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ITEM EN10
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MARKET SQUARE/WESSEX WAY, BICESTER - TRAFFIC MEASURES TO FOLLOW THE SKIMMINGDISH LANE IMPROVEMENT

1. Members are recommended to (i) approve the initial measures to reduce through traffic in Bicester following completion of the Skimmingdish Lane scheme and (ii) endorse the recommended option for Market Square/Market Hill pedestrianisation scheme which includes the extension of Wessex Way. Approval of the inclusion of Wessex Way in the Bicester Integrated Transport Strategy (ITS) programme is also sought. (This will enable officers to make a planning application for the extension of Wessex Way).

Measures Following the Opening of Skimmingdish Lane.

2. Work on the Skimmingdish Lane improvement started in March 2002 and will be completed by December 2002. A complementary signing strategy to direct traffic to use the new road alignment and the eastern perimeter route in general, will also be implemented to coincide with the opening of this major project.
3. The post Skimmingdish Lane measures are additional to this and are based on the need for physical traffic management measures to encourage use of the perimeter route rather than town centre roads. Our consultants, Babtie, have concentrated initial traffic management measures on the Churchill Road area and on Buckingham Road (north of Churchill Road); these are detailed below and are proposed as the Phase 1 measures (see plan in Annex 1):

• A Traffic Order to restrict HGV traffic above 7.5 tonnes, except for delivery access, and to introduce limited traffic calming measures including a ‘lorry gate’ width restriction on Churchill Road.
• Narrowed gateway treatments giving priority to outbound traffic on Buckingham Road and Banbury Road.
• Changes to road signing to reduce unnecessary through traffic.

4. Detailed plans of these proposals have been placed in the Members’ Resource Centre. Appropriate materials will be used for the gateways that will allow for future adjustments to the width, should these be needed.
5. Informal consultation has been completed on the proposed weight limits, and there have been no objections. Consultation will also be required on the width restriction order associated with the ‘lorry gate’ on Churchill Road. Most vehicles, including buses, already use Boston Road, but fire engines will be exempted from the Traffic Order. The priority measures at the two radial gateways do not require a Traffic Regulation Order but we intend to carry out informal consultation.
6. On 10 September these proposals were presented to the joint Members’ Steering Group for Bicester ITS who endorsed them for further development and implementation.

Market Square/Market Hill Pedestrian Improvements and Wessex Way Extension

7. County Council and Cherwell District Council officers have been working with our consultants, Babtie, to investigate ways of improving pedestrian safety and achieving pedestrianisation in Market Square, as proposed in the agreed Integrated Transport Strategy. During the course of this work the extension of Wessex Way was examined and included in some of the options put forward.
8. Wessex Way is included in the Adopted Cherwell Local Plan (and the draft of the revised Plan currently on deposit) as the Town Centre Link Road. This scheme, which has been identified in the Local Plan since the 1980s, would link Launton Road to Chapel Street in Bicester, providing an alternative to Market Square for trips crossing the town centre. It is also included in the County’s Local Transport Plan as a developer funded urban scheme. However, the Bicester Integrated Transport Strategy approved in March 2000 did not include this road as the scheme proposed for Market Square at the time envisaged retaining two-way traffic in the square. Progressing an option which includes Wessex Way would therefore require that scheme to be included in the Strategy.
9. Four options for Market Square/Market Hill pedestrian improvements were developed in consultation with Cherwell District and Bicester Town Councils. Public consultation on these took place on 14 and 15 June 2002, with a staffed exhibition held in Sheep Street and Market Square. The exhibition also continued (unstaffed) in the Town Council’s offices for a further week. A number of other consultation exercises were also held, including meetings with the Chamber of Commerce, Residents’ Groups and local schools. The key features of each Option are shown on the plans at Annex 2 and described below:

Option 1 – Retention of existing road layout, traffic movement and parking provision, with improved pedestrian crossing facilities and some traffic calming.

Option 2 – Extension of pedestrianisation along the north side of Market Square and two way traffic along the south side of Market Square with improved pedestrian crossing facilities and most car parking on Market Square retained.

Option 3 – Extension of the pedestrianisation along the north side of Market Square, retention of eastbound traffic on the south side of Market Square (with the footway widened) and the extension of Wessex Way for westbound traffic.

Option 4 – Retention of eastbound traffic on the south side of Market Square (with the extension of Wessex Way for westbound traffic). Pedestrianisation of Market Square and most of Market Hill, with parking removed and access restricted.

