December 22, 2021 11.12 am This story is over 35 months old

‘Lincoln road mitigation would handle 3,200 new homes’ – consultants weigh in

Extra eyes on the prize

City of Lincoln Council has brought in a third party company to prove that the first phase of its 3,200-home development won’t clog-up the city’s roads.

According to planning documents before councillors on January 12, independent highways consultancy BSP was brought in to show that the impact of the initial 300 homes on the Western Growth Corridor could be mitigated successfully.

The city authority and Lincolnshire County Council’s highways department are at loggerheads over the development and so BSP was brought in to “provide a useful third party opinion”.

The WGC, being built by the city council and landowners Lindum Western Growth Corridor would see a 240-hectare site to the north of Skellingthorpe Road developed to include not only the homes but also a new shopping centre, a primary school and leisure facilities, including a stadium.

LCC, while broadly supportive of the idea, has argued phase 1A of the plans would “result in a severe impact on the local road network”.

Executive Councillor for Highways Councillor Richard Davies previously said the proposals would be “potentially disastrous” for the city.

However, the City of Lincoln Council has said its mitigation measures, and a focus on sustainable travel including buses, cycling and walking, will help tackle any problems that arise.

They include:

  • A signal junction instead of a roundabout to access the site from Skellingthorpe Road/Birchwood Avenue, creating additional traffic capacity and a bus lane with priority measures eastbound along Birchwood Avenue.
  • Signalisation of the Doddington Road/Birchwood Avenue junction, benefitting pedestrians and cyclists while providing additional traffic capacity including for buses and an alternative route for buses heading from Pershore Way/Birchwood Avenue towards Doddington Road/Sadler Road.
  • Provision of yellow box markings on Doddington Road eastbound through Whisby Road junction, to assist in balancing eastbound flow out across the two roads which the council says will benefit buses.
  • An additional lane on Tritton Road northbound at the junction with Doddington Road to create additional capacity and allow lane markings and signal timings to be adjusted such that additional green time is allocated to the Doddington Road eastbound approach.
  • Banning right turning vehicles from Dixon Street to High Street southbound to reduce traffic flow and improve journey times for buses turning left.

The latest masterplan for the Western Growth Corridor showing the bus-only routes.

The council says the cumulative aim will be to create an alternative route, and improve it for buses and other vehicles, out of Birchwood Avenue, Whisby Road and along Doddington Road towards Lincoln City Centre.

In their conclusion BSP said that “in combination, these measures are considered to mitigate the traffic impact of the proposed 300 dwellings to an acceptable degree”.

“They do not therefore consider that the impact […] would be `severe’, and hence Phase 1a of the proposed development is considered to be acceptable in transport and highways terms,” said the council’s planning report.

3,200 homes will be built as part of the Western Growth Corridor plans.

“The [planning authority] accepts this advice and consider that whilst there would be some short term impacts from the first phase of the development, the longer term benefits would have greater positive impacts on local residents.

“The applicants have worked closely with the LPA and the Highways Authority to find acceptable solutions to mitigate the impact of the first phase of development.

“They have not been able to reach agreement with the Highways Authority, however the LPA are satisfied that sufficient work has been carried out to demonstrate that the current proposal is acceptable.”

Officers are recommending the plans be approved.