The proposed Relief Road project aims to encourage the removal of through traffic from Bilton and Cawston villages and to provide an alternative route north-south avoiding the Town Centre. This will reduce traffic congestion and improve local environmental conditions. Also, the scheme has been designed to allow the possibility of the dismantled railway line to be re-opened for freight use between Rugby and Long Itchington.
Warwickshire County Council’s Cabinet has approved the route of the Relief Road, between Potford’s Dam on the A4071 and Avon Mill Roundabout on the A426 Leicester Road. A completely new Planning Application for the scheme has been submitted.
An Environmental Statement has been prepared for the scheme as part of the Planning Application and a Non-Technical Summary is included below. Its purpose is to explain in non-technical language the scheme proposals and to summarise the Environmental Statement.
Various exhibitions were held in Rugby in May & June 2002 to ensure that the local people had the opportunity to see the proposals in more detail and are able to make a valuable input into the scheme’s future development.
How to Give Your Views
We welcome your views and would ask you to let us know what you think by sending by clicking on the Give us Your Views link at the end of this page, or by telephoning 01926 476822
What Will Happen Next
The County Council will consider all the comments and, where appropriate, make changes. In turn, the County Council’s Regulatory Committee will consider all views and will decide the Application.
Explanation of the Scheme and
Non-Technical Summary of the Environmental Statement
The County Council proposes to construct a new road to the West of Rugby, 6 kilometres (or 3.75 miles) in length. The scheme is a development of the proposals that were the subject of a public consultation during November 1997 to January 1998. At that time the scheme extended from Avon Mill Roundabout to the Cawston Housing Development, utilising the distributor road through the estate at the southern end of the road. Since then extra funding has been secured to cover the full cost of extending the Relief Road southwards to Potford’s Dam Farm, removing through traffic from both Cawston and Bilton villages.
Warwickshire County Council’s Cabinet has approved the preferred scheme shown on the attached plan, and a planning application reflecting this decision was submitted early in May 2002. The appropriate orders for the acquisition of land and stopping up of existing rights of way will be published in the summer.
This leaflet has been compiled in accordance with EC directive 85/337, as applied to Section 105A of the Highways Act 1980. Its purpose is to explain in non-technical language the scheme proposals, and summarise the Environmental Statement, which has been produced to form part of the Planning Application.
The Environmental Statement consists of 4 volumes – three of them address such subjects as air quality, noise, visual impact and ecology, and the fourth contains the associated drawings and maps.
Why the Scheme is Needed:
In 1997 Rugby Borough Council approved plans for development of the town over the next few years.
The main new residential and industrial developments are to be located to the west and north of the town centre. It is expected that these developments will create a significant increase in traffic and the present road system, in particular Bilton Road, Newbold Road, Corporation Street and Warwick Street Gyratory, will suffer from increased levels of congestion without the provision of the Relief Road.
The traffic congestion in Rugby is caused partly by the limited number of roads crossing the main railway lines. This is compounded because much of the employment in Rugby is north of the railway lines but many of the residential areas are to the south. This results in severe congestion during peak hours on the north-south routes. The Relief Road would provide a second major north-south route that crosses the railway.
Without the Relief Road increased congestion will result in environmental damage from effects such as noise and air pollution and conditions could become more dangerous and unpleasant for pedestrians and cyclists.
Scheme Objectives:
- To facilitate the development of Rugby as set out in the Local Plan for the Town.
- To encourage the removal of through traffic from the villages of Bilton and Cawston thus reducing congestion and improving local environmental conditions, including conditions for pedestrians and cyclists.
- To provide an alternative route north-south through Rugby that avoids the Town Centre thus reducing congestion.
- To reduce the number of accidents.
- To provide increased cycling facilities in the Rugby area.
- To allow the possibility of the railway line to re-open in the future.
- To achieve all the aims with the minimum amount of disruption to the environment.
