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CULLOMPTON
TOWN COUNCIL TRAVEL AND TRANSPORT PLAN
This Plan was
drafted by the Council following:
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Meeting
of Town Council held on 8th
July 2004 specifically to discuss traffic matters
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Results
of public consultation carried out by the Cullompton Area
Development Initiative which includes household, business and youth
questionnaires and a “vision day” held at Cullompton Community
College in November 2002
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Consultation
with members of the public at Councillors’ Surgeries held in the
Town Hall on Saturday 7th
August and 2nd
October 2004
Last
reviewed and updated at Town Council meeting held on 21st
June 2007
Last
considered by Traffic and Environment Working Group on 16th
July 2007
1. PRIORITY
ONE ISSUES
The
following, in order of priority, are the issues considered to be the
most urgent:
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ISSUE
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PROPOSED SOLUTION
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Comments
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Traffic calming in residential areas i.e. Langlands
Road, Orchard Way, Meadow Lane and Duke St – routes to school –
lots of traffic and parked cars
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20 mph speed limit plus school warning signs for
Meadow Lane
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Meadow Lane
is a Priority – this is the main entrance to the College and has
been on the list for several years
|
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Exeter
Hill – due to
narrowness of both the highway and footway it is extremely
dangerous for pedestrians, several people have been knocked by
wing mirrors
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Lining
to discourage vehicles from getting too close to the kerb edge
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Difficult
to see how this would work – no legal markings will resolve
problem
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Heavy lorries through the town centre -
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Weight
limit from Station Road to Padbrook roundabout - this would also
help to resolve the problem in Exeter Hill and assist in making
the town centre a more pleasant place to be
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Not
practical – origin and destination survey showed that majority
of heavy vehicles have a genuine reasons to travel through
Cullompton
|
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St Andrews Estate - Difficult access to St Andrews
car park due, in part, to parked cars
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Traffic restrictions (double yellow lines) opposite
car park entrance
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Not a
priority and DCC currently have an embargo on traffic orders
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Flooded pavements in Fore Street and High Street –
the pavements become flooded during heavy rain – people are
required to “paddle” along the main street – this deters
people from shopping in Cullompton
Dip
in footway outside 13 High Street results in large puddle every
time in rains
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New
run-off pipe laid in conjunction with McCarthy & Stone
development. Money available to undertake remaining remedial
works
Footway
needs raising/levelling
|
DCC has the
money to undertake this work but, to ensure least disruption, need
to wait until 2008/09 when SWW will be upgrading water pipes.
|
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Tiverton
Road: Junction
with High Street, very narrow footway and road, vehicles often
mount the pavement conflict between pedestrians and vehicles,
extremely dangerous
|
Trial
traffic lights for 6 months at High Street junction to establish
whether it is a practical solution
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Traffic
lights not considered appropriate as air quality would decrease –
consider ‘no right turn’ from High Street
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Back
Lane; Bridle Path:
Section at Exeter Road end has been resurfaced but there is a very
narrow section at Crow Bridge end bordering the leat, this section
is usable only with care and not suitable for anyone with mobility
problems
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Requires
widening to improve public safety and accessibility
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DCC intend
undertaking design work in 2007/08 programme
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Willand
Road: Tarmac
breaking up and potholes, very dangerous for cyclists
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Requires
resurfacing
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DCC to
investigate
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2. TOWN
FOOTWAYS
|
ISSUE
|
PROPOSED SOLUTION
|
Comments
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Shortlands
Lane: Footway
required beside fire station to improve pedestrian safety
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DCC have
included design work in 07/08 programme
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Exeter
Road: Pedestrian
crossing close to Somerfield Supermarket dangerous as cars often
don’t stop
NOTE:
There has been an increase in the number of accidents since Exeter
Road was narrowed in front of the Bell Inn
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Upgrade
pedestrian crossing to Pelican Crossing
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Accident
cluster figures do not justify
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Exeter
Road: Car
bonnets overhang footway making the footway very narrow and
impassable for wheelchairs etc
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Extend
footway or install bollards or similar
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DCC will
investigate
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Complete
footway in Willand Road: can
only be completed once the NDR is open as there is a need to
narrow the road. The intention then is to provide a priority
scheme.
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Ascertain
timescale for completion and ensure that any development in
Willand Road area contributes towards cost
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3. PUBLIC TRANSPORT
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The
re-opening of Cullompton Railway Station is included in DCC’s
Travel Transport Plan.
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There
is currently a bus every 15 minutes to/from Exeter between 8.00am
and 6.00pm on weekdays and Saturdays and also late night buses
to/from Exeter. However there is no internal bus service to bring
children from areas such as Culm Lea to school or to bring people
into the town centre, doctors surgery etc.
