Road Layouts in Town Centres - The Chartered Institution of

Transcription

July 1969
Volume XVI Number 7
I
Road Layo uts in Town Centres
Summary
5
11
of Contents
Birmingham-A Regional Centre
B. R. Cowles, M.I.C.E., F.I.Mun.E., A.R.I.C.S.
Huddersfield-A
Large County Borough
A. L. Percy, B.Sc., F.I.C.e., A.M.T.P.1.
19
Swindon-An
Expanding Town
J. H. Garnham, B.Sc., M.I.Mun.E.,
27
35
.
"
New Towns
N. A. Pain, M.I.Mun.E.,
A.M.lnst.H.E.
M.lnst.H.E.
West Sussex-Small Towns
I. Corsie, B.Sc., M.I.C.E., A.M.lnst.H.E .
17
(
:
I
PRE-STRESSED
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PhatO(1l'fJph by kind permJmen
01 BiJderchilf UfJrStrfJbfJg BfJU A.G.
TRINIDAD lAKE ASPRAlT
GERMANY
~IN
AUTOBAHN
-/l~-
BAD-HERSELD.
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Near FRANKFURT
The illustration shows the mechanical laying of a Mastic Asphalt wearing course
incorporating Trinidad Lake Asphalt on this important autobahn.
Using the most modern equipment the whole of the 37 miles of autobahn was
laid to a width of either 36 h. or 24 ft. without any longttudinal joints.
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R~od~r III/ormation S~r.lc~
JULY 1969
THE JOURNAL OF THE INSTITUTION
OF HIGHWAY
HE8G
ENGINEERS
'~
.,
steam rollers?
Forgive the pun - they are of course
AVELING-BARFORD
MASTER PAVIORS, seen rolling
a hot asphalt wearing course on a road bridge at
Retford. They are owned by Nottinghamshire County Council.
The Master Pavior is one of a range of
Aveling-Barford Rollers - Three wheel- TandemPneurriatic tyred - Vibratory - offering
a machine for every compaction need.
THREE WHEEL
PNEUMATIC
TANDEM
AVELING-BARFORD
TYRED
VIBRATORY
LIMITED, GRANTHAM
Reader Irr/lintUJl/lin Senictl
THE JOURNAL
OF THE INSTITUTION
pF HIGHWAY
ENGINEERS
HSI6G
JULY 1969
J
I,
July 1969
The 'Journal of the~
Institution of
Highway Engineers
Volume XVI Number 7
,
~
I
I
Contents
I
Birmingham - A Regional Centre
B. R. Cowles, M,I.C.E., F.I.Mun.E.,
A.~.I.C.S.
5
Huddersfield - A Large County Borough
A. L. Percy, B.Sc., F.I.C.E., A.M.T-P.1.
Swindon
- An Expanding
Town
J. H. Garnham, B.Sc .• M.I.Mun.E.,
New Towns
N. A. Pain. M.I.Mun.E.,
l
11
.
A.M.lnst.H.E.
19
M.lnst.H.E.
27
West Sussex - Small Towns
I. Corsie, B.Sc., M.I.C.E., A.M.rnst.H.E.
35
New Plant, Equipment
41
Institution
and MCllerials
Matters
43
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JULY 1%9
THE JOURNAL OF THE INSTITUTION OF HIGHWAY
ENGINEERS
3
. Some roads
.have problems.
Bitumen Base provides
answers in strength
and depth ..
I~I
MEXPHALTE
SHELPHALT
so",
~\\fl/-
SHELL.MEX
"..,
AND
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for the SheU and the BP Group-I.
Reader iliformalio/l Su.ice
4
THE JOURNAL OF THE INSTITUTION OF HIGHWAY ENGINEERS
HEI2G
JULY 1969 '
.1
-
Birmingham - A Regional Centre
t
I
I
~
B. R. Cowles, M.I.C.E.; F.I.Mun.E.,
A.R.I.C.S.
I
I
BIOGRAPHY
The author was born in the Midlands and moved to
Birmingham in 1927. He joined the Public Works Department of Birmingham City Corporation in 1936 and has
been with that Department throughout his career apart
from a break of six years on war service with the Royal
Artillery.
He has, therefore, been able to follow through many of
the major works and redevelopment schemes in the City
from inception to final completion. His chief interest has
been in highway engineering and, in particular, he has
specialised in surfacing materials.
In his present appointment as Deputy City Engineer,
Sur~eyor and Planning Officer he has had special
responsibility in regard to the construction of the Inner
Ring Road.
SUMMARY.
In Birmingham over the past ten years the scale of road
construction work has been very great and of the many
works completed and in hand the construction of the Inner
Ring Road. in the centre of the City, is the most impressive.
Towards the end of 1970 the Ring, at a cost of over £30
million. will be completed and at that time it will be possible
to assess its value to the City both as a traffic-carrying
road and as an intrinsic element of the City scene. It will
also give some guidance on whether or not Ring Roads
are a satisfactory basic design for road layouts in large
urban centres.
JULY 1969
In this Paper the author gives his opinion on some of the
design features of the road and tells of the work in hand
to determine the design of the second generation transportation system to supplement the Inner Ring Road
scheme.
INTRODUCTION
Birmingham forms part of the West Midlands Conurbation
and is in many ways its cultural and commercial centre. The
Conurbation consists essentially of six-County Boroughs with
some elements of the adjoining counties of Staffordshire,
Warwickshire and Worcestershire. The population in this
area is of the order of 2!- million people and that of the
catchment area generating trips into the City is probably in the
region of 5 million.
Birmingham itself has an area of 81 square miles, a population of just over one million, and from the latest figures
available there are nearly 275,000 licensed motor vehicles In
the City.
As in many other English towns the existing road networ;;:
in the City is similar to a spider's web. There are twelve radial
roads which radiate from the City centre and a number of cross
connection routes joining these radials at intervals. This type
of road system has its advantages as well as its drawbacks.
Whilst not permitting easy movement of traffic at right angles
to each other it does allow a more continuous movement in 3radial direction, this, however, concentrates heavy flows of
OF HIGHWAY
ENGINEERS
5
Birmingham - A Regional Cent~e
Construction and improvement of the roads has been going on .
since that date.
On to this radial network has been superimposed the national
motorway system of which the M6 and M5 both enter the City,
the M6 in the north and the M5 in the west. To provide adequate links to these motorways further additions have been
made to the planned road network. Of particular interest is
the Aston Expressway which will provide a direct connection
from the' Inner Ring Road to the junction with the motorway
at the Gravelly Hill interchange. This Expressway, designed to
urban motorway standards, is under construction and includes
provision for. seven lanes, one of which will be reversable to
accommodate the morning and evening peak flows.
C~(..&.~f~;;IJc'
.
?~~E.~.S!:
-------------, -------~-,
Figure I.
THE INNER RING ROAD
This was designed in the early 1940's, and Parliamentary
powers for the land acquisition and for the construction of
the road were obtained in 1945/46. In the preamble the Act
was described as "An Act to provide for the improvement of
the central area of the City of Birmingham by the construction
of an inner ring road and other works ... " In describing the
proposals in Parliament the then Minister of Transport said
"The Birmingham Inner Ring Road is a road which is not
quite a motor road, in the terms of experts, but a limited access
road. That kind of road probably fits our cities and our traffic
problems better."
.,
In designing the Ring Road certain basic precepts were laid
down and followed. These were: (i) traffic having no business
in the city centre should be diverted; (ii) vehicles having
. business within the centre should not be subject to restrictions
but should be allowed to circulate; (Hi) public service vehicles
",;.'JIii~';;f--
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F;,. ,~~f
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Principal Traffic routes.
traffic to the centre point of the system, the heart of the City
centre itself.
In addition to the radial roads there are in use sections .)f
three ring roads, the Inner at a radius of t mile from the city
centre, the Middle at a radius of I-It miles and the Outer
varying between 4 and 6 miles radius.
No plans have been made, as they have in some urban areas,
for through routes passing tangentially near to the city centre.
Provision has been made, however, in the case of the A. 38
which passes north-south through the City, for the construction,
if warranted at some future date, of a tunnel section approximately one mile in length passing beneath the centre of the
City. The combination of the three ring roads will deal with
the by-passable traffic.
The plans for the improvement of these roads were laid
down many years ago. In the case of the radials widening
lines of llO-ft to l2Q-ft were established in 1918, and in the
report to City Council at that time reference was made to the
need for a City Centre loop road which would receive the
traffic from the radial roads thereby enabling it to by-pass the
medieval layout of roads forming the core of the City centre.
Figure 2.
the M6.
Aston iExpressway and multi-level junctions with
Figure 3. Birmingham Inner Ring Road Scheme.
should bring passengers to the heart of the city and within a
reasonable distance of all parts of it ; (iv) the streets should be
adapted to their purpose, e.g. busy shopping streets should not
be wide traffic arteries; shopping streets require wide footpaths
and absence of danger from continuous fast traffic; and (v) the
spread of the first-class shopping and commercial area beyond
its present limits should be encouraged.
The scheme as approved at that time consisted of the main
ring of about t mile radius and within this were two chords
to provide cross connections and to enable buses to enter the
City centre proper. Two carriageways were to be provided each
38ft wide which included 8ft waiting lanes, two 15ft 'footways
and a 4ft central reservation to include a wall or other barrier
to prevent pedestrians crossing the road other than at the
subways provided. The total length of construction amounted
to 3t miles. The total land to be acquired was 85 acres of which
40 acres would be available for redevelopment on completio/1
of the roadworks. The present estimated cost for the completion of the work is £33,000,000.
6
OF HIGHWAY
ENGINEERS
JULY 1969
'11
'II
.J
Birmingham After much delay, awaiting Ministry approval, construcHon
was eventually started in 1957 and it then became apparent
that the forecasts of future tramc flows based on vehicle
licence increases since the war was far below what would take
place and consequent to this the design of the Ring Road
was re-assessed to increase substantially the traffic capacity.
Modifications were made which included grade-separation at
all the junctions with the exception of the A41 where, for a
number of reasons, it was impossible to make any changes.
The first section of the Ring Road, Smallbrook Ringway,
was opened to traffic in 1960. Work has been proceeding
continuously both on the construction of the remaining
sections of the road and on the adjoining development, and
although the experience is still short and a final critical
assessment of the Ring Road cannot yet be done, it is possible,
at this stage, to comment on various aspects of the design and
construction.
Traffic Capacity
In considering this aspect of the Ring Road it must be
borne in mind that the original design, now over 20 years old,
only provided for surface level gyratory islands at the
junctions. When this design was analysed in the late 1950's
substantial modifications were made. At that time the traffic
assessment was based on certain assumptions (the results Qf
the West Midlands Transport Study were, of course, not then
available).
Within the City centre and the immediate fringe to the Ring
Road, parking provision was being made for 25,000 public
car spaces to which had to be added private parking which
would probably increase the total to 40,000. Allowing for
service vehicles and public transport the number of vehicles
entering or leaving this area of the City was likely to be approximately 50,000 at peak times. This approximated to 40,000
car units during the peak hour. A proportion of those using
car spaces on the outer fringe would not use the Ring Road
and the remainder could be accommodated in the three lanes
in each direction of the Ring Road provided a reasonable assumption was made that each of the seven junctions in the
road would take an approximately equal proportion of the
flow and the maximum capacity would be achieved at a speed
of approximately 15-20 m.p.h.
It would be wrong to assess the traffic-carrying capacity of
the Ring Road at this stage as the lengths at present in use
are relatively short and discontinuous. However, from traffic
counts taken, it does appear that the original estimate of
2,750 p.c.u.s per hour in each direction will be carried. Over
3,000 p.c.u.s per hour have been counted along short stretches
of the road. At these flows, and with the restriction on speed
in a central urban area, the lO-ft. wide lanes appear to be
adequate.
At one gyratory island under full running peak hour flow
the theoretical capacity is not being completely achieved. One
weave length with a design capacity of 3,050 p.c.U.s per hour
is carrying only approximately 2,830 p.c.u.s. This could, in
part, be due to the recently introduced give way to the right
rule which deters some drivers from starting a weaving movement. Figure 4. If this problem becomes acute it will be
virtually impossible without a major reconstruction to widen
the bellmouths of the approach roads because of the presence
of the ramps to the pedestrian subways which, in general,
follow the kerb lines at the junctions.
It may well be found that the introduction of some form
of signal control will be necessary. In the future the effect
of this new rule must be taken into account in designing
road layouts at junctions. In addition to designing on theoretical capacities regard should also be given to the need to deal
with the problem of those streams of traffic whiCh can, under
the give way rule, establish a precedence over others to the
detriment of the system as a whole.
Public Transport
The importance of providing for public transport in the
~Iayout of town cenlre roads is clearly demonstrated by the
JULY 1969
A Regional Centre
I
~.
Figure 4.
island.
driver reluctance to weave at gyratory
Figure 5. Bus station beneath a section of the Ring Road.
Figure 6. Pedestrian
development.
bridge
integrated
into
results of the West Midlands Transport Study which shows
that during the morning peak 71 per cent of the journeys to
the City are made by public transport.
In the Inner Ring Road scheme provision for buses was
made by introducing into the ring two cross connecting links
forming a T which were specifically designed to enable bus
passengers to have to walk no more than 300 yds. from the
nearest stop to their City centre destination. Due to the number of buses involved kerbside stopping places were to be
ENGINEERS
7
Birmingham -
A Regional Centre
problems through indiscriminate
parking restricting the service
area.
Consequent
to this there have been instances where
delivery drivers have ignored the traffic orders and have off.
loaded from the Ring Road to tbe front of the buildings. One
very successful arrangement
in Birmingham is a service tunnel
leading off the Ring Road which gives access to the basements
of a number of city centre stores. Figure 9. Special powers
had to be obtained to construct this and it is the intention of
the City to continue the tunnel across the City.
Amenities
Figure 7. Priority Ringway showing small shopping precinct
to add interest to pedestrian concourse.
supplemented
by bus stations.
Figure 5. One of these is
in use and another is in course of construction.
Kerbside bus-stops are provided in the 8-ft. wide waiting
lanes. These are proving to be suitable and in general are
located to the best advantage of the bus passengers, but one
difficulty has arisen. Due to the incorporation
of grade-separation at the junctions and the long lengths of parapet walls to
subway ramps at the approaches to junctions it is a problem to
provide adequate lengths of kerb space for stops at those situations where there is maximum passenger demand. However,
the establishment
of a major bus station, which in most cases
could only be sited some walking distance from the centre,
may not be tbe best answer.
In designing t~wn centre roads special thought should be
given to amenities. It is not sufficient to design a traffic-carrying facility without regard to its affect on the general town
scene. In the Inner Ring Road a number of garden features
have been laid out at junctions and in these fountains, pools,
murals, sculptures and other features of interest have been
provided, Figure 10. Special care must be taken with finishes
to the constructional
elements and although expensive, applied
finishes may be called for. The finishes chosen should be capable of being kept clean or, failing this, should be renewable
at reasonable cost. Generally speaking the higher the initial
cost the lower the maintenance.
Both mosaic and ceramic tiles
have been used in pedestrian subways and concourses in the
City. It is very difficult to produce a satisfactory natural finish
to concrete on large areas and the cost of doing this should be
off-set against that of providing an applied finish. The median
strip throughout the length of the Ring Road is 4.ft. wide and
is constructed in the form af a lineal flower bed. Other amenity
features are lighting units specially designed for the road, red
asphalt surfacing, buff flag paving, purpose-designed
direction
signs for pedestrians, etc ..
Figure 8. Road levels raised to maintain pedestrian way at one
level.
Pedestrians
In the design ot the Ring Road, althougb footways are provided along the full length of the road, at no point is it necessary to cross the carriageway
at surface level. Pedestrians,
quite justifiably,
object to being "pushed
underground"
to
cross the road and it is, therefore, of greatest importance that
the design of the pedestrian-crossing
facilities should be given
very careful thought. Where possible in the Inner Ring Road
tbe subways and pedestrian
bridges are integrated
into the
general redevelopment
of the area. By this means they can be
made acceptable by the inclusion of shops to form arcades. In
other cases the subways can be led into attractive gardens and
shopping malls.
In town centres the pedestrian traffic may be much greater
than the vehicular and sufficient "weight" should be given to
this in designing the road layout. Pedestrian
routings should
be direct and long diversions to get on to ramps to subways
should
be avoided.
Vertical movement
by pedestrians
is
usually onerous and carriageway
levels should be fixed to
reduce to a practical minimum the need for footways involving the use of ramps and/or steps.
In particularly
difficult
situations, under heavy pedestrian traffic, it may be necessary
to provide escalators, as is being done in Birmingham.
Also,
where pedestrian flows are heavy, regard should be given to
"peak flows".
These will usually occur during pre-Christmas
shopping where many pedestrians will be carrying bulky parcels. Under these conditions the theoretical
capacity of footways is likely to be considerably
reduced.
,.
Figure 9. Service tunnel from the Inner Ring Road to a
number of departmental stores in the City centre.
Servicing
Apart from the few designed to motorway standards, roads
in town centres will have frontage
development
and this
raises problems of servicing. In the Inner Ring Road layout
provision is made for servicing the frontage
buildings other
than from the Ring' Road ,itself. Mostly the servicing is from
the rear, often at basement level. This is satisfactory
where the
service road is within a building or development,
but other
service roads to which the public have acce~s have brought
8
ENGINEERS
JULY 1969
Birmingham Construction
In dealing with the construction of the Inner Ring Road
mention should be made of the fact that the greater part of
tbe works have been carried out in soft sand-stone which has
been of tremendous help in making deep excavations. There
has also been a plentiful supply of cheap brick hardcore from
demolition work in the City.
