Planning application comments regarding Les Charrieres de Boulay, Trinity (FOI)

Request

I would like to request the following in relation to planning application P/2021/0795

The department for Infrastructure, Housing and Environment (IHE) states in their comment that due to the nature of the road it is unlikely vehicles will be travelling at 40mph.

Please may I see how the department came to this conclusion (any risk assessments or other correspondence of how IHE came to this conclusion)?

Response

In our role as Consultee to the planning process, the Transport Section of Infrastructure Housing and Environment (IHE) have applied our expert opinion as to the nature of the road, informed by knowledge of driver behaviour, route function, legislation, road traffic statistics, road network geometry and on-site observations. The following is a summary of our considerations.

The road in this location is part of the local distribution network and provides access to the historic port and adjacent amenities and properties. Past traffic observation data indicate low traffic flows during weekday peak periods and higher traffic volumes at weekends and seasonally during summer months. The road is closed upon occasion to accommodate motor sports under controlled conditions.

Whilst the speed limit is set at the island-wide default of 40mph, this is not a target, and the highway code requires drivers to act with due care and attention and moderate their driving according to the road conditions. Given the curvature of the road, a motorist rounding the bend at 40mph would not typify driving with due care and attention. The kerbside parking also acts as a natural traffic calming measure, forcing drivers to reduce their speed and proceed with caution given the likelihood of encountering a vehicle travelling in the opposite direction. Site observation supported these views of general driver behaviour. Additionally, the IHE collision database does not show a collision history caused by restricted visibility at the site or on the immediately adjacent road network and junctions.

The IHE Department’s “Access onto the Highway – Standards & Guidance” document requires a minimum visibility of 25m on roads administered by IHE. This has been achieved and is considered appropriate at this location. We have included a link to this document for you below:

Standards and guidance for access onto the highway

A Transport Statement was submitted with the application to review the changes in expected transport impacts caused by the redevelopment proposals and addresses previous concerns raised by the Department. This document is attached.

P20210795 Supporting Document Transport Statement Report

P20210795 Consultation IHE Transport SR_Redacted