Stamford Bridge Bypass.
A petition for a bypass around Stamford Bridge is being organised by Colin Clarke. Details below. Contact Colin for further information
colinclarkecycling@hotmail.co.uk
Proposed Stamford Bridge Bypass
Preliminary business and social case
SETTING THE SCENE - Stamford Bridge
1.0
Stamford Bridge is a village on the River Derwent in the East Riding of Yorkshire, approximately 8 miles (13 km) east of York and 30 miles (50 km) west of Bridlington. The village lies on the border with the Ryedale district of North Yorkshire.
1.1
Stamford Bridge history includes the Battle of Stamford Bridge 1066, a road bridge built in 1727, the railway viaduct built in 1847, historic buildings and aspects of Roman settlement.
1.2
Stamford Bridge is a main gateway to the East Riding of Yorkshire via the A166. Currently the narrow single lane historic road bridge (the bridge), traffic light controlled, delays traffic on a regular basis and at times cause tailback to reach more than 1 kilometer. The A166 trunk road is essential for business, commuters, coastal visitors and tourists alike.
1.3
Stamford Bridge population in 2011 was 3,528. The new housing developments currently being built, Godwins Vale and Saxon Gate, alongside the A166 will provide approximately 20% extra properties (330+ properties), with an estimated 800 people living in the two developments. By 2020 the village population will be approximately 4,400. The population of York in 2011 was 198,051 and was estimated to be 208,051 in 2016.
1.4
The new prison planned for Full Sutton, which is approximately 3 km from Stamford Bridge, is intended to cater for up to 1017 prisoners with an expected staffing level of 509 and will result in increased traffic levels.
1.5
During the 2 peak hours, 7.30-8.30 and 17.00 -18.00 traffic forecasts for the bridge were estimated at 2542 vehicles in 2016, increasing by nearly 20% to 3048 in 2021. Traffic forecast report the bridge will be trying to operate during the AM peak period at 106% of capacity in 2021. Traffic forecast expect further increases after 2021.
1.6
The A166 provides an important strategic connection between York to Driffield and onto Bridlington via the A614. Bridlington is the main coastal town in the East Riding of Yorkshire catering for thousands of visitors per year. Day visits to Bridlington comprise 58% of visitors. The A166 supports businesses in trade and tourism across East Yorkshire and feeds to the A64/A59 corridor; it also supports the York economy with visitors and people working in the York area.
2
PURPOSE OF DOCUMENT
This Preliminary Business Case presents the outline evidence for constructing a new road to bypass Stamford Bridge.
2.1.
Stamford Bridge has a substantial history, with the battle of 1066 and other features, located reasonably close to York, making it an attractive place to live and visit. The main local employer is Rosti engaged in plastic parts production. The village provides shopping, catering, leisure and social needs for the residents. Its history, beauty and location have successfully attracted tourists to the village and region for decades.
2.2
The A166 is a two lane standard highway in most parts, slightly wider between Gate Helmsley and Dunnington. At Stamford Bridge the narrow stone structure bridge constructed in 1727 creates a problem for traffic flow. The bridge is a Grade II* listed structure which can only accommodate one-way flow of traffic. Flow of traffic over the bridge is controlled by traffic signals. This results in traffic congestion in the centre of Stamford Bridge, which increases journey times and delays occur on a regular basis.
3
PREVIOUS STUDIES AND POLICY
3.1
As traffic congestion has been an issue for Stamford Bridge for many years, the idea for a bypass road is not a new one. A bypass option was first raised in 1938. It was raised in the 1970’s and later in 2002 and again in 2008.
3.2
A 2008 transport study for Stamford Bridge considered four options to address the traffic situation.
Option No 1 was in two parts, both provided for another bridge located between the old road bridge and the historic railway viaduct.
Option No 2 was to build a bridge on the west side of the existing road bridge and use both bridges to carry traffic.
Option No 3 was to use part of Buttercrambe Road and provide a new bridge and use land near Roman Road. This land has now been used for a housing development.
Option No 4 was a full bypass.
Options 1 and 2 would both result in traffic going through the village with increasing traffic levels and likely increase in the speed of traffic. Both options would have had a negative effect on the appearance of the village with higher traffic levels and detracting from the views of the listed bridges. Both options would have resulted in road safety concerns with higher traffic levels in the village for decades to come.
Option No 3 is now no longer feasible but also would have had some disadvantages. Buttercrambe Road has retirement type apartments plus a nursing home on one side and a caravan park on the other. It is used by cyclist and walker and both would be endangered by potentially high volumes of traffic.
Option No 4 was for a full bypass. The study did not provide a cost analysis but it appeared not to be cost effective because it was the most expensive, due mainly to 2.3 km of new road needed. The location of the bypass route suggested was to the north of the Rosti plastics factory, connecting from near Scoreby Lane on the west side, to Roman Road on the east side of Stamford Bridge.