In the design of the structural clements a basic approach to
keeping the design simple has been adopted. This is necessary
because 0[: (i) the complicated site arrangements that have
to be made to keep traffic moving; (ii) the modifications of
design and programming consequent on the concurrent rebuilding of the frontages and (iii) the problems associated with
mains alterations. The choice of design is often dictated by
these factors and, for example, three designs for viaducts have
had to be used. These are: 0) independent columns with continuous beams and prestressed unit decks; (ii) T. supports with
in-situ decks and (iii) single and double span Portal frames
with in-sitll deck. There is little difference in cost between these
methods. Portal frames, which are not aesthetically pleasing,
are very useful if the adjoining development encloses the area
and where the space below the viaduct is to be used for car
parking, stores, etc. They are also more flexible than other
design methods where, for example, as does happen, the
adjoining footpath has to be supported at varying levels. This
can be done by cantilever supports from the frame legs.
Some lengths of the road are constructed as tunnels. From
experience in City centre conditions it has been shown that a
tunnel section with a ground cover of about 15-ft. is cheaper
to construct in open cut. If the tunnel is to be deeper than this
A Regional Centre
Figure 12. Section of tunnel constructed itl heading.
Figure 10. Sculp/Ure of 'Hebe'. the goddess of youth. set in the
Holloway Circus garden layout.
~y
Figure ] 3.
works.
Use of temporary bridge to speed construction
it is cheaper to construct it in heading. In deciding the method
to be used the dislocation of the function and activities of
the area should be considered. Work in heading is usually
much less likely to disrupt the life of the City in the area of
the works.
It is difficult to give any guidance on the relative costs of
constructing the road at surface level as against in tunnel because of the great variation in land costs. However, in the
case of one section of the Ring Road when the alternatives
were considered the comparative costs were £It million at
surface level against £it million in tunnel.
Problems have been encountered in waterproofing, particularly in regard to viaduct deck joints. The most successful
method used to date being nylon reinforced heavy-duty bituminous compound. The asphalt road surfacing over these
joints was laid to a thickness of 4in.; and so far no cracking
of the asphalt has taken place.
Dealing with mains services in central areas is both difficult
and costly in spite of the willingness of the authorities concerned to co-operate fully. It is essential to collate the various
mains proposals and to integrate them into the overall design
and working programme before work begins. It is a great help
if as much as possible of the mains alteration work is done
before the main roadworks contract starts. It may, in certain
cases, be possible to construct as part of the roadworks contract a "mains tunnel" to accommodate the services. This can
effect a saving. For example, at Paradise Circus a 790.ft.
long mains tunnel was cheaper by £55,000 than the first suggestion of surface level routes.
._---~--~--------~----~-~~---.'-'
Figure II. Excavation for tunnel section in open cut.
JULY 1969
THE JOURNAL OF THE INSTITUTiON OF HIGHWAY
ENGINEERS
9
Birmingham -
A Regional Centre
In designing roads in town centres consideration must be
given to the problems of constructing the work under heavy
traffic conditions. From experience in Birmingham it is apparent that traffic can best be accommodated by arranging
diversionary routes on a "one way" basis. This frequently
involves constructing temporary lengths of road which in turn
may sometimes necessitate the acquisition or rented use of
additional land. Thought should be given to the use of temporary bridges which can sometimes enable a quicker progression of the work.
Some elements of design bring their own problems such as
the incorporation of an elevated gyratory island which usually
cannot be brought into use in stages.
Future Planning
The construction of the Inner Ring Road, the widening of
the radial roads and the construction of the Middle and Outer
Ring Roads, the motorway links and the motorways themselves within the City is well under way and the City is now
engaged on the second generation planning.
Over the first half of this century a large proportion of town
planning has been based on "hunches" or inspired guesswork.
It must be conceded that many of these plans now brought
to fulfilment have been successful, but with the techniques
available today forward planning must be based on a comprehensive analysis of the existing conditions and future
trends. This particularly applies in transportation.
The replanning of Birmingham centre road pattern will be
based on information from a number of studies, the most important being the West Midlands Transport Study. This was
started in 1964 and its purpose was to undertake a comprehensive survey of all forms of transport in the West Midlands
Conurbation to analyse its relationship to land use and to
make forward projections to provide guidance on the desirable
pattern of road development and public transport facilities.
Forecasts of future travel demands were to be made for the
10
THE JOURNAL OF THE INSTITUTION Of HIGHWAY ENGINEERS
projection years and for saturated car ownership conditions.
The report on this Study was published in 1968 and a team is
now engaged on producing the transportation plans for 1981
and 2001. To assist in this studies are in progress for rapidtransit and also on the feasibility of multi-purpose tunnels
'within the area bounded by the Middle Ring Road. There
is also in hand a City Centre Study to make specific recommendations and plans for the central area having regard to
the functions and the travel needs generated by these functions.
Until further work is done on these studies it is impossible
to make clear predictions on the form of road layout that will
be developed for the central area. However, the construction
of the Inner Ring Road gives some indication. In an earlier
pa~t of this Paper, details are set out of the design of the Inner
Ring Road and the functions it was intended it should fulfil.
On the general philosophy of the design, although statements
of opinion have been made against ring roads it does, in
Birmingham,. seem to be producing a development that fits in
with the general needs of the population and there is nothing
to indicate that ring roads are not a satisfactory solution to
town centre design. Whatever the future form taken by the
- central area of Birmingham it is clear from present-day experience that certain elements will be included such as parking
provision being related to highway capacity, segregation of
pedestrians and service vehicles from other road users and
co-ordination of public transport systems with car usage.
Capacities of the highway network will have to be increased
and, because of the economic folly of devoting excessive land
use to surface level roads and the damage to the environment,
it may well mean many more roads constructed in tunnel.
In drawing up these plans for the future one thing is, however, clear. Any proposals must essentially be capable of
being brought to fruition. This should not inhibit advanced
thinking but it does preclude those popular visionary exercises
in transportation and planning which would involve the virtual rebuilding of the central area.
JULY 1969
Huddersfield~A
Large County Borough.
A. L. Percy, B.Sc., F.I.C.E.~ A.M.T.P.1.
,
I
,
810G RAPHY
After graduation the author was employed by the
Birmingham Drainage Board until he went to Coventry in
1935 where he was engaged on main drainage and road
schemes. in particular on work on the Coventry By-Pass
road.
During the war he was resident engineer for air-fields
and later became an Area Civil Engineer with the Air
Ministry Works Directorate. After his return to Coventry
he was appointed Chief Assistant in the Joint Planning
Office under Mr (now Sir) Donald Gibson and Mr E;H.
Ford. City Engineer. From 1948 to 1957 he was Deputy
City Engineer and Planning Officer of Leeds and was
responsible during that period for work involving road
schemes, town planning, main drainage and sewage
disposal.
He was appointed Borough Engineer and Surveyor of
Huddersfield C.B.C. in 1957 and his work there has
involved new bridges, trunk sewers and very extensive
additions to sewage treatment works in addition to the
road works described in this Paper.
Mr Percy served on the Road Research Board and is
now a member of the Committee on Road Traffic Research
which is chaired by the Director of the Road Research
Laboratory.
SUMMARY
Huddersfield's problem is one of renewal rather than
expansion and the Paper describes the extensive redevelopment being carried out in the town and how
problems of access to premises are being met, with
advantage being taken of the steep gradients in the
Borough.
JULY 1969
Pedestrianisation is proposed for some streets but
orogress is dependent on completion of the Inner Ring
Road and details are given of this scheme. Mention is also
made of the Urban Freeway proposals which it is hoped
will ,elieve the Innel Ring Road when traffic growth
requires them to be implemented.
The rapid growth of Huddersfield ended abruptly at the
turn of the century and from 107,000 in 1911 the population
has increased slowly to 132,000 now. Its growth was due to
water-using industries, first textile, later chemical, and, with
much of its area built up and water resources nearing the limit,
. when the new Scammonden 240 ft. high earth dam (which the
east-west motorway M62 wiJI cross) has been completed, no
dramatic change of growth can be expected. So, with 132,000
inhabitants at present and probably 149,000 by the end of the
century, it will be evident that the town's problem is not ~o
much one of expansion but rather one of renewal and adaptation to modern traffic.
The street pattern of the town centre can be seen from
Figure I (part of Hardy's Plan of 1850) which shows the old
narrow streets of the small town of the early 1800's and the
grid-iron pattern of streets being contructed at that time by
the Ramsden family~large landowners and Lords of the
Manor from 1599. Their development was well laid out and
the substantial buildings of local Yorkshire stone earned for
the town the comment by Frederick Engels in "The Condition
of the Working Class in 1844" "the handsomest by far of the
factory towns of Yorkshire and Lancashire by reason of its
modern architecture". The railway station (Figure 2) is worth
special mention, being one of the few surviving examples of
monumental railway station architecture; indeed the townspeople hold it in such regard that they wish to preserve it and
THE JOURNAL OF THE INSTITUTION Of HIGHWAY ENGINEERS
II
Huddersfield - A Large County Borough
have agreed to buy the buildings and first platform from the
British Transport Commission whose needs have changed with
reductions in local passenger services and changes in arrangements for goods traffic. Jt is no novelty to find buildings
worthy of preservation making the solution of traffic problems
more difficult but in Huddersfield it is not only these buildings
which do so but the railway itself. The railway reaches the east
end of the station on a viaduct and goes into a tunnel at the
west and so it will be realised that gradients also present special
problems in the town. From the river level at the east boundary
to the highest land near the west boundary there is a rise of a
thousand feet.
MAIN1ROADS
There are eight Class A roads passing through Huddersfield,
and the importance of the town as a traffic centre is shown
by the fact that four of these terminate in Huddersfield, (A616
from Newark. A640 from Rochdale, A641 from Bradford
and A642 from Hook Moor on AI). Until 1960 A6t6 and A641
. joined A62, and all the traffic passed along the main shopping
street which has a carriageway only 33 ft. in width; congestion
was the greater because many of the properties fronting it have
no rear access, loading and unloading having to be done at
the front. By 1957 over a thousand abnormal indivisible loads
passed through the town yearly, mainly via the Class A roads
mentioned, and. because alternative paths were too tortuous
for long loads, many had to use the main street. These factors
brought about the issue in 1958 of grants for the eastern part
of an Inner Ring Road.
Figure 2. Huddersfiefd Railway Station facade.
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-----.
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Figure 3.
Inner Ring Road, Eastern Section .
INNER RING ROAD - EASTERN SECTION
The first length of just over a mile, stretching from Chapel
Hill A616 round to Leeds Road A62, was constructed between
1959 and 1962, design being based on a 75 per cent increase in
traffic on 1956 peak hour flows. It has dual carriageways each
24 ft. in width (except Southgate, Figure 3, where they are
30 ft.), and roundabouts at the junctions. Research at the time
indicated that, short of flyovers, roundabouts controlled by
traffic-lights would handle more traffic than other forms of
junction and ducts were -laid for signal installation cables.
There was no chance of grant being available for flyovers,
indeed six grants were involved in the first stretch totalling
£734,000.
Traffic counts in 1956 showed 2280 urban p.c.u's in the peak
hour entering the junction at the top of Chapel Hill where the
first section of the Ring joins the south end of the main street,
two-way flow in the main street itself being 1840 p.c.u's. In
1962 when the first section was finished traffic entering the
junction increased to 2950 but the main street flow was down
to 1125 p.c.u's. Recent counts showed 3956 p.c.u's entering
the junction but the main street flow was down to 1534 p.c.u's.
If the Ring had not been started and if the increase from 2280
to 3956 p.c.u's in the junction had resulted in a similar increase
in the main street flow, 3200 p.c.u's would now be trying to
pass along it; as its capacity, according to "Roads in Urban
Areas," is between 1100 and 1300 p.c.u's evidently many
drivers would have had to use other routes altogether. Conditions for the shopping public would certainly have become
intolerable. Journey speed in recent years is about 10 m.p.h.
on the main street and 22 m.p.h. on the Ring. The number ()f
abnormal indivisible toads passing through the Borough now
exceeds 2000 per annum.
Such heavy loads, often as great as 300 tons, are serious
impediments to the flow of traffic and it must be a matter for
careful consideration whether their demands for road width
and road strength are fully justified.
INNER RING ROAD - WESTERN SECTION
The 1954 Development Plan showed the continuation of the
Inner Ring along a line in front of the railway station. There
was great doubt whether the junctions involved could handle
the volume of traffic and the Council agreed, in 1961. that a
census be taken to test this layout and to guide improvement
schemes for other roads. A postcard census supplemented by
direct interview boundary counts was made and, no doubt due
to television and other publicity, the response was good. Sixty
per cent of the cards issued to one in every five householders
were returned, giving roughly a one-in-ten sample after rejecting inadequate replies. Fortunately J. C. Tanner's forecasts
of future numbers of vehicles became available at about this
time and were used in predicting traffic on the Inner Ring and
about a hundred other lengths of road in the Borough. The
benefits from this overall approach have been even greater than
12
THE JOURNAL
OF THE INSTITUTION
OF HIGHWAY
ENGINEERS
JULY 19"
f'
~
Huddersjield - A Large County Borough
anticipated. From the predictions of traffic flow it was quite
clear that'a route in front of the railway station was simply
untenable, so a new line had to be chosen behind (i.e. west) of
the station which meant either a costly new bridge to replace
part of the railway viaduct or adoption of a curved alignment
which would bring the carriageway square through the existing
arches. This was the more economical solution to the problem
and was adopted.
Grade-separated junctions which imply cuttings or elevated
roads may change the nature of districts through which they
pass, many railway viaducts did so, and this is shown by the
change in character "beyond the tracks" in many towns. In
most cases if normal road junctions can be designed to handle
the traffic they are best so far as' town development is concerned. In the proposed western section of the Ring gradeseparation is proposed only to the extent of an' underpass for
right-turning traffic near the railway viaduct and an overpass
for right-turning traffic where the ring will pass under an existing steep street and the bridge can be made to fulfil the double
purpose. The ring will contain an area of 110 acres measuring
about 1070 yards by 670 yards across. The scheme, shown in
Figure 4, is now described briefly starting from the south.
A616 - A640
The present 'roundabout at the top of Chapel Hill, where
A616 joins the Ring, is inadequate in size and the scene of
frequent minor accidents large due to the I in 10 gradient of
A616 itself. It is to be replaced by a channelized Iightcontrolled junction - feasible without too great a delay because access to the main street here is to be stopped Up. The
Ring, generally, will have dual three lane carriageways 36ft.
in width between junctions. Existing development makes it
necessary to provide footways on this length but there will be
continuous guard rails. The short I in 8 incline west of the
junction is to be regraded to I in 13 for 150 yards followed
by I in 20 and I in 36 as far as the next junction, also to I:>c
light"controlled, where the ring is to be crossed by a new -road
giving access on one hand to the town centre and on the other.
to a proposed freeway. A pedestrian subway will be provided
here. From this point to A640 (Trinity Street) the road follows
contours with only enough fall for easy drainage and it will
have sloping concrete margins 3ft. in width to take the worst
of the salt spray in winter, and planted margins beyond with
no footways.
A640 - A629
The right angled junction with A640 (Trinity Street to
Rochdale) will have traffic-lights and slip roads on the west.
The A640 at present joins A629 (to Halifax) at a very acute
angle and where the ring will cross them they are only 400ft.
apart, too close for further signals to bc acceptable; in order
to solve this problem the scheme provides for the adjacent
length of A629 to become a one-way road for "outward"
traffic only.
The site to the west is to be developed for
extensions to the technical college and a pedestrian subway
will be sited here to provide access for students as well as the
general public using the main roads.
A629 - ST. JOHN'S ROAD
From A629 the road runs downhill and by introducing :I
cutting which will take the Ring below Fitzwilliam Street (a
local road with a I in 10 gradient) it has been found possible
to make the gradient I in 18 for 100 yards followed by I in 24.
South-bound traffic from A629 may run down a short length
of Fitzwilliam Street pass over the Ring by the bridge and join
it by turning right along a slip road. North or east-bound
traffic .from A629 is to be carried to the Ring by a slip road,
at a gradient of I in 12. Electric heating is proposed for this,
the present installation at Chapel Hill on a similar gradient
having proved very satisfactory indeed. Traffic in the reverse
direction may follow a loop to reach the bridge and join A629
via Fitzwilliam Street.
Figure 4. Plan of Ring Road, Town Centre and Redevelopmc/l/ Schemes.
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JULY 1969
! ! ] l
THE JOURNAL
OF THE INSTITUTION
__/~~}
"r. F.I C{
GI-I
OF HIGHWAY
NGlNE:
R
ENGINEERS
13
Huddersfield -
A Large County Borough
diversion of traffic to the east-west motorway, expected to be
opened in 1972. Separate estimates were made of "through"
journeys, "local" journeys, public service vehicles and journeys
to and from car parks, treating morning and evening flows
separately.
Travel times on a Ring with frequent lightcontrolled junctions would be very difficult to assess and assignment of traffic to the several sections was done on the
assumption that local motorists would choose the shortest
route, and that through traffic could be directed by signs to
use the Ring in a clockwise direction in cases where distances
in either sense would be similar.
Diagrams were drawn showing morning and evening peakhour flows in urban p.c.u's and junction flows in traffic signed
p.c.u's. Figure 5 is an example and gives total evening peak
flows for the year 1980. It will be seen from the diagram that
in many parts of the Ring practical capacities for dual three
lane carriageways would be exceeded and turning movements
would require grade separation. Relief however is planned
with the provision of a system of urban motorways now to be
described. With this relief, and the construction of an overpass
at the Wakefield Road junction (A629 at Shore Head), the road
is still expected to be adequate for traffic in the early years of
the next century.
