council makes a commitment to both the existing residents, and the future residents of the development, that they will put the right infrastructure in place, at the right time, before people move in.”
The latest masterplan for the Western Growth Corridor showing the bus-only routes.
Councillor Richard Davies, executive member for highways, added: “If the development is to succeed, it is vital that residents have realistic alternatives to travelling by car, which means including more sustainable options such as passenger transport, cycle paths and footpaths, and connections to destinations beyond the boundary of the site.
“It’s far easier to include these measures from the start than try to shoe-horn them in later, causing even more disruption.
“The proposed first phase of development provides direct access to Skellingthorpe Road, which we all know is an already congested part of the highway network.
“This amount of extra traffic which will be added to Skellingthorpe Road is unacceptable, for which we have no option but to raise an objection.
“They can’t lose sight of the fact that, as a local authority, their residents have to be their top priority.”
New junction and bridge plans included in the Western Growth Corridor application.
In response Kate Ellis, Director of Major Developments at City of Lincoln Council, said: “As the joint applicant for the Western Growth Corridor scheme, we are pleased that the county council feels they can support the development as a whole, subject to agreement on mitigation and further clarification on details they have identified.
“However, we understand they object to part one of the first phase of the scheme. We only received a copy of their letter on Friday evening, so we will now fully consider the points raised and respond to them in due course”.
Visuals of the Western Growth Corridor project included in the City of Lincoln Council’s application.
If plans are approved, it is estimated the WGC whole would generate up to £22 million per year spend in the local Lincoln economy.
The first phase of the development would see 300 new homes built off Skellingthorpe Road.
It is hoped building work on the project will start in 2021.
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Exciting news for MyLocal app users and The Lincolnite readers! Our latest update is now available to download from your app store and comes packed with the best local news experience you can enjoy.
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