3.3
The 2008 transport study (9 years old) was flawed in its approach by not using reliable vehicle counts for crossing the bridge; it used 30 minutes of data from a morning survey 8.45 am to 9.15 am that missed the peak period of traffic flow. The other survey locations resulted in not taking full account of traffic from Stamford Bridge itself and traffic turning off at Gate Helmsley and Holtby before reaching the survey position near Dunnington. The survey was conducted in October missing the higher traffic levels that frequently occur in spring and summer.
3.4
The ERYC LOCAL TRANSPORT PLAN – STRATEGY (2015 - 2029) page 44 refers to traffic flow for Stamford Bridge and states;
7.2.26. The A166 between York and Driffield is constructed to single carriageway standard and is around 7.3 metres wide on average. However, the grade II* listed bridge in the centre of Stamford Bridge only allows for single file traffic in each direction, managed by traffic signal control. This forms a sub-standard section of the route which leads to delays and localised congestion at peak times.
7.2.27. A potential scheme to address this involves improvements allowing for two way traffic. Such improvements will shorten journey times along the route and reduce congestion in the vicinity of Stamford Bridge. It will also increase capacity in order to accommodate the increase in traffic flows anticipated as a result of development proposed along the A64/A166 corridors and their relationship to the York outer ring road. The Council recognises the benefit that such a proposal could bring to the area and will work with neighbouring authorities, partners and funding bodies to explore opportunities to promote this course of action.
4
CONGESTION IN STAMFORD BRIDGE
4.1
Planning submissions in 2017 regarding the new prison application at Full Sutton refer to traffic conditions. It is clear to a number of councils that the traffic situation in Stamford Bridge leads to traffic trying to avoid the bridge and it becomes an area problem, see below for details.
4.2
Catton Parish Council
There are serious concerns about the volume of traffic using the A166, this road is already at capacity, with a bottleneck at the bridge in Stamford Bridge, infrastructure is not in place to support the additional traffic that would come from a new prison. With two new housing estates already under construction in Stamford Bridge and the impact of those additional road users not yet fully realised, it is clear that Stamford Bridge could not accommodate such a large increase in road users. CPC would recommend that Stamford Bridge would need a bypass to alleviate the traffic issues created by a new prison in Full Sutton.
4.3
Pocklington Town Council
The A166 in particular has a bottle neck at Stamford Bridge caused by a bridge controlled by traffic lights.
4.4
Full Sutton and Skirpenbeck Parish Council
The main access to the area is via the A166. It is not uncommon for eastbound traffic along this road to be stationary for at least two miles particularly at peak times in summer (the A166 is a major coastal access road), and for westbound traffic to be queuing back for a mile. Further, there is only a single track, traffic-light controlled bridge over the river, which is already a bottleneck.
Planned major housing and other developments in the nearby areas such as at Stamford Bridge will only serve to put the road system under greater pressure. The introduction of significant further transport movements associated with the development, even taking into account the planned improvements, would simply mean that the roads would not be able to cope. It would result in severe and unacceptable harm to an already congested local road network.
4.5
Yapham cum Meltonby Parish Council
The bridge at Stamford Bridge is already near to full capacity. At peak times and in summer there are long queues. This encourages motorists to try and use the narrow back lanes which in some cases are only one car wide. This is already a problem in our parish and causes road safety issues and extensive damage to road edges and verges
.
4.6
Fangfoss with Bolton Parish Council
It would seem likely that Stamford Bridge would be the main means of approach, given that it links to more densely populated areas. This small town / village is already heavily overburdened with traffic, especially at weekends in the summer months due to coastal traffic. It could be expected that more prison visits would also take place at weekends in summer, thus adding to this burden. In addition, hundreds of new houses are under construction in Stamford Bridge which will pile yet more traffic on the centre and the ancient (listed) bridge. I believe one of the comments cites a statistic showing that the bridge is already due to be operating above capacity within the next 4 years, without taking into account increases due to a prison. Traffic surveys were apparently carried out in November when traffic is nowhere near its peak. If plans are approved, we believe the approval should be predicated on a transport solution that circumvents the use of the bridge and Stamford Bridge and provides a more direct access to the A1079.
5
SERIOUS PROBLEMS
5.1
A range of serious problems, road safety, environmental, social, business and emergency service access result from the traffic situation in Stamford Bridge.
5.2
A number of accidents have recently occurred within the village on the A166 near to the new housing developments.
5.3
Stamford Bridge has approximately 500+ HGVs passing through the village on an average day. The traffic count near Dunnington for all traffic on the A166 in 2016 was 11,573, including 565 HGVs. Buses and light good vehicles numbered approximately 1500.
5.4
Traffic levels from the Dunnington survey location on the A166 shows an increase from 2006 to 2016 of 10.7%, 10,446 to 11,573 vehicle counts. During the 2 peak hours, 7.30-8.30 and 17.00 -18.00 traffic forecasts for the bridge were estimated at 2542 vehicles in 2016, increasing by approximately 20% to 3048 in 2021. The bridge is expected to be trying to operate during the AM peak period at 106% of its capacity by 2021 (that is approximately 30+% higher than the 2008 transport study traffic levels).