ST. JOHN'S ROAD A 641- A62
After a traffic-light controlled junction with St. John's Road
the curved path of the Ring continues and brings it in line with
the existing arches of the railway viaduct thus avoiding the
need for an extremely costly new railway bridge. Three arches
will be used for the crossing, each for a two-lane carriageway,
the centre carriageway being a ramp down to an underpass.
Near the viaduct the ring joins A641 (to Bradford) at a trafficlight controlled junction but with an underpass for southbound traffic wishing to continue on the Ring. A short length
of dual carriageway with a service road connects to the existing
Ring A62.
LAND AND LIGHTING
Most of the route lies through old property and many of the
more substantial premises have already been bought by the
Corporation by agreement.
Adjoining lands mostly need
redevelopment and it is not intended to have any frontage
access. The Council has decided on a high mast installation of
H.PS.O. lamps which will reduce by four-fifths the number
of columns required to light the road.
INNER RING ROAD-WESTERN
SECTION-TRAFFIC
Current thought favours some restriction of traffic in town
centres though some doubt exists about the size of the town
for which it becomes necessary. If the area within a ring road
is not too large, and if commuter car parks can be sited outside
the Ring (or reached by underpass if inside), it should be.
possible to allow all who wish to to use their cars as far as
the Ring. This has been a principle in working out the traffic
patterns for the Borough.
Estimated peak-hour traffic flows were calculated for the
design year 2010 and also for 1980 using the 1961 census and
Tanner's growth figures, due allowance being made for
FREEWAY SYSTEM
The 1961 census not only helped in the decisions to be made
about the line of the Inner Ring Road but pointed the
inadequacy of many Improvement Lines fixed a number of
years ago. One such line was on Leeds Road A62, to the north
of which lie extensive playing fields, open land, and a disused
railway line. In the belief that through traffic has no place
on roads bordered by houses and large industrial premises, it
was proposed to the Council in ~963 that the old Improvement
..
Figure 5. Flow diagram,
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INNER RING ROAD TRAFFIC FLOWS PEAK HOUR
•'1
OF HIGHWAY
ENGINEERS
1980
P.C.U .
JULY 1969
Huddersfield -
COUNTY BOROUGH OF HUDDERSFIELD
PROPOSED
MAJOR
ROAD
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HUOOERSFIElO
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Figure 6. Town in freeway setting.
{
JULY 1?69
.
-
IS'
J
Huddersfield -
Scheme be abandoned and a new line be chosen to the north
for an access. restricted freeway from the Borough boundary
for a distance of 2t miles towards the town centre. Incidentally
it involved demolition of 267 fewer houses. The Council's
ready acceptance of the idea led to further freeway proposals,
in particular the up-grading to this status of an intended road
on the south bank of the River Colne which curves through
the town half a mile south of the centre, and an extension from
this up to Outlane near its western boundary where Ruddersfield will have a connection to M62. In short a freeway system
has been planned linking the Lancashire-Yorkshire Motorway
M62 near the eastern and western boundaries of the town and
giving quick access to the industrial areas of the Borough. The
necessary parts have been programmed to be ready to augment
the Inner Ring Road by 1980 when traffic has grown to the
limit of the capacity now being provided. The proposed routes
are being protected by use of planning powers.
The town with other county boroughs and the West Riding
County Council has joined the Ministry of Transport in
arranging for the West Yorkshire Transportation Survey and
much of the freeway system described will be incorporated In
one of the "traffic corridor" proposals put forward in the
Report.
Figure 7.
The main street which is to be pedestrianised.
REDEVELOPMENT
(a) The Murrayfield Scheme
Large areas in the town centre are being redeveloped and
Figure 4 shows the location of the main schemes.
In 1962 Murrayfield Real &tate Co. Ltd. entered into
discussions with the Corporation for development of part of
the town centre (7t acres, see Figure 4). The present Market
Hall in the heart of the town is inadequate in size and surrounded by narrow lanes, creating traffic congestion and
restrictions. The Murrayfield Scheme based on a complicated
financial agreement with the Corporation as freeholders has
four phases :(i) A new block of shops with store rooms and a five-storey
office block above. This is complete and shown in Figure 7.
The mosaics on the end wall illustrate the growth of the town's
textile industry.
(ii) A new Market Hall with shops along one frontage and
a multi-storey car park near by, all now under construction
. Figure 8. The part of Ramsden Street along the north sid~
of this phase has been closed; it is being regraded to fonn a
pedestrian precinct level with the market hall main floor.
(iii) Demolition of existing Market Hall and erection of
shops on its site.
(iv) Demolition of other old shop properties nearby and the
erection of new shops.
The scheme has been prepared by Seymour Harris &
Partners who. ha~e also designed all the buildings except the
car park ;. t~IS will hold 588 cars and has been designed by
Messrs Gll1mson & Barnet. The Corporation are paying for
and will run the Market Hall.
(b) Messrs. Hammersons Scheme
Subsequently Messrs Hammersons approached the Corporation regarding development of an area west of the Murrayfield
Scheme and in 1965 an agreement was reached by which the
Corporation purchased some additional land required to complete the block.
Some freeholds were surrendered by the
Company and the Corporation gave them a long lease of the
whole site. The scheme, designed by Bernard Engel & Partners
comprises a public-house and 18 shops with a ten-storey block
of Corporation-owned flats ab~ve and is now nearly complete.
(c) The Civic Centre
West of the Hammerson block and extending to the western
section of the Inner Ring Road lies the Civic Centre site.
Stage I, completed in 1965, provided accommodation for the
architects, treasurer's education and medical officer's depart.
ments, all previously accommodated in old buildings which
had to be demolished before the Murrayfield Scheme could
start. Over most of the site the building is raised on columns
16
THE JOURNAL
OF THE INSTITUTION
OF HIGHWAY
ENGINEERS
Figure 8. New Market Hall and car park .
(I
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Figure 9. Civic Centre Stage I.
so that parking space for 190 cars is available beneath at
Albion Street level. (Borough Architect, Mr. Sidney Richmond
F.R.l.B.A.). Incide;ntally this street formerly rose to a hump
some five feet above the levels of its end but was regraded
during this stage leaving only enough fall for drainage and to
keep traffic running and premises open. Stage 2 of the Civic
Centre comprising new courts and police headquarters
designed by the Borough Architect Mr. C. E. Aspinall,
A.R.I.B.A., is shown in Figure 10 and was brought into use in
1968.
JULY 1969
Huddersfield (d)-Pack"Horse"Yard".-__
This yard and the old property surrounding it is now being
redeveloped to provide an arcade lined by shops (Architects,
Mes~rs Jefferson Sheard & Partners). Early proposals include
a multi-storey car park above but no satisfactory way could
be found of dealing with tramc entering and leaving the site
which adjoins the principal cross-roads of the town centre and
this proposal was dropped; The scheme, now under construction, will provide twenty-two shops.
MODES OF ACCESS
it has been mentioned that one of the town's problems is
property on the main street with no rear access, and the
methods of access for the new schemes are worth outlining
.since they are so varied.
Phase I of the Murrayfield Scheme has underground
provision for loading and unloading reached by a ramp from
an existing side street; store rooms are on the first floor
reached by service lifts. Parking space has been provided by
closing part of the width of the rear str~t, the footway being
replaced by a new footway in the Murrayfield curtilage.
Phase II of the Murrayfield Scheme will have an underground access road. Twenty-three feet of fall from west to
east of the site makes it possible to have vehicular access at
the level of the Ring Road on the east boundary leading to
loading decks, storage pens and preparation rooms extending
beneath most of the new Market Hall floor which is set at the
level of the pedestrian precinct. The carriageway will be 20 ft.
in width and provided with sprinklers in case of fire.
The underground road of Phase 11 will be extended unda
the later phases so that all the premises will ,receive and
despatch goods on a different level from pedestrians. To meet
building regulations fire requirements a sliding door controlled
by fusible link is to be provided on the northern boundary of
Phase II. The agreement provides for the Corporation to light
and maintain the underground roads the cost being shared in
proportion to the floor area of buildings served.
Phase 111 will extend behind the buildings fronting to part
.of the existing main street and when one store was being rebuilt
the developers agreed to construct a basement below their new
loading dock which could become the loading dock reached
by an 'extension from the Phase III underground road when
this has been built in two or three years time.
Contrast these arrangements with those for Messrs Hammersons block on the other side of the main street. Albion Street
behind this block is five feet higher and ramps run from it up
to a loading deck at first floor level. Storage rooms are above
the shops with direct access to the deck, which also provides
private parking for forty cars. Figure II shows the deck and
ramps.
For the Pack Horse Yard development a basement loading
area with adjacent storage rooms is being constructed reached
by a ramp running down from a rear street on the east where
the level is lower. The developers were required to have access
from this street and purchased and demolished a shop so that
vehicular access could be made through its site.
From these descriptions it might be deduced that modes of
access have been decided on a "you name it, we have it" basis
but each arrangement was the solution to the problem of the
particular site and circumstances, advantage being taken in
each case of the fall of the ground.
CENTRAL AREA PLAN
In 1964 the Council decided it was desirable to have a revised
town plan for the central area and it chose Messrs Building
Design Partnership to prepare one covering the area within the
Inner Ring Road and a belt of surrounding land some 150
yards in width. This plan was submitted in 1965 and most of
its recommendations have been accepted. Recommendations
affecting the road pattern were : ~
.
1. Extensive ped-estrianisation to form a barrier to east-west
traffic as well as to improve environment, the .main shopping
streets to be closed ultimately to vehicles when other access is
available but as an interim solution carriageways to be reduced
JULY
1969
in width and retained as one-way loops.- Wide pavements.,".
provided with shelter were suggested as was the planting of
large mature trees. Figure 12 shows the suggested pedestrian
ways and interim carriageways.
2. Existing roundabouts on the constructed part of the Inner
Ring Road to be replaced by high capacity traffic signals and
ultimately by some form of flyover.
3. Main Streets to the east and west of the central pedestrian
block linked by a narrow slow-speed road along the south side
of 81. George's Square to be used for service vehicles and
access. The inner circulatory pattern is shown in Figure 12.
Figure 10. Civic Centre Stage 1I.
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Figure 11. Hammerson development ramp to deck.
Figure 13. Foreground shows the construction of a multi.
storey car park underpass.
THE JOURNAL
Of THE INSTITUTION
OF
HIGHWAY
ENGINEERS
17
Huddersfield -
a
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Figure 12. Sume of the Building Design Partnership proposals.
4. Public Transport services to be re-routed; through
services to run in an anti-clockwise direction where possible
around the pedestrian core so pedestrians do not have to cross
roads used by buses. Three bus stations to be provided for
terminating bus services in the positions shown in Figure 12.
NO.1 would accommodate services from the south-east, No.2
a "linear" bus station for buses from the north-east and No.3
to accommodate vehicles from the south, south-west and northwest. This report states "In due course there may be a need for
specially designed vehicles operating continuously and linking
the three bus stations and also linking peripheral car parks
with the shopping area."
5. The plan estimated car parking requirements at 10,000
spaces by 1981 and 14,000 by 2010 and proposed the locations
shown in Figure 12.
Whilst not directly related to the road pattern one important
it~m in the Building Design Partnership report of special
interest was its recommendation that planning permission
should not be granted for proposals involving increased retaB
floor space (there were certain exceptions to this however) on
account of an imbalance between anticipated spending power
of the study area and the turnover. required to support the
retail floor space proposed in the town centre. The Council
also arranged with the consultants to provide a financial
appraisal of the proposals and from this it appeared that the
proposals put forward were acceptable from a cost point of
view.
18
THE JOURNAL
OF THE INSTITUTION
OF HIGHWAY
ENGINEERS
PRESENT POSITION
Before any of the shopping streets can be closed to vehiculuar
traffic the Inner Ring Road must be completed. Estimated
cost of the western section is £2,700,000 and a compulsory
purchase order for the land has been made by the Council.
Grant is expected within the year. Areas of land already
cleared o,n the line of the Ring are temporarily used for car
parking and new car parks are required in replacement. The
multi-storey car park near the new Market Hall and its access
underpass beneath the existing eastern section of the Ring arc
now under construction, Figure 13. The underpass will also
have a footway to give better access to the College of
Technology situated east of the Ring and which has 9000
students.
Negotiations are in progress for another multi-storey car
park on the west of the town centre and a Parking Meter
Scheme is to be prepared for the Council's consideration, su.;h
a scheme may be introduced after the multi-storey park is
opened ..
For the past five years the Chairman of the Highways &
Town Planning Committee, and also of the Finance Committee, has been Alderman Douglas Graham, C.B.E., and the
author is indebted to him not only for permission to publish
this Paper but particularly for his support and encouragement
in the Department's work during those busy years.
JULY 1969
,
'
Swindon -. An Expanding Town
J. H. Garnham,
B.Sc., M.I.Mun.E.,
A.M.lnst.H.E.
BIOGRAPHY
The author graduated from the University of London in
1946 and unti/1953 he worked on Stevenage New Town at
first with the Ministry of Town and Country Planning and
later with the Development Corporation itself. In 1953 he
moved to Hemel Hempstead Borough Council as a Senior
Engineering Assistant and in 1959 he became the first
Chief Assistant Engineer to be appointed for Ashford
Urban District Council, Kent.
Since 1962 he has been with Swindon Borough
Council and is now Assistant Borough Engineer responsible to the Borough Engineer, Surveyor and Planning
Officer. for central area redevelopment, traffic engineering.
highway and transportation planning, major road improvements and estate development works. Mr Garnham's
engineering experience has been gained wholly in new
andexpandedtown~
SUMMARY
Rapid town expansion in Swindon has had to be matched
to an expanding central area. Town centre plans have
changed to allow opportunities to be taken and to
incorporate new ideas. The road layout cannot be isolated
from such general development, and itself must provide
a framework within which the plan is flexible in time and
form.
This Paper outlines some of the changes which have
taken place in the road layout of Swindon's central area
and suggests thoughts on its future development.
Introduction
The town of Swindon with a population of 113,000 is the largest
in Wiltshire and the third largest in the South-West region. The
nearest town of comparable size is Oxford, some 30 miles to the
nort h-east.
JULY
1969
Swindon was heavily reliant for employment upon the railway
industry when, in ]952, with a population of 68,000, the Borough
Council decided on an all out drive to diversify industry in the
town.
At that time the railway works employed approximately 12,000
people and it was becoming evident that it was a declining
industry. The Corporation decided to take full advantage of the
Town Development Act to bring in both new industry and
population. The first phase of expansion which has brought in
25,000 people in 15years is nearing completion and the town now
has an industrial structure which depends much more on the
growth industries of electrical and general engineering and motor
vehicle manufacture than it does on the railway industry which
now only employs 5,000. This has been achieved without the
unemployment rate reaching the national average.
At the request of the Minister of Housing and Local Government the Corporation together with the Greater London Council
and Wiltshire County Council has now submitted a further report
which shows that the town could grow to two or three times its
present size and could reach a population of 300,000 by the end
of the century.
Central Area
The town centre is situated immediately south of the railway
line. The A420 crosses the area but just misses the main shopping
area. Because of the situation of the centre in relation to the
railway the majority of the cross-town traffic avoids the heart of
the town centre and the main shopping street has never formed an
important traffic route. This has enabled all the post-war plans
to start on the basis of converting this to a pedestrian street.
With town expansion proceeding at a rapid rate there has
been continual pressure for additional redevelopment in the
central area for shopping, offices and various civic buildings.
The Corporation has wisely taken the initiative in the provision
of many of these facilities.
THE JOURNAL
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19
Swindon -
An Expanding Town
CNIC
-OFF~
!(:.Ir,LE IN .. llE:5
The problem has been to ensure that the existing centre is
properly served with roads and parking whilst creating and taking
opportunities for its redevelopment and expansion to keep pace
with the demands of a rapidly expanding population.
The main lesson that has been learnt is the need for a plan
which is sufficiently flexible in form as well as in time scale ,to
enable the opportunities to be taken as they arise. It is not
possible to lay down and retain with certainty much more than a
general framework in these circumstances where the rate of
development depends on the inflow oflarge amounts of public and
private capital while programmes of investment and the rate of
town expansion are so fluid.
The problem which has to be faced with an expanded town is
that of condensing a century of normal growth into about 15
years. In a New Town most central services are planned from
nothing on virgin sites whilst in an expanded town most facilities
already exist in some form but need to be expanded considerably,
often within congested areas. Such is the case with the road
system.
The Changing Road Layouts
(a) Figure A shows the future road plan prepared in the early
post-war years. Although providing for the conversion of the
existing shopping street to a pedestrian precinct, a new shopping
area was planned at right angles on either side of a dual carriageway road. This is a typical plan of that era, with ample road
space not apparently intended to be fully utilized for carrying
traffic.
(b) Figure B shows the development of the previous plan to
cater more positively and separately for traffic and pedestrian
movements. It was backed by 1981 estimated traffic flows and
less than 3,000 off-street car parking spaces.
Although only six years old, and already incorporating many
minor changes, this plan can no longer be regarded as providing
a satisfactory solution for the future. Central area parking has
already reached 4,000 cars and the 1981 estimated traffic flows
will be exceeded in five years. The centre is now likely to have to
serve approximately double the population envisaged when
the plan was prepared.
Nevertheless this plan has been used quite successfully as the
basis for the considerable redevelopment which has recently
taken place, the measure of which can be indicated by the removal
for development of over 600 houses in the central area in the
last five years.
The plan has shown that it. contained sufficient flexibility
within its framework. Two examples are:
Fig.D
o
o
'SCALI!.
2D
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Swindon -
An Expanding Town
(i) the Civic Centre complex which is now under construction
was re-planned on a totally different layout concept than that
indicated on the original plan. The relatively minor alterations
to the road system were easily incorporated; and,
(ii) the 13 acres shopping area which the Corporation is shortly
to develop will now be serviced at roof level instead of ground
level as en.visagedin the plan.
