Issue - items at meetings - Congleton Transport Infrastructure Study Revised Objectives

To approve the revised scheme objectives for the Congleton Transport Infrastructure Study.

1. That approval be given to the following revised scheme objectives for the Congleton transport infrastructure study:

1	To support the economic, physical and social regeneration of Congleton by creating and securing jobs
2	To open up new development sites and improve access to Radnor Park Industrial Estate and Congleton Business Park
3	To relieve existing town centre traffic congestion / HGVs, remove traffic from less desirable roads and facilitate town centre regeneration
4	To improve strategic transport linkages across the Borough facilitating wider economic and transport benefit
5	To reduce community severance along key town centre corridors
6	To reduce traffic related pollutants within the towns declared Air Quality Management Areas

2. That the following solutions be taken forward to the second stage of detailed assessment to address the objectives of the study:

· Online improvements and widening of A34 Rood Hill, Clayton By-Pass, West Road and Holmes Chapel Road and junction improvements

· Isolated junction improvements to either A34 Rood Hill/A54 Rood Hill (signals), A34 Clayton Bypass/West Road/West Street (Rbt) or A34 West Road/A54 Holmes Chapel Road/A534 Sandbach Rd / A34 Newcastle Road (rbt)

· Network Management measures such as traffic signal optimisation

· Strategic signing strategy

· Traffic Management Strategy / Local signing strategy

· ‘Partial’ Link Road connecting A534/A54 to Viking Way

· ‘Partial’ Link Road connecting Viking Way to the A536 Macclesfield Road

· Link Road connecting A534 Sandbach Road to A536 Macclesfield Road

The Cabinet Member for Prosperity and Economic Regeneration considered a report seeking approval to revise the objectives of the Congleton transport infrastructure study; it also sought approval of the initial sifting exercise of possible solutions against the objectives of the study with the remaining solutions being subject to further assessment.

The original objectives of the study had been approved in September 2012 and an initial task had been to review the problems, opportunities and constraints of the study. A workshop with a wide range of internal stakeholders had confirmed the broad objectives of the study but concluded that some of the objectives could be combined to reduce the overlap of potential objectives; these had therefore been reworded and now provided the revised objectives.

The report outlined the next steps and approval stages leading to a preferred solution that would best address the study objectives.

RESOLVED