Council warned that drivers in Northampton could be hit by potential 'disastrous' effects of £54.5million relief road

A retired traffic professional has warned the council that a £54.5 million major relief road being built in Northampton is going to be a “disaster”.

Patrick Cross, a former fellow of the chartered institute of logistics and transport, is urging West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) to review a traffic report regarding the under construction North West Relief Road (NWRR).

Patrick, a Kingsthorpe resident of 30 years, says an “anomaly” in the traffic report, conducted by WSP and submitted to WNC, is being overlooked by the council, which has forecasted heavy traffic on both Brampton Lane and the A508 Harborough Road.

Councillor Phil Larratt, in charge of highways at WNC, thanked Mr Cross for his concerns but ultimately said he believes the traffic report is “fit for purpose”.

This newspaper has asked Councillor Larratt to expand on what he means when he says the report is “fit for purpose” when it forecasts potential issues.

Patrick said: "My ratio to flow (RFC) calculations suggest that instead of providing relief it will actually result in queues of up to three and a half kilometres from the Vyse Road Roundabout, back down Brampton Lane, up the new NWRR almost half way back.

"If it's anything over 0.8 RFC it's danger signals, their report shows that it will be 0.9 in six peak time periods. That is totally impossible. That will result in 700 cars in an hour's period not getting through [the Vyse Road Roundabout] and queuing back up the NWRR.

"Any student of logistics and transport assessments would say, 'sir, this is not possible, it is disaster'. It will result in mad traffic driving, people getting impatient. Home Park Road in Buckton Fields will become a rat run.

"Drivers won't tolerate this, they will go back to the old rat runs that are supposed to have been given relief. The whole thing is mismanaged and miscommunicated. The figures have not been acknowledged.

"This [NWRR] is going to happen, you can't stop it. When this opens and it's a nightmare, who's going to stand up and say what went wrong? Are they going to stand up and say, 'oh, we'll learn from our mistakes'. Here's the mistake. Don't wait. Look at it now, acknowledge it now. This is incompetent."

Patrick adds that building a north Northampton orbital road is the solution to traffic problems, but warns against attaching it to the NWRR.

He added: "There will be no winners here, only losers."

Conservative councillor Sam Rumens (Kingsthorpe North) has been in conversation with Patrick for a couple years now and is also wary of the NWRR.

Councillor Rumens said: "I'm concerned that the NWRR is, rather than being a relief road, just unlocked housing for the Dallington Grange development. It doesn't provide any sort of relief that I can fathom and actually makes the situation in Kingsthorpe worse, and these figures look like they prove it. I of course hope to be proven wrong but, unfortunately, I think there is probably too much evidence to suggest that won't be the case.”

WNC's response

Cllr Phil Larratt, WNC's man in charge of the highways, said: "WNC is acutely aware just how important it is to ensure we have the right infrastructure in place to meet our commitment to deliver the much-needed housing in our area.

“Traffic modelling is a methodology we use to understand the potential impacts of new developments in order to identify solutions and to address and resolve future issues.

“As part of the planning permission process for the NWRR a model was produced which considered a wide range of issues and challenges. It was carried out by a nationally recognised company and is considered fit for purpose.

“This model identifies that in the future, congestion will need to be monitored with future infrastructure considered. This is why the council has identified the northern orbital as a key priority going forward and we will look at the local plan process as the mechanism for understanding the need and possible delivery for this project.

“We thank Mr Cross for his information, and we will welcome thoughts and comments from all of our residents and stakeholders when we start consultation on the plan. We remain confident that we have the time and the processes in place to look at the future requirements going forward."

Dallington Grange housing development

David Wilson Homes and Persimmon Homes are preparing to start work on Dallington Grange, a 3,000-home housing estate on land between Harlestone Firs and Kings Heath.

The felling of approximately 1,800 trees in a section of Harlestone Firs started on October 31. The removal of trees is part of wider works to make way for the second phase of the new £54.5 million North West Relief Road and also 3,000 new homes in the area. The felling will last approximately six weeks and access to part of the Firs will be restricted during this time, according to developers.

Chair of climate action group West Northamptonshire, Jane Wood, raised concerns with building a major new road.

She said: "Does WNC have any serious intention of meeting the net zero targets the unitary authority has set? If so, the millions currently being spent on road-building would be much better used on improving public transport and providing a safe extensive network of active travel routes. And planning policy needs to prioritise public transport and active travel, rather than allowing developments to be built that are dependent on new roads."