The Present
The immediate uncertainty of future size and rate of expansion
to be undertaken and the recognition 'that the existing central
area plan has to be recast has led to the development of the
systems illustrated at Figures C and D.
Figure C shows a possible use of the existJng road system with
relatively small scale additions to cater for the traffic flows and
development likely to be required in the next five years.
It will provide for a double one-way system surrounding
the inner central area containing the main shopping, commercial
and civic elements. On two sides this wiU be in the form of
recently constructed dual carriageways and on the remainder
by a parallel one-way system using existing roads. This system
will distribute the traffic within the centre as well as carrying
cross-town and through traffic.
Figure D illustrates a basic re-think of the framework withi.n
the central area which can be developed over a longer period.
It envisages a main distributor box enclosing a much enlarged
central area which will extend across the railway onto a 100 acre
site which the Corporation recently acquired from British Rail
and which is to be developed with a major sports centre, college,
offices and car parks.
This distributor box is planned as part of the town's main
network of roads and is intended to make it unnecessary for any
traffic to enter the box other than that with an origin or destination therein. Once this concept is accepted the capacity of the
road network within the box is available to deal solely with the
central area traffic. However, as it will be necessary to deal more
adequately with cross-town (A420) traffic crossing the box before
the distributor box can be provided, it is also essential to plan
this in a form which can be fully utilized when its purpose
changes from a principal route and a main distributor road.
The internal system is based on access to each sector either
directly from the nearest side of the box or from the central area
distributor which is the principal route referred to above made
redundant by the box. Extensive one-way looped systems
will probably be incorporated.
What then are the requirements of a central area road system
and how are these being considered in Swindon?
Accessibility
The success of any central area inevitably depends on its accessibility, which should not only be adequate for journeys by car,
bus, foot, service vehicle or any proposed advanced form of
transport, but should be relatively straightforward and abundantly clear to both residents and visitors. Well planned one-way
systems with high capacity are of little use if they are jammed
with lorries asking the way and cars searching for car parks with
spaces.
In Swindon the indications are that even if the town expanded
to a population of 250,000 car parking and access capacity could
be provided for all who wished to use their cars. It might be
that future residents would prefer to invest in an improved
public transport system rather than in car parks and access roads
and this option can and should be capable of review. This may be
more difficult in a static town where the whole investment
programme is inevitably slower. If there has to be restraint on car
access then this must be operated in a way that does not lead to
even greater demands on the road system due to cars circulating
between parks.
,
Service access is difficult. It has already been found that when
lorries arrive with inadequate addresses looking for premises
in the pedestrian shopping areas they are often mis-directed
because the access to the rear of some premises within the same
shopping areas has to be gained from opposite directions. This is
clearly a growing problem and can only be solved by the delivery
JULY 1969
Regent Street, Swindon, closed to vehicles.
instructions being much more precise as to access - normal
addresses are just not adequate.
Although it is unlikely that public transport will carry an
increasing proportion of travellers, its. strategic importance,
particularly in the town centre, will increase. If the service
can be improved then it can offer a very satisfactory alternative
means of access. It is of course necessary to ensure that access
can be made available continually to the services as close to the
demand as possible, and that services are not delayed by other
forms of transport. In the scheme illustrated in Figure C ingenuity has had to be exercised in ensuring that the one-way
circulations do not take the bus stops further away from the
demand and add unnecessary mileage - this can all too easily
happen.
Segregation
A degree of pedestrian shopping has been a feature of the
central area post-war plans. It is now possible to see that practically the whole shopping, commercial and civic area can be
served by completely segregated pedestrian ways. There has been
much talk in the country about converting existing centres to
pedestrian shopping - in Swindon action has been taken.
Instead of waiting until adequate rear servicing could be
provided to the existing shopping centre it was decided to close
the street to vehicles on Saturdays only. Because of some doubt
about the legality of the procedure being used and difficulty with
one trader the Order took nearly two years to be confirmed and
for a lesser time than proposed. Since then new legislation has
removed all the obstacles that were encountered. An Order for the
closure between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. of 600 yds. being the whole
length of the main shopping road was brought into operation on
Saturday 2nd September, 1967. The accompanying photograph
shows part of Regent Street on that Saturday.
The closure was successful from its inception and is fully
accepted by townspeople and traders. With the new pedestrian
shopping area, Swindon must have one of the largest areas of
pedestrian shopping in the country on Saturdays.
Before closure the street had one-way flow and was full of
vehicles both parked and moving. With the closure there was.no
THE JOURNAL OF THE INSTLTUTION OF HIGHWAY ENGLNEERS
21
Swine/on -
An Expanding Town
additional traffic flows on surrounding roads in fact it appeared
that the street had generated this traffic and on closure the
different pattern of accessibility was accepted with an overall
reduction of traffic movement in the central area and a substantial
gain in shopping amenity. Swindon's example could be followed
in many towns.
Considerable
scope exists for the segregation of the main
classes of traffic in a central area. If this can be achieved it
would. simplify movement and could lead to savings in construction costs. Cars, buses and service vehicles could operate on
different systems. It is probably
impossible to attempt this
completely in Swindon but this does not prevent some of the
advantages being incorporated to a limited degree.
Flexibility
The need for a flexible central area plan has been discu'\sed
earlier, this means that the movement pattern should contain at
least an equivalent degree of flexibility, especially as it is clearly
in this field that developments are'certain to continue to arise.
Nevertheless if any progress is to be achieved parts of the
pattern have to be made firm and construction must take place.
'.
The real flexibility which is required is in timing since any
programme of central area development is dependant on many
factors over which a local authority has only persuasive powers.
In many cases new roads or alterations to one-way systems are
entirely dependant on redevelopment in others, redevelopment is
dependant on the provision of a road improvement. The present
system, whereby the financing of highways is dependant on grants
and loan sanctions involving many authorities and departments,
makes it increasingly difficult to achieve the degree of flexibility
required.
vertical curves and sight. lines. A new road or alteration to an
existing system cannot be introduced without being fully equipped
with the appropriate road traffic orders. Fortunately the importance of traffic management
measures as partial or complete
solutions to traffic problems has now been recognised by the
Minister of Transport in his receIjt revision of the grant structure.
Public Relations
Public understanding of the road pattern, its limitations, and the
future plans for its improvement,
is essential if new proposals
are to be pursued and brought in smoothly and effectively.
In recent years a Traffic Sub-Committee including representation
from the Corporation Transport Undertaking and the police have
dealt with traffic management measures. All substantial objectors
have had the opportunity
of discussing their problems directly
with the Committee. Maximum publicity has been given to all
traffic alterations and undoubtedly this type of public involvement
is in the best interest of all the parties involved.
Conclusion
Although the general title of these papers is "Road Layouts in
Town Centres", no apology is made for dealing with the problem
on a broader basis. It would be quite wrong to conceive a solution,
in isolation from the other factors particularly planning, investment and general transportation
policies. These factors contain
flexibility and therefore the road layout and programme must be
continually reviewed as part of a complete solution. This approach
offers the highway engineers concerned considerable
opportunities to work with other professional people. It must no longer
be a case of building an inherited road pattern just because it
exists on a predecessor's
plan and at long last has received
Ministerial approval.
Traffic Management
Acknowledgments
Probably one of the most fundamentaL changes in the consideration of road layouts, particularly
in central areas, over
recent years has been the necessity to consider traffic management
measures as one of the basic design factors as important as say
The author wishes to thank his colleagues and in particular
Mr N. A. Pritchard, F.I.C.E.,
F.I.Mun.E.,
M.lnst.H.E.,
the
Borough Engineer and Surveyor and Planning Officer ofSwindon,
for their assistance in the preparation of this Paper.
22
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26
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Se .. ~u Hl:;. S G
JULY 1969
New Towns
N. A. Pain. M.I.Mun.E.,
M.lnst.H.E.
BIOGRAPHY
The author was educated at Leigh Hall College and
started his career in 1924 as an Articled Pupil with the
County Borough of Southend-on-Sea.
Between 1928 and 1938 he was with Essex County
Council where he was responsible for the design and
execution of several major direct labour highway projects.
He joined the staff of Hertfordshire County Council in
1938 as a Senior Engineer and took charge of the survey
and design work for a section of the M1. From 1940 to
1945 he served with the Royal Engineers, attaining the
rank of Major, and formed and trained a new Company
for the Normandy invasion. He commanded this Company
throughout the European campaign.
After the war he returned to Hertfordshire where he
became responsible for road planning. including schemes
for the central areas of the towns in the County. He has
also dealt with four proposed New Towns since their
conception and is now the Assistant County Surveyor in
charge of Traffic Engineering and Road Planning.
Mr Pain is the author of the Paper "Transportation
Surveys" which was presented at the Public Works and
Municipal Services Congress and Exhibition in 1966
under the auspices of the County Surveyors' Society.
SUMMARY
The Paper commences with the evolution of ideas on
New Town Centres from Ebenezer Howard to the London
County Council exercise at Hook and the Buchanan
Report.
Information obtained from twenty New Towns throughout the country is examined and analysed. Two generations
of new town centres emerge, those with and those without
traffic planning. A decided trend for central areas to
increase in size to meet the needs of larger populations
than originally anticipated was found and also for the
earlier new town centres to be modified to meet modern
concepts.
JULY 1969
Factors such as land use transport planning, public
rransport, traffic segregation and other matters that
influence the design and layout of new town cenrres are
discussed.
An examination of road layouts in the light of the data
obtained is made with a view to finding ideas for improving
the arrangements in the earlier town centre to enable them
to meetfuture traffic needs.
Car parking is next considered. and lastly details are
(liven of the progress made towards modifying the road
layouts and parking arrangements in the town centres of
three early New Towns in Hertfordshire.
THE EVOLUTION OF IDEAS 01\1
NEW TOWN CENTRES
Throughout the ages men have thought about the ideal city
but in this country the concept of new towns did not commence until Ebenezer Howard put forward his ideas early in
the 20th century. He advocated bold plans for building small
self-contained garden cities in undeveloped areas rather than
adapting and enlarging existing communities. Letchworth and
Welwyn Garden City, both in Hertfordshire, were constructed
before and shortly after the 1914-1918 War to these ideals and
have, undoubtedly, had a considerable influence on subsequent
projects.
No further new towns were constructed until after the New
Towns Act was adopted in 1946 with a view to accommodating
surplus population from the larger cities in well-designed new
towns. During this period, however, new concepts emerged
and the one that had perhaps the most influence on the design
and layout of new towns originated in the United States in
1929. This was Clarence Perry's idea for dividing towns into
neighbourhood units each accommodating populations of
5000-8000. As each of these neighbourhood units was to contain all the services necessary to meet daily requirements, including shops, the adoption of this concept for new towns
affected the design and layout of their central areas.
THE JOURNAL
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27
j
New Towns
The other important idea to emerge during this era was the
brainchild of another Clarence and again originated in the
United States before the second world war, this was the Radburn scheme formulated by Clarence Stein. It is only in recent
years that the Radburn principles have been adopted in this
country and are now becoming increasingly popular in both
new towns and where new estates are being laid out in older
towns. The idea of this concept, the complete separation of
vehicular and pedestrian traffic, has had a considerable affect
on the design and layout of the central areas of new towns in
Britain ..
The early new towns were, however, mainly based on the
concepts of Ebenezer Howard and Clarence Perry. The car
ownership rate at that time was low compared with the United
States and, therefore, traffic planning was not given sufficient
consideration. This began to change during the 1950's as the
significance of increasing car ownership rates began to be
ge.\1erally appreciated. An important step in the evolution of
ideas came in 1960 with the London County Council publication "The Planning of a New Town". This dealt with Hook
New Town (Hampshire) which was planned for a population
of 100,000 but was never built. The New Town had roads and
land uses planned to deal with carefully worked out traffic
flows based on the generation of traffic, as a result of land
uses, and on the assumption that car ownership would increase
to a level of 1.5 cars per family with usage for all types of
journeys. Although the plan, which is illustrated in Figure 1,
did not seek to restrict the use of private vehicles, a system of
public transport was considered necessary as there would
always be some people without cars. The Hook plan had a
bold high capacity grade-separated primary road network with
independent pedestrian ways. A main spine road passed under.
the town centre giving access to car parks situated below the
shops and pedestrian areas. The plan also included a separate
system of pedestrian walkways with direct links between the
residential areas and the central area.
Figure I. Hook. the New Town that was never built but which
gave food for thought.
Figure 3. R!mcorn Town Centre is one of the recent examples
with provision for pedestrian and vehicular traffic at different
levels. Part of the proposed rapid transit system for public
transport is shown.
r
jII'lTl-lEUL
['!I U.ll U!~ ~lnUPt.l[HT
.fflt!~. [1~lt C[!lR!, rlHRUI!"',~lS
PlCES1!1U
R~UIfS
ID
~l~nu
~"U~HI~~ .~Qrs, fm~I!IU
UI
IlaUlft,.
'![t~m5
.~u..
Figure 4. Cumbernauld Town Centre. Another recent multilevel example with vehicular traffic below the level of the
pedestrian areas.
The next step forward was the publication of the Buchanan
Report in 1963 and this ushered in the era of land use transport planning which has affected all urban planning since that
time. This is clearly shown in the planning of the latest new
towns and by the efforts made to modify the town centres of
some of the earlier new towns to meet at least some of the
newer concepts.
&-
IU"~AILI'I.u
mTlu
Figure 2. Crawley, a typical example of an early New Town
Centre.
28
THE JOURNAL Of THE INSTITUTION OF HIGHWAY ENGINE~RS
DATA OBTAINED FROM NEW TOWNS
THROUGHOUTTHECOUNTRY
A questionnaire was carefully compiled in order to obtain"
basic information about the central areas of twenty new towns
throughout the country. It covered the main aspects of the design and layout of roads, car parks, public transport arrangements, anticipated car ownership rates and the populations the
centres were to serve.
From this study two generations of new town centres
emerged. The first of these was planned before the era of land
use transport planning. None of them originally proposed to
have grade-separated junctions and only one, Stevenage, had
complete separation of pedestrian and vehicular traffic in the
town centre but in a few cases partial separation was proposed
and achieved. Most of these early centres formed extensions of
existing shopping centres and some were based on little more
than a widening of the village High Street. Crawley Town
Centre, (Sussex) Figure 2, and Hatfield Town Centre, (Hertfordshire) Figure 10, are typical examples of these early new
town centres. The road layouts proposed for many of the
second generation new towns are the outcome of land use
transport planning and tend to bear a strong resemblance to
the new town of Hook which was never built. Most of them
will have similar powerful new primary' road systems with
grade-separated junctions and central areas based on the com- .
plete separation of pedestrian and vehicular traffic which, in
JULY 1969 .
New Towns
Figure 5. Stevenage Town Centre showing a typical trafJicfree pedestrian shopping street.
some cases, will be achieved vertically. Figures 3 and 4, which
illustrate Runcorn (Cheshire) and Cumbernauld (Lanarkshire)
respectively, are typical examples of these second generation
new town centres.
There is also a trend for plans to be modified to meet larger
populations than originally anticipated. This applies to almost
everyone of the early new towns and in some cases the populations now planned for are more than double those originally
proposed. Bracknell (Berkshire) with an increase from 25,000
to 60,000, Telford (Shropshire) with an increase of 90,000 to
200,000 and Newtown Aycliff (Co. Durham) with an increase
of 10,000 to 45,000 are examples. It is also interesting to note
that most of the road layouts for the earlier new town centres
are now being modified to meet modern concepts, such as the
complete or partial separation of pedestrian and vehicular
traffic, improved road layouts with increased traffic capacity
and the provision of multi-storey car parks.
FACTORS WHICH INFLUENCE THE DESIGN OF
ROAD LAYOUTS IN THE CENTRAL AREAS OF
NEW TOWNS
As has already been seen the ideas prevailing at the time
the central areas were planned have the biggest influence on
their layout. Then comes the size of the population to be
served, site conditions and existing development. In some cases
an existing feature such as suitable buildings, trees or a view
are retained in order to provide a visual climax to the town
centre. The best arrangement of land uses, having regard to
the resultant generation of traffic and the safety and convenience of users, is of fundamental importance. There are also
three other important decisions that should be taken at an
early stage because they involve factors that will have a con.
siderable influence on the final road layout. One of these is
the part public transport is to play; another is the car ownership ratio for which it is intended to cater, and the third is the
degree of traffic segregation to be provided and the method
by which it is to be achieved.
Public Transport-The
proposals for Runcorn include the provision of a separate rapid-transit system of public transport
but most new towns rely on the private car as the main means
of transport and have left the question of public transport to
tbe local transport authorities. They have, however, usually
provided well-planned bus stations in their central areas and
the one at East Kilbride will be integrated with the railway
station, a heliport and car park. Two, Skelmersdale (Lancashire) and Redditch (Worcestershire) plan to go further than
this and have made provision for separate road Iinks.in their
central areas for buses only. Another idea to improve bus
services and make them more popular with the public is the
Blue Arrow exp~riment which is shortly to be carried out at
Stevenage,l but" details are not yet available.
JUlY.1969
The "Blue Arrow" experiment in Stevenage will initially
involve two or three 72-seater buses without conductors.
Weekly tickets only will be issued and users will show a pass
to the driver as they enter. These buses will commence from
convenient points in a large residential neighbourhood and
proceed non-stop to central points in the industrial area and
return non-stop by a different route to the same residential
area. This will enable residents in the area chosen for the
experiment to make use of an inexpensive, frequent and fast
means of public transport, which wilt provide, as near as
possible, door-to-door transport to take them to work and
bring them home again. If successful, it could be extended to
other similar residential areas.