5.5
5.6
The A166 within the village is not suitable for safe cycling due to the high volume and type of traffic. Pedestrians are put at risk in trying to cross the road with congestion frequently occurring. This affects the social aspects of wanting to spend time in the village square area and riverside area knowing large HGV’s and traffic are emitting harmful pollution.
5.7
The two housing developments currently being built on Roman Road with an expected 800 residents will be located either side of the A166. Children crossing the road will be especially at risk from the high traffic levels.
5.8
Traffic noise and environmental pollution affects people living near the road, visiting the shopping area, waiting for the buses and using catering provisions, with outside seating arrangements.
5.9
Business and transporting goods to and from the East Riding are affected by the delays associated with the single lane bridge. People trying to go to the coast have sometimes encounted long traffic queues and knowing the same may also occur on the return journey have turned back cancelling their trip.
5.10
Ambulances and emergency vehicles may encounter problems with attending situations in Stamford Bridge or along the A166. Their vehicle cannot be seen from the other side of the bridge. They cannot safely cross the bridge until the green light is shown. They can be waiting for up to two minutes. If passing queuing traffic they may encounter a long steam of approaching vehicles. Such delays may contribute to a higher risk of death or result in harm and treatment delayed. Information from the ambulance services for a random week states;
During the week commencing 15 May 2017 the Trust responded to 21 calls in the YO41 postcode area.
A basic estimate would be more than 1000 emergency vehicles are crossing the bridge in a year.
5.11
With the Stamford Bridge single lane bridge reaching or exceeding its full capacity, all future development in the area will cause concern by increasing traffic levels. As an example a recent planning application for a Heritage Centre in Stamford Bridge will likely be approved and lead to additional traffic.
5.12
Most of the vehicles currently enter the village, do not stop. This is traffic that does not need to travel through the town. Yet, it contributes to the congestion and conflict and reduces the enjoyment of those who live and work in the village. Nearly all HGV type traffic are passing through the village. There is limited parking that cannot accommodate large numbers of vehicles stopping.
6
A1079 traffic implications
The road bridge in Stamford Bridge had to be closed for about 10 weeks in 2007 to allow for repairs. Traffic had to be diverted to the A1079. As reported at the time;
‘Miss Towse said that traffic through Stamford Bridge on the A166 was "horrendous" at all times of the day, but especially in the early morning and evening rush hours when drivers found themselves in long queues waiting for a green traffic light to cross the single lane bridge. "The bridge is not built to cater for modern day vehicles and quite often is damaged by wide and long vehicles trying to negotiate it," she said.
"What we need at Stamford Bridge is a further bridge crossing over the River Derwent, and the sooner the better."
But local district and parish councillor Hilary Saynor said there was no possibility of a new bridge alongside the old one, and the only long term solution would be a full bypass. However this would cost a considerable sum that could only be found by the Government.’
Wide loads sometimes damage the bridge and cameras have been fitted to try and recover repair costs. Providing a bypass could mean HGVs being restricted from the old bridge and saving on repairs for damage and fewer repairs to the whole structure over time.
With the current delays and traffic levels increasing, extra motorists may divert to using the A1079 to avoid the bridge, adding to an already congested road. The A1079 on approaching the Grimston Bar gyratory at the A64, near York, has three sets of traffic lights, the Dunnington turn off, the Evington turn off and at the gyratory. The traffic lights are needed for turning traffic.
The A166 approach to Grimston Bar gyratory has no traffic lights and traffic enters when a space is available – from either when no traffic is coming or when the traffic lights stop traffic. A bypass for Stamford Bridge may result in fewer motorists going out of there way to use the A1079. This would be cost saving and time saving and enhance traffic flows overall. More than 500 houses are currently being built in Pocklington and traffic levels on the A1079 will increase over the next few years. In 2016 the vehicle count for the A1079 was 16655.
7
Example of existing bypasses
7.1
Easingwold used to have a major traffic problem as the A19 passed right through it. A bypass was built... problem solved. Their bypass is approximately 4 km long and longer than is needed for Stamford Bridge. Their bypass was built in 1994.
7.2
A number of nearby villages and town have been provided with bypasses. Easingwold, Wilberfoss, Market Weighton, Selby, Driffield are examples, none of which had the problem of a single lane bridge. Wilberfoss had problems where the Main Street formed part of the A1079, until a bypass was built in 1963.
7.3
Comparing traffic levels in 2016 for Stamford Bridge to Easingwold shows that a bypass is needed especially because it has a single lane bridge and subject to higher traffic levels in the spring and summer periods.
Location
|
Road
|
Total Traffic count
|
Easingwold
|
A19
|
11496
|
Stamford Bridge
|
A166
|
11573
|
8
Funding for a bypass
8.1
The government has made some funding available for bypasses, reported in 2017;
The Government will today unveil proposals to ringfence road tax to pay for a new £1bn annual fund for councils to improve or replace the most important A-roads in England.
8.2
The new prison planned for Full Sutton, costing more than £90 million, will result in more traffic for Stamford Bridge and it could make a contribution to costs.
8.3
The ERYC have planned for an improvement at Stamford Bridge so should be able to make a suitable contribution.