The Proposed Scheme:
The proposed scheme consists of a single carriageway road 6.0 km long between Potford’s Dam on the A4071 and the Avon Mill roundabout at the junction of Newbold Road and A426 Leicester Road. The new road would be 7.3 metres (m) wide throughout except for a short section along Parkfield Road where the existing 6.9m wide road would be used to enable the Relief Road to cross beneath the railway lines without altering the existing railway bridges. The road would be kerbed and have 3.5m wide verges on both sides. For a majority of its length, a 2.5m wide footway/cycleway would be constructed in one of the verges.
Approximately half of the route, at the southern end, would cross agricultural land to the west of the Leamington to Rugby dismantled railway. Where possible the relief road would make use of existing roads and some of the dismantled railway line in an attempt to reduce its environmental impact. The exception would be a 0.5 km length of new road to link Parkfield Road and B4112 Newbold Road, which would include a new bridge across the River Avon.
The new road would require a number of new junctions with existing roads along its length. A 4-way traffic signal junction would be constructed to join Bilton Lane with the Relief Road. Access would be provided for pedestrians, cyclists and equestrians at this junction.
Major improvements would be made to the A428 Lawford Road where it forms a junction with the Relief Road. The existing railway bridge on the A428 would be demolished and a wider bridge reconstructed to accommodate a safe traffic signal controlled junction. Other junctions with the Cawston Housing Development, Malpass Farm Development, Parkfield Road, Newbold Road and the A426 Leicester Road would require roundabouts.
Subject to obtaining planning permission and making the legal Orders for the scheme, construction of the road could begin in 2004 and the road could be opened by the end of 2005. The construction period is anticipated to be about 18 months. Extensive traffic diversions would be necessary during various stages of the works as temporary closure would be needed on Parkfield Road. It is anticipated that with the introduction of a local temporary diversion Lawford Road would remain open at all times. Construction traffic would be required to access the site using designated routes and access via the residential areas would not be allowed.
Route Options Considered:
The scheme proposed results from work that was carried out in 1992, when initial feasibility studies were undertaken into the possibility of providing a Relief Road for Rugby. This was further developed in 1994 by establishing a broad route corridor and two detailed scheme assessments were carried out (Stage 1 and Stage 2) as the details of the various route options became more defined.
The alternatives considered at Stage 2 included extending the length of the scheme along the dismantled railway to Potford’s Dam; running north-east using the existing railway route from Lawford Road towards Avon Mill as a more direct route; and a route linking Parkfield Road and Avon Mill roundabouts via land currently used for the sewage works. Other minor alternatives were also considered concerning junction types and locations further away from the railway.
These alternatives were rejected primarily because their cost and environmental impact were far greater than the proposed route and the railway line was not available.
The scheme illustrated on the plan, and the subject of the planning application, was selected on the basis of environmental, operational and economic factors. It would provide an alternative route through the town that avoids the Town Centre Gyratory. This would relieve congestion in the Town Centre and provide additional capacity on the local road network in order to accommodate the planned future developments.
Environmental Effects:
The proposed scheme has been designed to reduce, as far as possible, any damage to the environment whilst still considering other factors such as road safety, engineering design and cost and the requirement to allow the railway line to re-open in the future.
Other measures have been proposed to reduce environmental effects where appropriate. For example: in providing noise fencing to reduce the effect of noise; in safeguarding protected species and creating ecological features; and incorporating indigenous planting schemes (on highway land and off-site) to visually connect the route to the existing landscape and to reduce the visual impact of the scheme by screening.
The existing cutting slopes at Parkfield Road would be retained to preserve the rare plant species there, and at the northern end of the scheme Newbold Road would be widened without disturbing the ancient hedgerow alongside it.
The proposals have been the subject of an Environmental Assessment where all the probable environmental effects have been carefully considered. The table opposite summarises these.
Further Information:
Copies of the full Environmental Statement may be inspected during normal office hours at the offices of:
Warwickshire County Council,
Department of Planning, Transport & Economic Strategy
Barrack Street,
Warwick
Rugby Borough Council
Technical Services Department
Town Hall
Rugby.
Further copies of the Non-Technical Summary may be obtained free of charge from Warwickshire County Council at the above address or by contacting Brian Follett (tel. 01926 412094) or Nick Sidhu (tel. 01926 412345).
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