A traffic survey that includes public transport has becn
carried out in Harlow (Essex) with a view to formulating
policy.
Car Ownership-Plans
to meet car ownership ratios varying
from 0.32 to 0.45 cars per person in the 1980's are proposed
in some new towns. Others base their calculations for the
1980's on the family unit with 1.2 to 1.4 cars per family and in
one case car ownership is based on 1.5 cars per household.
Traffic Segregation-There
is now a general appreciation of
the desirability of separating pedestrian and vehicular traffic.
and most of the more recent new town centres are based on
this form of traffic segregation and, as already noted, most
of the earlier ones are being modified to accord with it. The
Figure 6. Part of Ihe comprehemive grade-separated cycle.
way and footway system adjacent to Slevenage New TowlI
Centre ..
i
Figure 7. Cycles parked in a pedestrian precinct in Stevenage
New Town Centre.
THE JOURNAL Of THE INSTITUTION OF HIGHWAY ENGINEERS
29
New Towns
photograph in Figure 5 taken at Stevenage (Hertfordshire)
shows a typical pedestrian shopping ~treet. Many of the recent
new town proposals also include residential arcas based on
the Radburn principle with direct grade-separated pedestrian
ways linking the residential areas to lhe town centres, thus
providing a shorler route for pedestrians than those proceeding. by car ..
Another form of traffic segregation is the provision of a .
separate system of cycle-ways. Only two new towns, Stevenage
and Redditch, are providing comprehensive grade-separated
systems of cycle-ways but East Kilbride (Lanarkshire) and
Harlow have provided partial systems and at Glenrothes
(Fifeshire) the matter is being considered. Where such comprehensive systems are constructed cycle-ways often provide the shortest journey time. Figure 6 is a photograph of
a cycle-way. in use adjacent to the town centre at Stevenage.
It will be noted that a queue of cars is waiting at the traffic
signal-controlled junction, while cyclists proceed without delay
by using an underpass which forms part of the separate cycleway system. In these systems cycles are also often able to
penetrate nearer .to their destination than cars. The photograph of cycles parked in one of the places provided in the
central pedestrian shopping precinct of Stevenage, as shown
in Figure 7, illustrates one way this can be achieved. Added
to this it is usually quicker to commence a journey by cycle
because the time taken to go to the garage, unlock it, start
the car and re-Iock the garage is saved. For these reasons
well-planned
comprehensive
grade-separated
cycle-way,
systems soon become much used and this results in the almost
complete absence of cycles and mopeds on the roads used by
cars, thus improving traffic flow and safety.
ROAD LAYOUTS
.
Many different types of road layout are proposed for new
town centres varying from a one-way road system encircling
the whole central area to layouts employing no one-way roads,
while others will have a mixture of onc-way and two-way
roads designed to avoid right-hand turns and reduce traffic.
conflicts to a minimum. Of the twenty new towns examined,
thirteen will employ some form of one-way system in their
central areas. Seven of these are to be clockwise and six anticlockwise. Perhaps the mos'- difficult prohlem at the moment
is the modification of the central areas of some of the earlier
new towns to meet future traffic needs. It is, therefore, well
worth examining these road systems in more detail in order
to see what lessons can be learnt to help solve this problem
at a reasonable cost.
It is unlikely that the general concepts employed in the latest
new towns could be incorporated in the earlier ones because
the alterations wo'uld be so drastic that -they would result in
pulling the whole place down, or a substantial part of it; and
starting all over again. The idea of a one-way ring road
encircling the whole central area has a considerable appeal
and is employed in one or two cases because of its simplicity
and economy especially as use can often be made of existing
roads. 11does, however, have disadvantages, the most serious
of which is that in some cases it generates so much traffic that
it may prove unacceptable for this reason alone. For example,
cars going to a particular central area car park may have to
go three-quarters of the way round the -central area to get
there, or, alternatively, have to go three-quarters of the way
round to return home after leaving the car park. Service
vehicles tend to suffer the same fate and cross-town traffic
Figure 8. The original Stevenage Town Centre Plan. This was the {irst New Town centre to be constructed with complete separatiun
0/ pedestrian and vehicular traffic .
LEBEND:
30
B
CAR PARKS
I?i:~).]SHOPS
•
OFFICES & OTHER aUILDIN&S
SCAlE .1:
snaa
JULY 1969
•
\~
I
I.
New Towns
may often have to make a large diversIon, even to the extent
of travelling for a considerable distance in the opp~site direction to its destination.
Some of these disadvantages
can be
reduced by carefully located junctions but some traffic generation is unavoidable.
In addition, the disadvantage
of the extra
travel distance imposed on so many vehicles may result in
the whole
scheme
having
an unsatisfactory
economic
assessment.
Some of the best and most economic road layouts consist
of a combination
of one-way
and two-way roads. If, for
example, dual carriageway
roads have already been provided,
or can be provided, on two sides of the town centre running,
say, north to south and east to west respectively, with a oneway road round the other two sides, then the dual carriageway roads will provide for the cross town traffic without
diversion and with carefully located junctions traffic generation can be kept to a minimum. This type of system is pro.
posed in several new town centres, some with the one-way
road sector clockwise and some with it anti-clockwise.
The
anti-clockwise arrangement
has the advantages set out below:(a) There are no traffic conflicts between vehicles entering
and vehicles leaving roads giving access to central area uses.
As the main object of this type of one-way road is to give
access to central area uses this is a considerable
advantage.
(b) Bus stops and lay-bys can all be arranged on the central
area side of the road, thus avoiding the need for passengers to
cross the road as is necessary with a clockwise system.
(c) It enables vehicles to continue round the town centre with
a left-hand turn only at roundabouts
and junctions when they
connect to the cross town dual carriagway
roads and then to
use the carriageway on the town centre side. In this way most
of the advantages of the one-way ring road round the central
area are achieved without its disadvantages.
Dual carriageways are referred to above for the cross town
traffic because ihey provide the safest and most satisfactory.
arrangement.
In cases where the traffic volumes do not justify
them, however, two-way single carriageway
roads could be
used instead without losing the advantages already mentioned.
Where this is done it may, in the interest of the capacity. safety
and free flow of trallic, be advisable to ban some right-hand
turns.
Some of the disadvantages of clockwise one-way systems do
not apply to some second generalJon new town centres where
p~destrian precincts are separated
vertically
from vehicular
trallic, such as Cumbernauld.
It is also interesting to see what type of road j~nctions are
being provided in the new town centres. Few have gradeseparated road junctions but twelve of them propose to have
at least one in the future and in some cases two or three.
Twelve town centres now have from one to four roundabout
junctions and seven of them will construct more junctions of
this type. In addition, four other new towns propose to provide
roundabout
junctions in their central areas. Out of the twenty
town centres it appears that there are now only two junctions
controlled
by traffic signals and one of these will soon be
abolished. Two other town centres will shortly have trallic
signals installed and one of these, Livingston. (West Lothian)
proposes to provide this form of control at three junctions.
Ordinary 'T' junctions and other simple forms of junctions are
__ fairly common in central areas, although these are generally on
the less important
distributor
ro .. ds.
From this it will be seen that roundabouts
are the most
popular form of junction on main central area roads and they
do have certain advantages.
One of these is that. if suitably
locatc;d, they allow dual carriageways
to be constructed
without openings in the central reserve, as roundabouts
enable
vehicles to return in the reverse direction this is very much
in the interests of road safety. Roundabouts
can also be laid
out in a way that enables grade-separation
to be provided at
a later date and it is proposed to take advantage
of this in
several new towns.
CAR PARKING
Car parks
JULY 1969
should
also be located
in conjunction
with the
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Figure 9. The flew Slevellage Towll Cell1re Plall. This j~' (l
!Il()di{j('(/Iior/ alld (/11 expall.\'i()fl of fhe layout ShOWf~ in Figure S.
design and layout of the roads in central areas because only in
this way can unnecessary trafflc generation and travcl distances
be avoided. Unless this is done town centre users wJlI be put to
additional cost in perpetuity and the highway authority will be
put to added future capital and maintenance
expenditure
in
order to provide for the increased road capacity required to
deal with the resultant extra wear and tear. Perhaps the most
interesting fact about car parking arrangements
is the change
in ideas that has taken place since the earlier new towns were
planned. With a few exceptions, such as Hemel Hempstead,
(Hertfordshire)
most of the early new town centres were
planned without any proposals for multi-storey car parks and
now all of them intend to provide some., In maay cases this is
now the only form of car parking that will be provided. The
number of car spaces it is now proposed to provide has vastly
increased since the original new town plans were prepared.
Bracknell which has gone up from 400 to 5,000, Corby (Nor-.
thants) from. 680 to 6,000. Stevenage from J ,500 to 7,000,
Peterlee (Co. Durham) from 600 to 2,000, Cwmbran
(Monmouthshire) from 400 to 4,080, Glenro.hes
from 420 to 8.000
and Harlow from 2,050 to 7,120. These increases have been
partly due to the proposed increases in the population
of the
towns. Even so the total number of car parking spaces now
pfJposed in new town centreS varies a great deal, having rcgard to the proposed populations.
The general average works
out at about 7 car spaces per 100 population
but there are
variations of from as low as 4 ~paces per ] 00 to as much as
12 spaces per ]00.
EXAMPLES
IN HERTFORD'SHIRE
The new town centres in Hertfordshire
are all early ones and
are being modified in order to meet the needs of larger populations and higher car ownership
rates than were originally
anticipated.
Details of three of these town centres are given
below :THE JOURNAL OF THE INSTITUTION OF HIGHWAY ENGINEERS
31
New Towns
r
o
~.f
hl~'
\I
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D
-1-1011
,L~~t
.lld.i.~i
:s.uu ~ ~!~na
Figure 10. The original Hatfield Town Centre plan. This
layout was designed to keep through traffic out of the IOWIl
centre but it allowed vehicles engaged Oil local use.~ to use the
original road through the shopping cen/re.
r
o
Ilill!
ht'uh.
~
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:i',.(':[111 s1::\..;:L~J.~I;~~:~.
SCltt.
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Figure 11. The new Hatfield TowI! Centre Plan. This is a
modification
of the layout ShOWII in Figure 10. The works involved are in hand and the town centre is already a traUie-free
pedestrian area.
Stevenage - The original town centre plan is illustrated in
Figure 8. This was the first pedestrian new town centre in the
country and was planned to serve a population of 60,000. It
is now being rapidly expanded and the road layout modified
on the lines indicated in Figure 9, in order to meet the needs
of a future population of 105,000.
In the original plan (Figure 8) the comprehensive system of
pedestrian-ways and cycle-ways grade-separated from vehicular traffic can be seen passing under main roads and road junctions around the town centre. This excellent system terminated
just short of the roads Southgate, Danestrete, Northgate and
St. George's Way which surround and give access to the actual
central area. Pedestrians and cyclists, therefore, have to cross
these roads at level. This was originally accepted because it
was then assumed that the volumes of traffic would be low as
only local town centre traffic would use these roads. This
assumption did not take into consideration the high volumes of
traffic which it is now realised are generated by town centres.
The revised plan shown in Figure 9 will provide a high
capacity road system surrounding the larger town centre in
conjunction with grade-separated pedestrian-ways and cycleways which will penetrate right into the central area.
Work on the dual carriageway roads, which, as can be seen
from Figure 9, will have no breaks in the central reserve between roundabout junctions, is now well on its way to completion. The carriageways nearer to the town centre will have
three lanes of which the inner one will be constructed in a
different colour to the others. This lane will form a continuous
acceleration and deceleration lane in order to give safe access
to and egress from the town centre and will be lane marked
accordingly. The ultimate scheme provides for overpasses for
n
THE JOURNAL
OF THE INST1TUTlON
OF HIGHWAY
ENGINEERS
tidal traffic on roads to the north and south of the town centre
to meet the future needs of traffic between residential areas
on the east side of the town and the industrial area on the
west side.
The car parks shown in Figure 9 provide for a total of 7,000
cars and are being located and arranged so as to avoid the
generation of unnecessary traffic. Those to be provided on
each side of the dual carriageway roads to the north and west
of the town centre (Roads 5 and 10) will be multi-storey car
parks with bridges or underpa~ses to connect them to both
carriageways, thus enabling vehicles to enter from one carriageway and leave by joining, the other one so avoiding
traffic conflicts, unnecessary travel distance and traffic generation. In the dual carriageway road on the east side, St.
George's Way, these same objectives will be achieved by widening the central reserve sufficiently to provide a ramp to an
under-pass to enable traffic from the north to gain access to
the multi-storey car park, grade-separated from the opposing
stream of traffic, and similarly to enable traffic from this car
park proceeding to the south to gain access to the southbound
carriageway. Another way of achieving these objectives will
be 'provided with the proposed multi-storey car park near the
southern end of St. George's Way. In this case traffic from the
south will be able to enter from the northbound carriageway
of St. George's Way and return by using an access road which
will connect to the eastbound carriageway of Six Hills Way
(Road 4) to the south of the town centre.
Other features of the town centre are a central bus depot
which already exists and which will be connected to the railway station, on the west side of the town centre, by means of
a high level pedestrian-way passing over Road 10.
Hatfield - This town centre was originally designed for a
population of 25,000 and the layout is illustrated in Figure 10.
It is now proposed to increase the population to a total of
32,000. The town centre is, therefore, being expanded and the
road and car parking arrangements modified along the lines
shown in Figure II. Work on modifying this central area is
now well in hand and it should all be completed in the next
two or three years. In this case, a traffic management scheme
with a one-way anti-clockwise road will make it possible to
use the roads provided in the original layout, widened where
necessary with improved junctions, to provide a high capacity
road system with the minimum number of traffic conflicts and
with the minimum amount of traffic generation. How this is
being done can be se~n by comparing Figures 10 and 11. In
addition, by closing some existing roads, a traffic-free pedestrian town centre is being achieved and in fact this part has
already been substantially carried out.
'
The road layout will basically consist of a dual carriageway
road (Queensway) to the south of the 'central area geared to
an anti-clockwise one-way system to the north with short
sections of two-way single carriageway roads to the east and
the west, thus giving the advantages previously referred to for
this type of system. It is anticipated that a large Wooleo Store,
on which work will soon be commenced, will attract considerable volumes of traffic from many parts of the county. The
store is, therefore, being designed with its whole basement area
as a car park a roof car park above it and large surface car
park to the west of it. Traffic from the .well-populated areas
to the west of Hatfield will be able to enter these car parks by
means of a deceleration lane on the eastbound carriageway
of Queensway and return by joining the anti-clockwise oneway road to connect to the roundabout junction in Queensway. Traffic from the east will be able to use the anti-clockwise
one-way system to gain access to the site and return by means
of an acceleration lane to connect to the eastbound carriageway of Queensway.
Cross town traffic will be able to use Queensway in both
directions for journeys between the east and west without any
diversion. while Wel1field Road and French Horn Lane will
provide for traffic in both directions between the north and
south, again without any diversion.
It may be necessary to go round part of the town centre
JULY 1969
New Towns
rroms-ome directions to use some of the smaller car parks,
or to return after using them, but this will always involve lefthand turns, thus avoiding the need to weave at roundabouts
and reducing to the minimum the number of traffic conflicts
at other junctions and when entering and leaving the central
area car parks.
Welwyn Garden City-As mentioned at the beginning .of this
Paper, Welwyn Garden City was one of the two pre-war
garden cities built in Hertfordshire in accordance with the
ideas of Ebenezer Howard. After the war, when it first became
a New Town under the 1946 Act, it had a town centre designed
and built to meet the needs of its then 18,500 population. It
was at first intended to expand the town to a population of
36,500 but subsequently this was increased to 51,000.
The original town centre, in accordance with its garden city
concept, is nearly surrounded by parkways and public gardens
consisting of the roads known as Parkway to the west,
Howard's Gate, another parkway, to the south and The
Campus to the north. Finally, on the eastern side of the central
area, is the main railway line and station. From the plan in
Figure 12 the area of land taken up by these parkways and
gardens can be judged and, in view of the excellent environment they provide, are highly thought of locally and are very
carefully maintained by the Urban District Council. Although
it was possible to add a number of shops- and other central
area buildings within the area of the original town centre, it
was not possible to meet all the needs of the future population
of the New Town in this way. To encroach on the parkways
would be quite unacceptable locally and so new shops, including a Sainsburys, were located on the south side of
Howard's Gate. This rather spread the town centre but undoubtedly provided the best solution in the circumstances. The
main disadvantages at the moment are the lack of car parking
space and the interference with the free movement and safety
of pedestrians within the town centre, because of the need to
cross the busy north to soulh road, StonehiJIs, and the east
to west road Howard's Gale, which are now being used by
ever increasing volumes of traffic.
To overcome the car parking difficulty and meet future
needs multi-storey car parks on the eastern side of the central
area are proposed as shown in Figure 12. No proposals for a
satisfactory solution to the road layout have yet been finalised
and agreed. A suggestion which is now being investigated is to
construct a new road on the west side of the town centre, as
shown by the dotted lines in Figure 12, to give access to the
proposed car parks and connect it to the existing road to the
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er
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.
~rt,ud IiIluj. $1.'~I t Ir 'Ir', .ti~lll"
~.....:.......J $Ib~tt hiltj,. '"hn II.t~ t .. hrtl.
r-I
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Figure 12. Welwyn Garden City Central Area.
south of the expanded town centre, Church Road, and to use
this new road and Church Road as an anti-clockwise one-way
system. It would then be possible to close Stonehills to vehicular traffic while retaining Howard's Gate for service vehicles.
