Following several years’ of work involving Glanville’s Transport and Highways Engineering teams, the construction of mixed-use commercial and residential development on land north of Abingdon in Oxfordshire is now well underway.
Abingdon is a market town within the Local Authority area of the Vale of White Horse District Council. It is located some nine kilometres south of Oxford and eight kilometres north of Didcot. It features a range of facilities and amenities, including primary and secondary schools, a diverse shopping centre, supermarkets, health centres and a variety of leisure and recreational opportunities.
When completed, the development will provide:
- Up to 900 dwellings
- 50 retirement homes for over 65s
- Recreation areas and sports pitches
- Local centre comprising: –
- Primary school catering for a maximum of 315 pupils
- Community hub
- Children’s nursery
- Public house / restaurant
- Food retail space
- Non-food retail space
- Commercial/services area
- Up-to 80 bed care home
At planning stage, Glanville’s Transport Planning team undertook assessment of the local and nearby strategic road network in order to identify potential impact and agree suitable mitigation with the Highway Authority, Oxfordshire County Council (OCC). Notable elements included:
- Design of suitable road junctions to connect with the adjacent road network
- Mitigation of impact at existing junctions
- Accommodate maintenance vehicles and facilitate the efficient delivery of goods and supplies
- Give priority to pedestrian and cycle movements, and access to high-quality public transport facilities
- Create safe and secure layouts which minimise conflicts between traffic and cyclists or pedestrians, avoiding street clutter and where appropriate establishing home zones
- Incorporate facilities for charging plug-ins and other ultra-low emission vehicles
- Consider the needs of people with disability by all modes of transport
Junction capacity assessment, sensitivity tests and reviews of the current and proposed highway infrastructure were reviewed, including discussions with Oxford Bus Company regarding the extension of existing bus services and routes.
The Transport Planning team also prepared a Green Travel Plan to accompany the planning application in order to set out measures to discourage car travel, especially those of single occupancy by education and encouragement and (with a reasonable investment of resources), improve conditions and choices for pedestrians, cyclists and those using public transport.
Once the planning application was secured, Glanville’s Highways Engineering team prepared and secured S.278 detailed design Technical Approval through OCC for the off-site highway works relating to the western portion of the development. The designs included two new site access ghost island right turn lane junctions, a new segregated left turn roundabout lane, new signalised crossings and new bus stops. The team are currently progressing detailed design work for two new site access junctions, off-site shared surface (pedestrian / cyclist) facilities (~0.7km) and a new signalised crossing, relating to land making up the eastern portion of the development.
When completed, the works will include key features such as safe and secure cycle routes (extended further out of the immediate site) that are connected to other pre-existing cycle routes; alongside works to enhance existing water courses and the management of drainage without damaging existing water systems on site.
The new infrastructure will attract and support economic investment and growth, deliver transport infrastructure, tackle congestion and improve quality of life. It supports the Oxfordshire Sustainable Community Strategy and the UK Government policy for the future of transport in ‘The Future of Transport White Paper A Network for 2030’.