10. Under options 3 and 4, in order to restrict access to the north side of Market Square and effectively extend the existing pedestrianisation of Sheep Street, one direction of the present one-way system will need to be re-routed via Wessex Way. The alternative is to run both directions of traffic on the south side of the Square (Option 2). This would severely restrict parking on this route making deliveries particularly difficult and is likely to cause congestion. It would also largely sever the shops on the south side of the Square from the remainder of the shopping area, as crossing problems would be worse than at present.
11. In 1999 the developers of Saxon Court, McCarthy and Stone, signed an agreement as part of their Planning Application allowing the Highway Authority to take up the opportunity to extend the development access road, currently a cul-de-sac, as a through traffic link. The opportunity to acquire the land to extend the Wessex Way to meet Chapel Street under the terms of the agreement runs out in the autumn of 2009.
12. The County Council will have to make a planning application for a new highway in Wessex Way, including a full technical justification. A one-way route is considered preferable to a two-way route (which would involve substantial demolition and watercourse work in Chapel Street). The Market Square pedestrianisation proposals only require a one-way route through Wessex Way and such an arrangement would greatly reduce potential congestion at the junction with Launton Road.
13. Analysing the results of the consultation revealed no clear preference for any of the Options. A summary of the consultation responses is included in Annex 2. Members of the Steering Group considered the relative importance of views of different sections of the community and those directly affected by the proposals. At a Steering Group Meeting on 11 June, Members recommended that Option 3 should be taken forward, but modified to include some of the changes to Market Hill shown in Option 4. The proposal to extend Wessex Way was firmly endorsed as part of this decision. This new layout was designated as Option 5 and it was presented to Steering Group Members on 10 September, where it was endorsed.
14. The Town and District Councils are being recommended to approve the Option 5 layout before 29 October and results be reported orally at the meeting.
15. I support the view of the Steering Group and recommend Option 5 for further public consultation led by the County Council in support of its planning application for Wessex Way. Related Traffic Regulation Orders making Wessex Way (and part of Chapel Street) one-way will also need to be pursued at the same time.
16. The operational arrangement in Market Square itself will then be the subject of a separate Traffic Regulation Order, which may be led, at the discretion of the County Council, by Cherwell District Council under an Agency arrangement.
17. A firm date for pedestrianisation works to be promoted by Cherwell District Council can only be confirmed when the construction of Wessex Way is in a position to start. Nevertheless the design of both schemes is being undertaken together so that the Market Square scheme can follow quickly after the opening of the new road to traffic. Detailed investigation work needed to support the planning application will need to be completed in the next six months or so. See key events timetable at Annex 2.
18. Dependent upon the outcome of the planning application the County Council will undertake securing the land with the developer of Saxon Court. This requires that the scheme is fully funded and programmed at that time and this is currently envisaged as occurring in 2004.
19. Time is being allowed in the outline project programme for any possible Public Inquiry into the Traffic Orders controlling the operational aspects of the Square. At present it is envisaged that the start of the Wessex Way scheme may be achieved around the summer of 2005 with pedestrianisation works following in the summer of 2006.

Environmental Implications

20. Measures to reduce through traffic will improve the environment of Bicester town centre; reduction in traffic in Market Square will improve environment and safety for pedestrians, shoppers and market users. The extension of Wessex Way would see increased traffic use which would have some negative implications for the residents of Saxon Court and other adjacent properties but this was envisaged when the development was approved. The detailed design will seek to mitigate this as far as possible.

Financial Implications

21. Post Skimmingdish Lane Measures – these are included in the 2002/03 Integrated Transport Strategy programme.
22. Market Square/Wessex Way - it is expected that this will be funded mainly from developer contributions which need to be assembled so the land agreement can be taken up in 2004. The cost estimate at present is around £500k for Wessex Way and £100k for highway works within the Square. Cherwell District Council is expected to promote and fund the paving and urban design elements of the scheme.

RECOMMENDATIONS

23. The Executive is RECOMMENDED to:

1. approve for implementation the Phase 1 measures of the Post Skimmingdish Lane traffic management arrangements, as described in the report, subject to the consideration of any representation or objections resulting from consultation on the scheme by the Director Environmental Services, in consultation with the Executive Members for Transport & Strategic Planning and Waste Management);
2. agree that Wessex Way (Town Centre Link Road) be included in the approved programme for the Bicester Integrated Transport Strategy; and
3. endorse the work led by the Steering Group and agree Option 5 as the preferred Option to be developed for Market Square/Market Hill.

DAVID YOUNG
Director of Environmental Services

Background papers: Bicester Integrated Transport Strategy – consultant’s Final Report.
Coloured plans exhibited during Market Square Exhibition.
Post Skimmingdish Lane – detailed proposals

Contact Officers: David Clough Oxfordshire County Council Engineering and Implementation Tel 01865 815743, John Disley Oxfordshire County Council Planning and Policy Tel 01865 810460

October 2002