This would have all the advantages mentioned earlier in the
Paper for this type of road layout. Parkway would provide for
north-to-south traffic, Hunter's Bridge, The Campus and
Valley Road would provide for east-to-west traffic. The oneway system would be simple to understand and, because traffic
conflicts and weaving at roundabouts are reduced to the minimum, it would combine a high traffic capacity with safety, and
thus the whole system would meet the estimated needs of the
1980's.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
For permission to present this Paper, the author wishes to
thank the County Surveyor of Hertfordshire, Mr John V.
Leigh, M.B.E., B.Se., F.I.C.E., M.I.Mun.E., F.lnst.H.E., without whose encouragement and help it could not have been
written. He also wishes to thank the county surveyors and
chief engineers to Development Corporations and their slaffs
throughout the country for the information, help and plans
they so readily supplied. To his colleagues, Mr P. Field, Mr
P. Kearney, Mr G. J. Harris and Mr K. Thomson he wishes
to acknowledge the help given in the preparation of this Paper
for publication .
..
JULY
1969
THE JOURNAL
OF THE INSTITUTION
OF HIGHWAY
ENGINEERS
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HEI8G
JULY 1969
West Sussex...;...-Small Towns
1. Corsie, B.Se., M.I.C.E .• A.M.lnst.H.E.
BIOGRAPHY
The author was educated at King Edward VI Grammar
School, Morpeth, and at Glasgow University, graduating
with an honours degree in 1954. After National Service
he joined the firm of Sir Robert McAlpine & Sons Ltd .•
and worked on. the Margam site of the Steel Company of
Wales.
Between 1958 and 1961 he was with the West Riding
County Council and in 1961 he went to West Sussex.
As Trunk Roads Engineer with that authority he was
responsible for the Shoreham By-Pass Scheme and is
now Assistant County Surveyor in charge of traffic and
urban highways.
SUMMARY
This Paper describes how road lay-outs to deal with the
volumes of traffic predicted for the future have been
designed for the central areas of three small towns in
West Sussex. differing widely both in their setting and in
their general characteristics. In order to assess the amount
of traffic growth. survey and analysis of the conventional
Origin and Destination types, together with parking
studies and land use studies have been made. and in
each town the design of the town centre network has
been undertaken in conjunction with the review of the
town map.
The solution of traffic problems in small towns is only a
little less complex than in the great cities-and frequently;
it seems. even more contentious. The range of professional
disciplines required is the same. and a successful result
is achieved only by a genuine co-operative effort in
which many conflicting interests have to be resolved.
l.
~-~
JULY 1969
BASIC PRINCIPLES FOLLOWED
(a) In small towns there can seldom be any reason to suppose
that public transport will make an appreciably greater contribution towards the overall transportation needs than at the
present time. So in all cases, it has been assumed that, essential
as they are, the public transport services will not expand beyond their present size, but that nevertheless, they must be
encouraged as far as possible to improve the service offered to
those sections of the public dependent on them.
(b) There must be adequate accommodation
vehicles as well as moving vehicles.
for stationary
(c) There are more pedestrians than vehicles in central areas
of our towns and they must be assured of safe freedom of
movement by the exclusion of all vehicles from certain areas,
particularly the busiest shopping streets.
. (d) the increased volumes of traffic must be prevented from
being unnecessarily obtrusive, and, in a small town particularly, the works involved in making provision for the motor
vehicle must be prevented from being so destructive as to be
out of scale with the town.
(e) For anyone small town the sums available for highway
improvement and construction will be severely restricted for
as far ahead as one can foresee. This implies firstly that small
towns must deal with their internal traffic problems, by highway works of a comparatively modest scale, so as to economise
in both land absorbed by new highways and in money itself.
Secondly, the rate of investment in new highways must be
such as to permit a phased programme of works with highway
provision keeping pace, it is hoped, with traffic growth .
THE JOURNAL OF THE INSTITUTION OF HIGHWA'!' ENGINEERS
35
CHICHESTER - PRESERVATION
Chichester is an historic market town of just over 20,000
population but serves as a business and shopping centre to an
increasing population which is expected to reach 75,000 by
1981. The town centre is completely defined by the line of the
city walls, enclosing an area about half a mile across and containing the Cathedral and its precincts and the county, city
and rural district council offices as well as the shopping streets
and business areas.
The town map prepared in 1953 envisaged a Ring Road
around the town centre, just outside the city walls, but retained
the four main shopping streets as principal traffic routes. The
street pattern within the city walls is believed to be very much
as it was in Roman times, and the buildings are frequently
many hundreds of years old in basic structure but with facades
dating only from Georgian times. Chichester is one of the five
towns selected for special 'study by the Minister of Housing
and Local Government with a view to the preservation of as
much as possible of the historic buildings and environment.
With this in mind it was clear that the emphasis must be
placed on the removal from the City centre of all traffic except
that serving the central area, and traffic to and from the car
parks already established within the walls. It was decided that
the four main shopping streets, in the form of a"cross, should
be reserved for pedestrian use over as great a length as possible, w'ith rear access roads provided to ensure that vehicular
access to the properties fronting the pedestrian areas was
maintained.
t
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PlIE:m:IU BUS
Figure 3. Chichester. Town centre map showing primary
distributor Ring Road and pedestrian areas.
t
.
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Figure 2. Chichester.
t
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Diagram of future road network.
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Figure I. Regional survey of Chichester. Bognur Regis and
Horsham.
T, •••
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-------
There are at present about 1,370 car parking spaces within
the walls, and about 880 in general use just outside the walls.
By 1981 the demand. will be for 7,000 spaces to serve the central area and the additional spaces will be provided in the car
parking areas just outside the walls.
The major element of by-passable traffic is already catered
for by the Chichester By-Pass. which takes east-west traffic
round the south side of the city, and in the future only the
north-south traffic will require separate provision of a further
external By-Pass. The Ring Road of the 1953 town map was
felt to be quite compatible with the changed circumstances en.
visaged within the city walls, but the volumes of traffic generated by the increased concentration of activity in the central
area leads to the design now adopted for the ring road. This is
a dual two-lane carriageway throughout, with junctions of the
circulatory type.
Early proposals for the junctions on the Ring Road had
been for small conventional roundabouts but it was seen that
the predicted traffic volumes would require much larger round.
abouts than those at the four 'gates'. Attempts to produce
designs for conventional roundabouts to meet the traffic requirements resulted in effects, in terms of property demolition
and injury to amenity, so great, that it was felt to be unreason.
able to employ even tbis type of solution. At the same time,
having regard to some very high projected vebicle flows, it was
felt to be unrealistic on financial grounds to look for gradeseparated solutions, even where an acceptable design might
have been found. Instead, large one-way circulatory systems
are proposed, which pick up all the roads converging on the
'gate' areas, including the main access roads to the new car
parks.
These one-way systems are felt to be the best way of dealing
with junction difficulties of this sort, because, as far as possible,
use is made of existing carriageways, either with, or without
improvements and the large areas which are contained within
the system can be put to good use-in many cases the existing
use continued.
The way in which these one-way systems will be provided
in stages is of importance, and Figure 5 shows the four stages
of provision at Westgate as traffic flows increase beyond the
capacity of the earlier stage.
Many detailed points of design exhibit features which would
not normally be acceptable in modem highway lay-out, and
only the recognition tbat nothing better can be reasonably
achieved has led to their adoption.
The proposals for the exclusion of traffic from the four
shopping streets means that alternative routes must be found
JUl Y~1969
r
shopping streets. The proposed plan retains the sea-front road,
but transforms it by the redevelopment of the adjoining part
of the town so as to produce a level of pedestrian activity
above the road, with car parks in two decks underneath, and
a complex of shops, flats, a motel and a variety of recreational
activities springing from this pedestrian level. Pedestrian
movement between the town centre and the beach will be by
way of easy ramps from the High Street through a new shopping arcade on to the pedestrian deck and from there by
similar ramps, supplemented by lifts and steps, down to promenade level.
It is proposed that the town centre of Bognar Regis be
enclosed, in effect, by a Ring Road based on an existing street
pattern. This has as the key point a junction between the A.259
and A.29 roads near where, at present, there is a level..crossing
just to the north of the railway station. The improvement of
this junction, combined with a bridge over the railway to replace the level.crossing, is a scheme given high priority in the
county. To this junction will come all external traffic from. the
Figure 5. Chichester. Four stages of implementation of
;uncrion proposals at Westgate.
II
I
l
L..t
IDlITUm
~nl
Figure 4. "Chichester. 1981 traDic flows on primary distributors
p.c.II'sper 16 hOlir day.
for public service vehicles. In order to continue the penetration
of public service vehicles to the centre of the town, it has been
proposed that electrically powered mini-buses should be introduced to take passengers from the Ring Road and the railway
and bus stations through the minor streets, although not into
the pedestrian areas. This has been the subject of close examination for viability and effectiveness and it appears that such a
scheme could well be a practicable substitute for the existing
system. However, until such a replacement system can be put
into operation, it seems that at least part of the central shopping streets will continue to be served by conventional buses
and will therefore not be available for wholly pedestrian use.
BOGNOR REGIS - ADAPTATION
Only six miles from Chichester, but completely distinct both
in character and function, Bognor Regis is a self-contained
seaside town expanding with the building of private residential
estates at a population rate of 3.1 per cent per annum. The
poulation in 1953, at the time of the first town map, was
31,000. In 1965 it was estimated to be 38,400 and it will grow
to 57,200 by 1981.
The town centre is located close to the sea.front at about
the mid-point of a town of elongated shape - over six miles
long but on average only about one mile wide.
The traffic problem in the central area results from the
rapid growth of the town which has a road network based on
the country lanes of 200 years ago, and is amplified by the
influx of holiday visitors during the summer months.
The existing road network in the vicinity of the centre is
one of some complexity, with a lack of well.defined routes.
The result is that journeys along the axis of the town tend to
be tortuous and, from anyone destination, encourage entry
to the town centre at a variety of points. The traffic surveys
and predictions which have been made show the growth in
trips to the town centre and also, as might be expected, a strong
cross-town centre movement which will continue to grow as
residential development takes place in the eastern and-western
extremities of the built-up area.
It is estimated, that in 1981, the number of vehicle trips to
the town centre will have risen to 44,000 per day.
As in tbe case of Chichester, it has been accepted as axiomatic that the main shopping streets should be reserved for
pedestrian use. In the case of Bognar this removes from the
town centre network one or the cross-town roads, and leaves
only the Esplanade, which runs between the town centre and
the sea. There has been vigorous debate on the merits of
creating a pedestrian area on the sea-front, as well as in the
JULY 1969
sum
1"61J
lUll.
Figure 6. Bognor Regis. Diagram of future road network.
,.,-.#
,,.''''''\~
,
N
..1.\
A21
..f~i::'~::~
Stll.
,
1 mil••
37
West Sussex -
1
Small Towns
t
nDUTIIIAN
SClLE
I
=
"ILIC CII! falKl
IIIU$
MIL!~
Figure 7. Bogllor Regis, Town cenlre map showing primary
dj,\'lrihulor.l', pedcstrian areas und Ihe exlent of lire sea-from
development.
east, north and west, as well as the internally generated traffic
from the north-west and north. The traffic flows expected
here, are such that the surface level roundabout proposed will
certainly be loaded to the limit of its capacity and in a more
favourable financial climate, it would be reasonable to propose
this junction for grade-separation. The fact that no such proposal has been made, is a reflection of the necessity to be
strictly realistic about the scale of investment. From this junction traffic can choose either Longford Road or Upper Bognor
Road for its entry to the town centre, and as in the case of
Chichester, the widening and realignment of existing roads
and streets, together with large circulatory junctions, is the
method proposed for accommodating this traffic.
The large cross-town element of traffic cannot be accommodated on the northern part of this road system without
excessive widening; and this leads to the more contentious part
of the Bognor proposals. Accepting the necessity of providing
for a cross-town movement south of the railway station there
are three possible routes:(i) Immediately south of the station.
(t'i) Along the line of the High Street.
(iii) Along the line of the Esplanade, or very close to it.
The High Street is one of the main shopping streets of the
town and it has been accepted that it should become a pedestrian precinct and should not therefore be available for
traffic. The choice thus lies between (i) and (iii) and in arriving
at the solution, advantage has been taken of the large Urban
District Council ownership of land on the Esplanade, which
is now ripe for redevelopment. The use of the Esplanade
clearly implies some continuing degree of severance of town
from beach, and in a holiday resort such as Bognor, it is of
great importance that this should not occur. This has been
overcome it is thought, by the form of redevelopment previously referred to and shown in Figure 9.
The demand for car parking spaces has been assessed
at 4,000 for the year 1981, and the location of these spaces
in the future has been shown on the plan. It will be seen that
approximately 900 are provided within the sea front redevelopment scheme, and this dual use of the land as a car park
and for a variety of other uses above the car parks, combined
with the facility this provides for taking pedestrians effortlessly over the Esplanade, makes the overall sea-front proposals the attractive propositions they are believed to be. By
contrast, the alternative (i) for a road imme'diately south of
38
THE JOURNAL
OF THE, INSTITUTION
OF HIGHWAY
ENGINEERS
the station, is estimated to cost at least £600,000 more, and in
addition, divides the town centre along its line.
The cases for and against the retention of the Espalanade
for traffic purposes have been heard at a Public Inquiry
ordered by the Minister of Housing and Local Government,
and his decision is noW awaited.
The remainder of the road lay-out consists of the gradual,
development of a series of linked circulatory junctions bl!sed
on existing streets. The system is capable of partial implementation at anyone time by the introduction of one-way systems
which will relieve congestion and reduce delays at existing
junctions. There is also the possibility of a partial implementation of the pedestrian precinct proposals by the exclusion
of vehicles from London Road for specified periods of peak
pedestrian activity.
The road network, and the parking provision associated with
it, are appropriate to the needs of the resident population of
Bognor Regis and the peak demands of day trippers may well
introduce overloading for limited periods. Analysis of long
term traffic counts has shown that for much of the summer
the tendency is for holiday traffic to be absorbed into off-peak
periods. This present tendency is related to the present limited
parking capacity of the town centre, and day tripper traffic.
could increase to match any increase in car parking provision,
as h,Ls happened in adjoining rural areas. This possibility has
been recognised, 'and ways of dealing with it by diversion to
non-town centre car parks are available.
The bus station at Bognor Regis is well sited close to tile
main shopping area and it is intended to retain this with certain
re-routing as a consequence of the pedestrian proposals.
HORSHAM - RENEWAL
Situated about eighteen miles inland. Horsham is a free
standing town of considerable character with a population of
about 22,000 which is expected to grow to 40,000 by 1981.
Horsham has been the traditional area market town for many
centuries, and in common with other small towns, is suffering
from the impossibility of accommodating present-day traffic
without radical alteration to the road system. The LondonWorthing road, A.24 formerly passed through the centre of
the town, but now bypasses it to the west. The A.281 from the
west and A.264 and A.28t from the east carry traffic across
the town in a general east-west direction.
The central area of Horsham consists broadly of a long
narrow shopping area in an east-west direction, with, on the
north side, the Carfax and on the south, the Causeway, conFigure 8. Bognar Regis. 198\ IraDic flows on primary
Iribwors p.c .1I's per 16 hour day.
:f
t
tHICmm
ftOlD
A15!
"
SHKI~Hn
All
dis-
un
JULY 1969
stituting well-defined areas of historic and- architectural
interest. The shopping area is for the most part flanked by
undeveloped or inappropriately used land and it is in the
redevelopment of this land that the renewal of the town centre
has been seen.
Traffic surveys were made in 1960 and 1967 and from these
the predicted trafflc volumes requiring access to the town were
obtained. It was clear that the most important thing to do in
respect of traffic movement, was to provide for east-west crosstown movement in a much more satisfactory fashion than
exists in the form of the one-way traffic systems used in the
main shopping streets, and at the same time to improve the
environment of the shopping area by removal of traffic as far
as practicable. The assessment of traffic requirements in the
centre of Horsham was made on the basis that there will
eventually be a northern By-pass, with the A.264 from Crawley
connected to a point appoximately at the northern end of the
Horsham A.24 By-pass.
The objectives for the town centre are achieved by a single
proposal involving a large area of comprehensive redevelopment. This proposal is illustrated (Figure II) and consists
of a dual carriageway road between the junction of the A.281
and former A.24 passing to the north of the town centre and
connecting again to the existil)g road system at North Street,
which is in fact the A.264. Traffic is thus taken out of the most
important shopping street, West Street, substantial areas are
opened up for redevelopment, and land for new car parks is
made available with means of access to a good standard. At
the same time, it is possible to preserve the historic parts of
the town centre from traffic, and, indeed, to draw off from the
town centre the traffic not wishing to go there.
To the east of the junction of this section of new road with
North Street, a further area which can properly be regarded
as part of-the town centre, is for the time being excluded from
the proposals until a comprehensive plan can be prepared. The
junction at this point will ultimately be in the form of a roundabout, but, for immediate purposes, a temporary solution of a
circulatory system based on Park Street, North Street and a
connecting road between the two, will be employed.
The car parking capacity of the town centre will be increased
by the current proposals from 750 to 1,560, leaving a further
2,000 spaces to be provided in the redevelopment in the eastern
part of the town centre, to satisfy demands shown by the
surveys.
The study, which will settle the details of the eastern section
of the town centre, is to some extent dependant on the outcome of other studies into the future of Crawley, about seven
miles to the north-east. The reason for this is that any further
expansion in Crawley could have an effect on the total size
of the shopping and commercial centre of Horsham and hence
on the traffic associated with it. What has been proposed in
Horsham is, however, wholly; compatible with alternative
areas of shopping and commercial development in this eastern
section.
