Agenda item

To receive a presentation detailing the A338/A346 Working Group’s conclusions and recommendations (Report attached).

The Chairman invited Councillor Charles Howard to present the report which had been produced by a working group supported by the Bourne Valley Alliance, and comprising representatives from the Tidworth, Pewsey, Marlborough and Bourne Valley areas. 

The report considered several factors relating to the A338 / A346 corridor from Salisbury to Swindon:

• Volume of traffic – around 7,000 vehicles used the corridor daily, rising to 16,000 between Marlborough and the M4.
• Priority locations – such as bridges and towns, where the road was particularly narrow.
• Future increase in traffic – new Distribution Centres planned for Solstice Park and Andover Airfield were likely to increase Large Goods Vehicle (LGV) usage of the corridor.
• Accidents – The corridor had a higher than average accident rate, with 205 accidents in five years, resulting in 343 casualties (including 8 fatalities and 75 serious injuries).

The report had concluded that the corridor was unsuitable for the volume of traffic it currently sustained, in particular the volume of LGV traffic.  This was impacting on the local area in terms of noise pollution, vibrations and air quality.

The Working Group had identified two options to reduce the impact of the volume of LGV traffic:

• Bypasses – Previous attempts to secure bypasses along the corridor had been unsuccessful, and costs were likely to make this option unviable.  In addition, bypasses would encourage increased use of the corridor in the long term, which would only exacerbate the existing environmental and social impact.
• “De-priming” – The A338/A346 corridor currently formed part of the National Primary Route Network.  As such, it was not possible to impose weight/width/length or night-time restrictions on the roads.  If the route were to be removed from the Primary Route Network, then such restrictions would be possible. 

Councillor Howard advised that the Working Group’s preferred option was to apply to the Department for Transport for the A338/A346 corridor to be de-primed, and that the Area Board’s support for this approach was now sought.  It was emphasised that further studies/consultation would be required prior to any restrictions being imposed.

The Chairman then invited comments and questions, and the following points were raised:

• Concern from Amesbury Town Councillors that the Working Group’s report focused only on the north of the A303, and that a consequence of de-priming could be that traffic would be displaced through Amesbury.
• More work was needed to identify a route which would take lorries on to the A303 without detriment to Amesbury or Durrington.
• That an additional recommendation be included in the report, to change the height restriction on the St Thomas’s Bridge, London Road, Salisbury.
• A suggestion that when lorries left the south coast, they could be diverted to the A30, A303, A34 and M40, instead of using the A338.

Allan Creedy (Transport and Development Manager) highlighted that the Amesbury Area Board was the third Board to consider the A338/A346 Working Group Report, and so far each Board had reached a different recommendation. Therefore it would be the job of the Cabinet to consider all recommendations and come to a conclusion.

Decision

(a)  Noting the report and presentation from the A338 / A346 Working Group, the Amesbury Area Board considers that further work is needed (including to St Thomas’s Bridge in Salisbury) to make the report’s conclusions and recommendations a more viable proposition. 

(b) Officers should be asked to give support and advice to the Working Group in carrying out the further work required.

(c) Relevant Wiltshire Councillors should be invited to work with the officers and Working Group on the further work requested.

Councillor Fred Westmoreland requested that his abstention from the above vote be recorded in the minutes.

The Chairman indicated that the Board would give this item further consideration.