A1P (1) MAJOR HIGHWAY SCHEMES - A5225 ... - Wigan Council

10.96 If only the transport schemes which are already committed in Wigan are
implemented (the do minimum scenario) traffic levels on the A577 corridor would rise by
between 3% and 37% by 2011. By 2026 growth of between 11% and 97% is forecast.
The implementation of the scheme would result in a reduction of traffic flows on all
sections of the A577 to the extent that they would be below present levels in both 2011
and 2026. This reduction in traffic is intended to provide opportunities to improve
accessibility by bus, cycling and walking along the existing A577 corridor.
10.97 Objectors note that a Transport Assessment has not been prepared and presented
in evidence at the inquiry. PPG13 (paragraph 23) advises, however, that where
developments will have significant transport implications, Transport Assessments should
be prepared and submitted alongside the relevant planning applications for development.
It is clear, therefore, that such an assessment is relevant to the planning application stage
when the detail of the proposal will be considered, rather than to the safeguarding of land
in a development plan.
10.98 RPG13 (paragraph 10.3) provides that constructing new roads to
accommodate future traffic growth is neither environmentally nor economically
sustainable. Objectors argue that the building of new roads is not the answer to problems
of traffic growth and congestion. In particular, they contend that the construction of the
Wigan and Hindley Bypass would significantly increase traffic levels on what are already
congested sections of the existing road network at the eastern end of the Borough,
particularly on the A579 road between Leigh and Atherton and on the network of existing
roads that link this latter settlement to West Houghton and to the M61 motorway in the
adjacent district of Bolton. They contend that this would happen with the alignments
proposed at both FDD and RDD stages.
10.99 Quoting from the foreword to the document ‘The Future of Transport: A
Network for 2030’ (published in July 2004) they assert that ‘we cannot simply build our
way out of the problems we face with transport’. That document did, however, recognise
the role of bypasses in tackling the worst areas of congestion.
10.100 The LPA argues that the proposal to safeguard land for the road is not
intended simply to accommodate traffic growth. It is, instead, intimately connected with
the proposed location of the employment sites which it is to serve. If these are to be
located within or adjacent to the built-up area, in conformity with national and regional
guidance, the traffic they generate will inevitably impact on the roads in their vicinity.
10.101 A proportion of that traffic, both HGVs and travel to work journeys by
employees, would be influenced by origins and destinations at and beyond the eastern
end of the Borough, regardless of whether the new road was built or not. The only way to
avoid such an increase in traffic would be to not make the employment allocations
themselves, or to concentrate the majority of them at the western end of the Borough.
Given that the first key objective of RPG13 is to achieve greater economic
competitiveness and growth, such allocations must clearly be made. Given the need to
maximise accessibility to jobs while minimising the use of vehicular transport, a
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