COSTS AND IMPLEMENTATION
The policy of the West Sussex County Council has been to
be involved in, and make a contribution towards, the
redevelopment of town centres. In order to keep a uniformity
of approach which can be expected to give equivalent treatment
to towns of differing sizes, the County Council's contribution
has been related to the principal traffic routes in and around
the town centres, with the District Council retaining responsibility for redevelopment and for service roads, car parks and
implementation of pedestrian precinct proposals. This is the
formula which has been employed in the three towns discussed
in this Paper.
In the case of Chichester and Bognar Regis, no allowance
has been made in the costs for the construction of pedestrian
bridges and subways which it is known must form part of the
overall schemes. In each case, such provision will ultimately
add approximately £O.2m to the total.
JULY 1969
••
=':''':~l:';::
.....,... ~.. 1.lnn '_".
"....*
Figure 9. Bognar Regis. SecliOlI through sea-jrollt redevelop//lent .I'l:heme showing pedestrilln deck above £.\'1'1(//1(/(11'.('{Ir
parks and gradual ri.re jrom f1i[:h Street deck (/re(/.
Illinnings
hulh
SClle
,
,
o
Figure 10.
Horsham,
Diagmm
ojjuture
miles
1
road network.
CHICH ESTER
The overall cost of the ring road proposals was estimated
in 1965 to be just over £15m and responsibility for the construction of this has been undertaken by the County Council.
So far, the south-western quadrant, known as Westgate Fields
Road, has been constructed, together with the first stage widening of an original lane around the north-western quadrant to
give a single 24ft. carriageway. Also constructed is a first
stage roundabout at the junction of these two roads with
Westgate. In the near future, it is hoped to construct the short
sections of new road at Southgate and Northgate which will
allow the introduction of the circulatory systems to replace the
present congested crossroads.
BOGNOR REGIS
If the road along the sea-front is included, the town centr.:
can be said to be enclosed within a ring, and it is this ring, with
all the junctions on it, that forms the County Council's conuibution to Bognor Regis town centre. The cost of these roads
was estimated in 1966 to be £25m. This included a sum of
about £O.5m towards the sea.front redevelopment scheme in
recognition of the extra costs incurred in adopting this form
of redevelopment, permitting the retention of a road along
the sea.front. Inside this system of roads, there are a number
of minor works to be undertaken as well as the provision of
service roads and these will be constructed by the District
Council at an estimated cost of £0.16m. As mentioned earlier,
THE JOURNAL
OF THE INSTITUTION
OF HIGHWAY
ENGINEERS
39
J
form of the plan, however, does encourage traffic management
as a first stage and the introduction of the circulatory systems
at the east ;md West ends of the sea-front are examples which
stand on their own merits.
•
t
HORSHAM
The dual carriageway road across the north of the town
centre, replacing in effect the A.281 and A.264, is estimated
to cost £491,000 and will be constructed by the County Council
who will pay 90 per cent of the cost, the remaining 10 per
cent being paid by the District Council. The Urban District
Council will be responsible for the redevelopment of the
adjoining land, and a formula has been agreed for the
apportionment of the cost of land.
The decision of the
Minister of Housing and Local Government is now awaited
following a Compulsory Purchase Order Inquiry on the land
needed for both road and redevelopment and, provided this
is favourable, the road will be constructed in 1970-71.
r._stril. aUIl
tma
hllllj~ Cif hrks
............
lIltt.
'kill
I~nll
D:J
r-~
Figure 11. Horsham. Part of town centre map showing lines
of new dual carriageway road and ad;oining areas of
rede lIelopment.
r
•
li",lMlirllll
11)1
pu.151IU1
Figure 12. Horsham 1981 traffic flows on dual carriageway
road and ;unctions.
the outcome of the Public Inquiry into the proposals is now
awaited and this wilJ control substantial implementation. The
<Ill
THE JOURNAL OF THE INST1TUTlON OF HIGHWAY ENGINEERS
CONCLUSIONS
With small towns, the range of alternative solutions to
traffic problems may be so limited as to be almost nonexistent, and it will usually be self-evident that one solution is
tbat much more practicable than the others. Where genuine
alternatives do exist, they must be evaluated with all the techniques now available, but, in the author's view, it is wrong to
spend scarce staff resources in the sophisticated testing of
simple variations, unless the application of straight forward
(tbough sometimes subjective) criteria such as overall cost,
effect"on amenity and environment, and completeness as traffic
distribution systems. is indecisive.
The final result will always be a compromise; financial
restrictions will be chiefly responsible, but the problems of
scale and the effect of highway and redevelopment proposals
on the total environment are of almost equal importance.
There is, in any case, a limit to the amount of redevelopment
a small town can stand, but the path to be taken is between,
on the one hand, a plan for excessive redevelopment and
provision for traffic which cannot be implemented, and on the
other, provision of inadequate commercial and traffic capacity
leading to a town centre incapable of prospering.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The author wishes to thank the County Surveyor of West
Sussex, Colonel W. C. S. Harrison, C.RK, E.R.D., F.I.C:E.,
M.lnst.H.E., for his permission to publish this Paper and also
acknowledges with thanks the help given by many colleagues
in its preparation.
JULY 1969
New plant, e'quipment 'and ma-terials
PVC-Based Road Marking Material
A PVC-based road-marking material, supplied in pre-cut
panels and fixed to the road surface by means of an adhesive,
is now being,introduced to the U.K. by Berger Traffic Markings
Ltd., Berger House, London, W.L The new material, Deliroute,
is supplied in easily handled 2 it square .panels or 3 it lengths
up to 12 inches wide. Arrows (curved or straight) and lettering
are also available from Berger, and should non-standard sizes
or shapes be needed the material can easily be cut with a
lino-knife,
Deliroute has very high skid-resistance according to tests
recently carried out in Germany using the Leroux apparatus,
a device which measures the frictional resistance between a
rubber slider and the road surface, thus simulating, as far as
possible, the conditions of sliding between a vehicle tyre and a
road. The results, which were obtained by averaging ten
measurements under both wet and dry conditions, produced
skid-resistance figures of 63.68 per cent claimed to be 10 per
cent higher than similar products at present on the market.
The use of DeIiroute, which is quick and easy to lay, causes
minimum traffic disruption since vehicles can pass over the
material as soon as it is laid. Furthermore the weight of traffic
helps it to adhere to the road surface. Deliroute can easily be
taken up or replaced in the event of new marking regulations,
a change in traffic now or damage caused by an accident.
Because Deliroute has such high skid-resistance the material
need not undergo the embossing processes usually applied to
existing road-marking plastics of this type. Embossed materials
are dirt-retentive and therefore their visual impact is quickly
reduced, The surface of Deliroute does not absorb dirt or
grease and tar and skid marks are cleaned off by rain or the
tyres of passing cars.
A very strong rubber/resin adhesive, which also resists
harsh t:mperature changes, has been formulated by Bostik for
the application of Deliroute.
Reader Information Service HEtG
Laying Deliroute, the PVC-based road-marking
manufactured by Berger Traffic Markings.
lila/erial
fig L
Workman's Glass-Fibre Shelter
Wybone Industrial Sales, Cudworth, near Barnsley, Yorkshire, are marketing, on behalf of the manufacturers Plastic
JULY 1969
THE JOURNAL
OF THE INSTITUTION
OF HIGHWAY
ENGINEERS
41
New plant, equipment and materials
[ndustrialised Houses Ltd., a new range of workman's glassfibre shelters.
To be known as the Rozelta range these shelters are maintenance-free, durable, easily moved and are unaffected by the
weather. They are designed with additional side and roof ribs
to give greater strength and extra rigidity combined with lightness in weight. Carrying handles are fitted for ease of handling.
Two standards colours are available, Natural Translucent
and Bright Yellow but shelters in any British Standards colour
can be supplied by arrangement. A glass fibre door, wooden
seats and a table are also available as optional extras.
Two sizes of shelter are at present available, the RIS 2
which is 3ft 10 ins in length, 5ft 3 ins in width and 5ft 1 in high
and can seat 2-4 persons and the RjS 6 which is 6ft 8 ins in,
length but the same width and height as the R{S 2 and can
seat 6-8 persons.
Reader Informalion Service HE2G
The Model RS {6 Rozella workman's shelter in glass-fibre.
Protection Guards
Roberts & Co. (Wednesbury) Ltd., Wednesbury, Stafford.
shire, have announced a new range of safety and protection
guards.
Manufactured from strongly constructed British steel the
guards are electrically welded to provide maximum strength.
Protection from corrosion is ensured by hot-dip galvanising
to B.S. 729.
The guards are produced in standard sizes 2ft 8 in by 2ft 8 in,
4ft by 2ft and 4ft by 4ft collapsible type and 2ft 8 in by 2ft 8 in
rigid type. Any section of the guard which is accidentally
damaged can be replaced.
Reader Information Service HE3G
The collapsible version of the Roberts safety GIld protection
guard.
UP
TD
30%DISCOUNT
0 BRANDED CARPETS
Wiltons 0 Axmlnsters.
Orientalllo
Tufted
• All makes avalleble wIth full Manufacture~
Guarantees .•
Free Delivery U.K• NO IMPERFECT GOODS SOLD
• Expert fltting eeNlce evallable most ereea
Wrn. .uUnrl
TfIlUhtrMhU
l<l"'~"""""
a
(of
Inlt1.r.lc1cUo4
.Il1o.
1ft mmt inobI
Open 9.30 to 5.30 Mon. 10 Fri. 9.00 10 12 noon Sal ••
•••
•
•
5 & 6. Old Bail.y. Lo ..don. E.C.4
Tel. 01-248 7971 (10 lin .. )
B]-89. BI.cke .. Stre.t, Newcastle-upon- Tyn. I
Tel, 20111 or 21428
55-61, Lever Street. Manchester I
Tel. 061 2]6 ]61fT/BI9 (San. 9-'l).
Pie ... quote rer.BEF fHE when writing
ReDJkr In/ormation
42
SeT vice
HEUG
Crawler Crane
Ruston-Bucyrus Ltd., Lincoln, launched their new 25 ton
capacity crawler crane at the Midland Plant Exhibition held at
Meriden in May.
Called the 25-SC Supercrane it has air controls and has
been developed specifically for lifting crane service. A
hydraulic handling device is available as an optional extra to
reduce weight for transportation when required.
It is equipped with a 35ft (10.67 01) basic boom having alloysteel chord members and has a maximum lifting capacity of
25 tons (24.4 tonnes) at 10 ft (3.05 m) radius. It can lift over 10
tons (10.16 tonnes) at 18 ft (5.5 01) radius with a 75 ft (22.86 m)
boom. Pin-connected sections can extend boom length to
115 ft (35.05 m). Fly jibs 15 ft (457 01) and 30 ft (9.14 01) in
length are available to give a maximum boomfjib combination
at 125 ft (38.1 01). Mast and pendant boom suspension with 12
part tackle is employed.
The crawler mounting is 13 ft lOt ins (4.23 01) long by 11ft
2 ins (3.4001) wide, with 30 ins (762 mm) links. Nylon pistonring seals are used in the lower rollers and tumblers for maximum life. The propel drive sprockets are fully supported by
adjustable struts attached to crawler axle, with roller bearing
support to the drive shaft.
Particular attention has been given to minimising friction to
ensure smooth operation under load. Roller bearings are used
for the four pairs of adjustable swing rollers and for all hoist
and suspension sheaves.
Reader Informadon Service HE4G
The owner (French) of British Patent 1,020,472on the subject
of a mounting clip arrangement for securing traffic signs,
brackets and the like to posts is seeking a manufacturer in this
country .who would be prepared to make and market this
product under licence. All inquiries to Barker, Breitell &
Duncan, 16 Greenfield Crescent, Edgbaston, Binningham 15.
ReatUr Tn/ormation S,rvice
HEISG
IUL Y 1969
I nstitution matters
ELECTION OF MEMBERS
Total Membershipto
2ndMAY,1969
date 6,912
MEMBERS
Baillie, J. C. (Director, Wm. Briggs
Construction Ltd.).
Bhogal,
H. S. (General Manager,
J. F. Dymond (Civil Engineering) Ltd.).
Brewer,
P. J. C. (Divisional Surveyor, Devon C.C.).
Butler, A. A. W. (Associate, Oscar
Faber & Partners).
Cottington,
J. (Associate Consultant,
Dunn & Hansen).
Evans, D. I. (Scheme Managerl
Group Engineer, North Western R.C.U.)
Gallacher, W. C. (Project Engineer,
SirWm. Halcrow & Partners).
Gregory-Cullen,
J. (Area Engineer,
Gement & Concrete Association).
Knox, P. R. H. (Assistant County
Surveyor, Londonderry C.C.).
Little, G. (Partner, Harry Brompton &
Partners) .
MacDonald,
P. F. (Senior Assistant
Engineer, Dunbarton C.C.).
Reynolds, J. C. (Engineer (Senior
Officer Grade), London Borough of
Camden).
Strybis, R. (Senior Engineer, Ninham
Shand & Partners (CapeTown».
TRANSFER FROM ASSOCIA TE
MEMBER TO MEMBER
Jefferson,
J. R. (Superintendent
Engineer, South West R.C.U. (Devon
C.C. Sub Unit».
AFFILIA TE
Eyles, G. H. (Director of
Institute of Advance Motorists).
Tests,
ASSOCIA TE MEMBERS
Bagnall,
JULY 1969
J.
B.
(Section
Engineer
(Bridges), Bucks. C.C.).
Bennett, R. W. G. (Senior Assistant
Engineer, Oxfordshire C.C.).
Bixby, R. W. (Civil Engineer, Brian
Colquhoun & Partners).
Brown,
T. N. (Senior Assistant
Engineer, Cheshire C.C.).
Cheney, C. N. (Assistant Engineer,
Cheshire C.C.).
Chisholm,
J. (Graduate Assistant
Engineer, Roxburgh C.C.).
Codrington,
R. J. (Assistant Engineer
Eastern R.C.U. (Bucks. C.C. Sub Unit).
Cooper,
A. D. (Senior Assistant
Engineer, Norwich City C.).
Cornell, H. (Deputy Project ~ngineer,
Sir Wm. Halcrow & Partners).
Davies,
D. F. (Senior Assistant
Engineer, London Borough of Lambeth) .
Dogra, M. S. (Assistant R.E., Kenya
Ministry of Works).
Forde, M. C. (Graduate Assistant,
Cheshire C.C.).
Haugh, P. J. (Resident Engineer,
Kenya Ministry of Works).
lau C-K (Assistant Engineer, P.W.D.,
Hong Kong)
McPartlin,
J. D. (Senior Assistant
Montgomery-Smith,
B. E. (P~incipaJAssistant, Oscar Faber & Partners)
Niven, A. R. (Graduate Assistant
Pawsey, P. E. (Assistant Engineer,
Eastern R.C.U. (Herts. C.C. Sub-Unit»).
Salvadori, G. S. (Highway Engineer,
Freeman Fox & Partners).
Sih, N. N-S. (Assistant Engineer,
P.w.D., Hong Kong).
Tenufa, M. O. A. (Provincial Engineer, Ministry of Works & Survey,
Nigeria).
Tillyer,
G. E. (Assistant Engineer,
Oscar Faber & Partners).
Tomlinson,
M. (Project Engineer,
Skelmersdale D.C.).
Turner, F. (Assistant Engineer, Lanes.
c.e. Sub Unit, North Western R.C.U.).
Whale,
J. F. (Section Engineer,
Bucks. C.C.).
Wi Ison,
D.
(Assistant
Engineer,
Eastern R.C.U. (Essex C.C. Sub Unit».
STUDENTS
Simpson, J. K. (Graduate Engineering
Assistant, Herts. C.C.).
Thresh, M. R. (Engineering Assistant,
Dorset e.c.).
PERSONAL NOTES
Bannister,
L. D., is now a Senior
Assistant Engineer with the London
Borough of Southwark.
Bell, J. J., has taken up an appointment as Resident Engineer with the
South West Worcestershire Water
Board.
Carter, A. R., is now with Hampshire
County Council.
Cotterill,
J., formerly Deputy Engineer and Surveyor with Dawley Urban
District Council has been promoted to
Deputy Engineer and Surveyor with
that authority.
Davies, A. H., has taken up an
appointment
as Engineer (Roads)
with the Government of Swaziland,
South Africa.
Didier, C. P. D., has been appointed
Engineer with the Ministry of Communications and Works, Barbados,
West Indies.
Evans, D. I., now holds the post of
Superintending
Engineer, (Design)
North Western R.C.U., Ministry of
Transport.
Everett, C. F., has taken up the post
of Deputy Borough Engineer and
Surveyor, Sutton Coldfield.
Griffiths,
R., is now with Cwmbran
43
,
,Development Corporation where he
holds the post of Senior Assistant
Engineer ..
Hulme, J., has been appointed First
Assistant Engineer with the Borough of
Weymouth and Melcombe Regis.
Kapila,
J., is now employed by
McFarland-Johnson, Woodbury, New
Jersey, U.S.A.
Stockley,
G., formerly with the
North-Eastern R.C.U., Harrogate, has
been appointed Divisional Road Engineer, Nottingham.
Williams,
D. P., now holds the post
of Assistant Engineer with Basildon
U.D.C.
Willis, D. R.• is now with Dartford
R.D.C. as Deputy Engineer and Surveyor.
NATIONAL
CONFERENCE
1969
Maintenance" J. C. Adamson, County
Surveyor and Engineer, Lanarkshire
C.C.
Friday, December12th
Morning Session
Chairman: Mr H. K. Scott
'Traffic Signs and Markings" D. Selby,
Traffic Engineer, Hampshire C.C.
"Traffic Signals" B. M. Cobbe,
Ministry of Transport and G. Ridley,
Chief
Engineer,
Greater London
Council.
"Street Lighting"
K. T. O. Cox,,
Assistant County Surveyor, Lancashire
C.C.
All members should have received
details of the Conference and those
who have not yet applied for tickets
are advised to do so without delay.
Additional
copies of application
forms and details of Ministry sanctions,
may be obtained from the Secretary of
the Institution at 14 Queen Anne's
Gate, London, S.W.1. (01-8393582).
Members are reminded that a fee of
£5 5s. per person is payable on
application.
As announced in the March, 1969 issue
of the Journal the Institution's third
National Conference will be held at
Church House, Great Smith Street.
Westminster. S.W.1. on Thursday and
Friday 11th and 12th December, 1969.
The theme of the Conference will be
LOCAN CU P GOLF
that of the "Economics of Highway
Maintenance" and, as in past years, COM PETITION
the programme will be divided into an
'all-day session on Thursday and a The competition for the Locan Cup
half-day morning session on Friday.
J. L. Lougher
The Annual Luncheon will follow
immediately after the conclusion of the
Conference.
Council is very pleased to announce
that Dr. A. H. Marshall, C.B.E.• Senior
Research Fellow in Public Administration at the University of Birmingham
and formerly City Treasurer of Coventry,
has agreed to open the Conference ..
Since October, 1967 Dr. Marshall has
been the Chairman of the Marshall
Committee set up by the then Minister
of Transport. Mrs Barbara Castle, to
examine the problems of highway
maintenance and the possibility of
higher returns on the £160 million
spent annually on maintaining British
roads.
, The names of the authors taking
part and the Papers which they are
G. D. Copus
presenting are given below:
Thursday. 11th December
Morning Session
Chairman: Mr H. N. Ginns
"Rural Roads" R. B. Steventon,
Deputy County Surveyor, Devon C.C.
"Urban Roads" F. E. Ladly, Borough
Engineer
and
Surveyor,
London
Borough of Enfield.
"Bridges" L. G. Deuce, Assistant Chief
Engineer (Bridges) Ministry of Transport.
Afternoon
Session
Chairman: Mr H. Criswell
"Heavily Trafficked Roads - Flexible
and Rigid Carriageways" J. V. Leigh,
County Surveyor, Hertfordshire C.C.
"Heavily Trafficked Roads - General
44
will be held at Moor Park Golf Club,
Moor Park, Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire on Tuesday, 16th September,
1969. Details of the competition are as
follows:
Assemble: 12 noon
Lunch: 12.30 p.m.
Play to commence: 1.30 p.m.
Type of Competition: Fourball Stapleford
Highest Handicap: 18
Maximum number of players from each
Branch: A maximum of 8 players
(4 pairs) per Branch, pairing to be
arranged by Branches. Visitors and
guests will be welcome to attend and
enjoy a round on the same terms as
the competitors.
Charge: £3 10s. per head including
green fees, morning coffee, luncheon,
tea and gratuities.
Practice: No practice will be allowed
on the competition course on the day
of the event but competitors will be
allowed to practise in the morning on
the West Course.
Branch Secretaries are asked to send
names of Branch representatives to.
the Honorary Golf Secretary, Mr A. A.
Penwarden, 32 High Street, Loughborough, Leicestershire by August
30th, 1969. It is hoped that as many
Branches as possible will take part
particularly as the venue is one of the
finest courses in the country and one
which should provide golfers with a
real Challenge.
It is hoped that the President of the
Institution will be able to attend this
function and present the trophy to the
winning Branch.
BRANCH
MEETING
SECRETARIES
The Annual Meeting .of the Branch
Secretaries of the Institution was held
at the Goring Hotel, London, on
Thursday, 1st May, 1969, and was
attended by representatives from thirteen of the seventeen Branches. Mr M,
J. Hall, the Secretary of the Institution
was in the Chair for the day-long
session.
The Secretaries were delighted to
welcome to their Meeting the President
of the Institution, Mr H. Criswell,
County Surveyor of Devon, and the
Senior Vice-President Mr H. N. Ginns
who joined them for luncheon and
were present also during the finaJising
of plans for the 1969/70 Programme of
Events.
NEW SECRETARY FOR
S, WALES BRANCH
After twelve and a half years in office
Mr J. L. Laugher retired as Honorary
Secretary of the South Wales Branch
of the Institution following the Branch
Annual General Meeting in April.
To mark his period of office he kindly
presented to the Branch, through their
JULY 1969
G. F arrimond
M. C. Penn
Chairman, a gavel inscribed "The
Institution of Highway Engincers South Wales Branch".
Mr Lougher joined the Roads and
Bridges Department of Glamorgan~
shire County Council in 1949 and
currently holds the post of Traffic
Engineer. He was elected to Associate
Membership of the Institution in 1956
and was appointed .Secretary of the
South Wales Branch at its inaugural
meeting in October of that year.
He has been elected Vice-Chairman
of the Branch for the 1969-70 Session.
Mr Lougher is succeeded in office
by Mr G. D. Copus an Associate
Member of the Institution since 1964.
Mr Copus, who has taken an active
interest in Branch affairs, served as
Assistant Engineer with Cwmbran
Development Corporation and joined
the Roads and Bridges Department of
Glamorganshire County Council in
1965. He now holds the post of Senior
Engineer in the Maintenance and
Materials Section.
NEW SECRETARY
WEST MIDLAND
BRANCH
FOR
As briefly reported in the June issue of
the Journal Mr M.C. Penn retired as
Secretary of the West Midland Branch
following the Branch's Annual General
Meeting in March.
Mr Penn served his articles with
Mr R. J. Comber, Engineer and
Surveyor Brierley Hill U.D.C., and his
highway engineering career has included periods of service with Colwyn
Bay Borough Council, Bedworth
U.D.C. and
Smethwick
County
Borough Council.
In 1955 he was appointed Senior
Assistant Engineer, Worcestershire
C.C. and three years later was promoted to Chief Assistant with responsibility for all improvement schemes
with the County on trunk, classified
and unclassified roads.
Mr Penn became Secretary of the
West Midland Branch on its formation
JULY 1969
and before that had served as a
Committee member on the old Midland
Branch. He was elected to Associate
Membership of the Institution in 1953
and transferred to Membership in 1957.
He is succeeded as Branch Secretary
by Mr G. Farrimond an Associate
member of the Institution since 1959.
Mr Farrimond graduated from Nottingham University in 1955 and then went
on to his period of National Service
which he served with the Royal
Engineers.
He joined Nottinghamshire County
Surveyor's Department late in 1957 as
a Graduate Assistant Engineer and
worked on the design of major trunk
road improvements including
the
Newark By-Pass.
He joined Worcestershire C.C. in
January 1964 as a Senior Assistant
Engineer and leads a team engaged on
the design of large principal road
schemes.
MIDLAND
BRANCH
ANNUAL DINNER
The Annual Dinner of the Midland
Branch was held at the Portland
Building, University of Nottingham,
on' March 14th, 1969 and a 125
members and their guests attended.
On this occasion the formal toast to
the Institution
was cancelled in
favour of an Address by the President,
Mr H. Criswell, D.F.C., County Surveyor of Devon, who spoke on Institution matters of interest to members.
Mr F. J. S. Best, Chairman of the
Midland Branch, Deputy Chief Engineer (Highways), Ministry of Transport proposed the Toast of "The
Guests" to which Professor R. C.
Coates, Head of Department of Civil
Engineering, Nottingham University,
gave the Response.
Amongst the guests attending were
Mr W. R. Shirrefs, City Engineer,
Leicester, Alderman F. R. Batt, Chairman of Highways Committee, Derby
shire C.C., Mr G. Stockley, Divisional
Road Engineer, East Midlands, the
Chairman of the West Midland Branch
of the Institution, the District Chairman
of the Institution of Municipal Engineers, and the Chairman of the Midlands Branch of the Institute of
Quarrying.
S. WALES BRANCH
ANNUAL DINNER
The Annual Dinner of the South Wales
Branch was held at the Park Hotel.
Cardiff on April 25th, 1969.
Sixty-three members and their guests
heard the Toast of "The Institution"
proposed by the Chairman of the
Branch, Mr R. H. Daniels, County
Surveyor of Breconshire, to which the
President of the Institution, Mr H.
Criswell, County Surveyor of Devon,
gave the Response.
The Vice-Chairman of the Branch,
Mr G. M. Murray, Deputy County
Surveyor of Monmouthshire, proposed the Toast of "The Guests" and
the Response was given by Mr A. V.
Hooker, Chairman of the South Wales
and Monmouthshire Association of the
Institution of Civil Engineers and a
Director ofW. S. Atkins and Partners.
Amongst the guests attending this
. function were Mr W. J. Ward, Chairman of the South Wales District of the
Institution of Municipal Engineers,
Borough Engineer, County Borough
of Swansea; Mr E. M, Evans, Honorary
Secretary of South Wales District of
S/omaway
Ga::elle photograph
TWen/y members
of the
Scottish Branch GIld their
guests me/ iI! Harris, Isle of
S/omoway, on March 18/h
1969, to hear a paper prese/lted by Mr. J. Thorburn
on "Vibrations in Civil Engineering." The photograph
(right) shows Mr D. H. MacLean. Divisional Road Surveyor, Outer Isles, Inver/less
c.c. (celltre) with the author
on his right and Mr W. 'A.
Crane, Sco/tish
Bra n c h
Chairman on his left.
ENGINEERS
45
Institution of Municipal
Engineers,
. Principal Assistant County Borough of
Cardiff and Mr N. S. Williams, Honorary Secretary of the South Wales and
Monmouthshire
Association of the
Institution of Civij Engineers.
CORRECTION
It is regretted that on page 41 of the
May, 1969 issue of the Journal, in the
correspondence on "The Effect of
Metrication in Highway Engineering"
the following two misprints occurred.
(a) A. H. M. Morris' letter, 7th paragraph, 11th line "3/16in." should
read "13/16in.:'
(b) J. W. M. Vallis' letter, 2nd para, graph, 14th line "£in." should read
"iin ....
C.E.1. ENGINEERING
CONGRESS
The London Engineering Congress,
LECO 70, the theme of which will be
"The Challenge Facing the Profession
in its Services to the Community" yvill
be held at the Royal Festival Hall from
May 4th to 7th, 1970 and is designed
to attract engineers from all parts of
the world. Plenary sessions will be
held during the mornings of May 5th,
6th and 7th and these will be followed
by detailed afternoon meetings cover~
ing individual engineering disCiplines .
. Participants will not only be reviewing
current developments but will also
take stock of the position of the
profession in society and will consider
means by which the growing interdependence of different engineering
- disciplines from each other can best be
developed to the national advantage.
The subjects to be included will be
innovation and industrial growth and
their consequences in human terms;
new engineering materials in design
and education of the engineer and
engineering deployment.
The Congress fee, which covers
attendance at the Opening Address
and all the sessions and bound copies
of all Papers and reports of the dis~
cuss ions, is £28. Application forms,
which will be available from October,
1969, can be obtained from:
LECO 70 Congress Office,
c/o Institution of Production Engineers,
10, Chesterfield Street,
London W1 X 8DE.
ESTABLISHMENT
OF A
CENTRE FOR TRANSPORT STUDIES
The Senate of the UniverSity of Salford
has approved in principle the formation
of a Centre for Transport Studies in the
University under the joint direction of
Professor T. Constantine, Professor of
Civil Engineering and Chairman of the
Department
of Civil Engineering;
Professor
P. Lord, Professor of
Acoustics; Professor B. Porter, Professor of Engineering Dynamics and
Control; Professor W. H. Scott, Professor of Sociology and Chairman of
the Department ot Sociology, Government and Administration;
and Professor S. J. Wells, Professor of Economics and Chairman of the Department
of Economics and Geography.
The University probably has more
people actively engaged in transport
studies than any other university in the
country. To an increasing extent, work
in this field is becoming mutlidisciplinary
in character and five
depart'ments in the University (civil
engineering,
economics and geography, mechanical engineering pure
and applied physics and sociology,
government and administration) are
already co-operating in both teaching
and research. Courses concerned with
transport and allied subjects, both at
graduate
and postgraduate
level,
involve collaboration between at least
two and sometimes three departments.
A similar degree of co-operation is also
to be found in the sphere of research.
It is felt that the formal establishment
of the Centre will lead to an even closer
integration of this work, stimulating
the interchange of ideas and fostering
collaboration in general between members of staff in the different disciplines.
THE ASSOCIATION
OF
HIG HWA YTECH NICIANS
Total Membershipto
9th MAY, 1969
date 783
ELECTED TO MEMBERSHIP
Alderson,
R. J. (Senior Technician,
Norfolk C.C.).
Allen, K. D. (Paving Branch Manager,
Limmer &Trinidad Co. Ltd.).
Atkinson,
A. G. (Traffic Technician,
Norfolk C.C.) ..
Bennetts,
E. A. M. (Draughtsman,
Bury C.B.).
Bootman,
M. J. (Engineering Technician, City of Cambs. Guildhall).
Edwards, H. W. (Assistant Engineer,
Cambs. & Isle of Ely e.c.).
Herbert,
A. P. (Assistant Materials
Engineer, Bucks. C.C.).
Keymer.
J. O. (Production Superintendent. Boulton & Paul).
Lewis, R. M. (Technician/Draughtsman, Glos. C.C.):
Montgomery,
R. F. (Technical
Assistant, Northern Ireland Ministry of
Development) .
Noon, J. D. (Contracts Agent, May,
Gurney & Co.-Ltd.).
Robinson,
M.
J. (Engineering
Trainee, Cambs. & Isle of Ely C.C.).
Shepherd,
G. (Lecturer, Manchester
College of Building).
Walden.
R. A. (Deputy Manager,
G. Wimpey & Co. Ltd.).
ASSOCIATION OF HIGHWAY TECHNICIANS
ANNUAL
LUNCHEON
The second Annual Luncheon of the
Association of Highway Technicians
was held at the Station Hotel, Dudley,
Worcestershire, on Friday, May 9th,
1969, and over fjfty members and
guests were present.
Mr H. Abbott of Buckinghamshire
C.C. a member of the Association's
Management Committee, took the
Chair and. welcomed the guests who
included Mr H. Criswell, President of
the Institution of Highway Engineers
and a Trustee of the Association;
Mr H. S. Taylor, Chairman of the
Management Committee; Mr E W.
Hinchley, Chairman of the West
Midland Branch of the Institution;
and Mr M. J. Hall, Secretary of the
Institution and of the Association.
Mr Abbott introduced Mr Criswell.
who proposed the Toast of "The
Association".
Mr Criswell outlined this history of
the Association and paid tribute to
Mr Taylor, and to Mr R. Newey who
had for several years served on the
Association's Committee, had designed
its tie and had represented it at the
Standing Conference on National
Qualification and Title (S.C.N.Q.T.).
III-health had forced. Mr Newey to
emigrate to South Africa, where he took
the goed wishes of all members. Mr
Newey had been succeeded as
S.C.N.a.T. representative by Mr P. D.
C. Arnold of Sydney Green (Civil
Engineering) Ltd., who had also been
elected Vice~Chairman of the Associa.
tion's Committee. Unfortunately other
commitments had prevented Mr Arnold
from being present and taking the
Chair for the Luncheon. Mr Criswell
emphasised the growth in Association
representation on its Management
Committee and the increasing respon.
sibility which members were taking in
running their own affairs.
Mr Abbott, in reply to Mr Criswell,
emphasised the importance to the
Association of the link with the Institution. He reported that total membership
was over 770 and urged those present
to recruit new members. He then
invited Mr Taylor to speak about the
work of the S.C.N.a.T. and the
benefits to members which were likely
to accrue from the Association's
membership of that body.
Mr Taylor explained that a number of
important developments were currently taking place and that it was
probable that by the autumn a new
federal body would have been created
with its own Constitution, to which
the Association would be allied. Members would be kept informed of
developments through the Journal.
JULY 1969
E~II" II
PIAIIPA III
.l¥
~!~!wJO
PAVE?
rental PF20 for all these up-to-l0ft.
wide surfacing jobs, from. ~.
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THEMOTORWAYS.
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PF65 and
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available
Telephone: ALDRIDGE 54141
Telex: 338355
COMPANY
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Reader l/!formation Scn-ice
HEIOG
SPECIAL OFFER
FOR READERS
Turn to Page 48 and see this month's five Leisure
time special offers to readers of Highway Engineers.
Quantity buying based upon extensive market know
ledge enables you to obtain quality goods at prices
well below those you would normally expect to pay
in the shops.
Manufactured
by:
Ribblesdale Cement Limited
Clitheroe, Lanes.
For example: A premier quality "Coracle" picnic
case for £3 less than it is normally available in the
shops. An international time, water resistant, 17 jewel
sportsman's watch for only £5.1O.0d. Pure wool
tartan travelling rugs for as little as 42j9d. Each.
Tel. Clitheroe 2401
And remember, similar special offers will appear in
Highway Engineers regularly every month - look
out for them.
Reader Information
JULY 1969
SCI"VIce HElIG
ENGINEERS
"17
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This handsome
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It is fully
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STENTOR WORLD TIME
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PURE WOOL TARTAN
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PLEASE NOTE:
1. Allow up to 3 weeks fordelivery
2. Prices include carriage and
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3. Offer closes 30th October 1969
4. All items are offered subject. to
availability
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Reader l1iformarion Service
48
rHE JOURNAL OF THE INSTITUTION OF HIGHWAY ENGINEERS
HEI9G
JULY 1969
'f
The material
for all seasons
Flexible paving. All-weather champion
of Britain's roads. Can be laid readily in
winter and summer for immediate use.
Resilient flexible paving withstands frost
and floods. Even copes with subsidence.
Motorists prefer it for its high skid
resistance, and quiet. comfortable all-theyear-round ride. Road markings stand
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No wonder it's used for over 90% of all
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