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ISSUE
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PROPOSED SOLUTION
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TIME SCALE
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Rural
bus services
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Improve the service
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MEDIUM
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Internal
Bus service required to bring people from areas such as Culm Lea
into the town. Also for people working on industrial estates such
as Kings Mill
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Look
at including in bus service required as condition of Tesco
planning approval
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MEDIUM
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Bus
service linked to train service
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Provide a bus service that links directly to train
timetable for Tiverton Parkway
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Bus
service to Tiverton: last
bus from Tiverton to Cullompton is at 1817
Cullompton
to Tiverton 1806 – late night bus service required, stopping at
Parkway Station
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Lobby stagecoach and DCC to improve Cullompton to
Tiverton service, particularly after 1800
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Bus
service to Exeter airport/industrial estates: no
easy way to get to airport, Sowton or Marsh
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Investigate launching new bus services from
Cullompton to the airport and industrial estates
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MEDIUM
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Re-open
train station
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LONG
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4.
CYCLING
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ISSUE
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PROPOSED SOLUTION
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TIME SCALE
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PRIO
RITY
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Cullompton
Community College: Encourage
students to cycle instead of parents ferrying them by car
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Provide safe cycle routes and upgrade the cycle
storage facility at the college to protect cycles from damage and
theft
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MEDIUM TERM
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Cycle
tracks
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Provide safe routes for cyclists
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5. TRAFFIC
AND HIGHWAY ISSUES
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PROPOSED
SOLUTION
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TIME SCALE
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Northern
Distributor Road: Road
to no-where, urgently needs completing to relieve pressure on
Station Road junction and keep HGVs out of town
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Lobby MDDC and DCC – work has started – target
completion Jan 2008
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URGENT
|
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Loading/Unloading
restrictions in Town Centre: Loading/unloading
can cause traffic to build up at certain times of the day
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Ban on loading and unloading in Fore Street at peak
times of the day
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Work in
progress
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Heavy
Goods Vehicles in town centre: People
are discouraged from using town centre due to HGVs
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Relief road
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LONG TERM
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Heavy
Goods Vehicles carrying out dangerous manoeuvres in the town
centre
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Erect
signs stating that Padbrook roundabout ahead
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Car
parking at bottom end of town (Exeter Hill/Crow Green) – very
limited car parking creating great difficulties for people at
present
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(i)Investigate
provision of residents’ parking on Old Tannery site
(ii)Approach
MDDC re use of land in Shortlands Road
(opposite Tufty Park for residents’ parking)
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St
Andrews Estate: Parked
cars on both side of the hill make it very difficult – cars
often ascend on the wrong side of the road – very precarious
particularly during school runs
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Markings
on the corners of the hill asking people not to park
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Only if
done as part of a package of road safety measures
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Goblin
Lane/Willand Road
and Higher
Orchard/Higher Street:
Poor vehicular visibility
due
to cars parked on the corners
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Parking
restrictions required on the corners of Goblin Lane and Higher
Orchard
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Hammett
Road
– cars park and block access across dropped kerb of footpath
beside fire station
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Access
protection markings required.
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Roberts
Close:
Car parking making it difficult for residents to access driveways,
particularly difficult for disabled driver
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Access
marking required
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St
Boniface Church:
Cars park in front of dropped kerbs
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Access
protection markings required
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Honiton
Road:
Speeding traffic in Honiton Road
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Signs
reminding drivers that 30mph applies along Honiton Rd
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No legal
signs
available
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Tiverton
Road: Speeding
traffic and narrow pavements, plus route to school
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Introduce
20mph restriction in Tiverton Road between Langlands Road and Fore
Street
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Speeding
Traffic:
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Purchase
speed reminder sign at an approxcimate cost of £3,000–
this can then be moved as and when required
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High
maintenance costs as prone to vandalism – CTC to consider in
2008/09 budget
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6. PUBLIC RIGHTS OF WAY
AND BRIDLEWAYS
There
is a very good network of paths and bridleways in both the town and
surrounding countryside. The council is a member of Devon County
Council’s Parish Paths Partnership (P3) and receives a grant
towards maintenance costs. Annual surveys of the paths are
undertaken by the council. These “walks” are advertised and the
general public are welcome to come along. The public are also
encouraged to report to the council any defects they find whilst out
walking the paths.
The
council has produced two leaflets detailing some of the footpaths.
It is recognised that there is work to do to make the footpaths
accessible to all. These include:
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Footpath
No.15 (Kia Ora): Diversion approved – new footbridge requires
extending as the area surrounding it is very boggy and bridge is
unusable at present
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Footpath
No. 14: the route ends on Bradninch Hill and as there are no
pavements on this section of road there is no safe access back into
the town. The council is currently negotiating with land owners to
provide a safe footpath through to Padbrook Park.
The council will
continue to survey, maintain, improve and promote the parish’s
footpath network to make them easy to use and enjoyable.
STATUS: LONG TERM –
ONGOING
7. PLANNING POLICY
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Access
to Middle Mill Lane:
Only one way in and out, no access for emergency vehicles,
conflict with pedestrian in town centre. If vehicle is parked in
front of access or gets stuck then no-one can get in or out
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Potential
for access from Station Road if Western Way Industrial Estate
redeveloped or any development in that area. Ensure that any
proposals for development includes a highway access to Middle Mill
Lane
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Developer contributions
to footway in Willand Road
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All
planning applications for residential development in Willand Road
should be required to make contribution to cost of providing a
footway
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Developer
contributions to local bus services
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Any
major planning application should make a contribution towards
local bus services, including links between shops and residential
development
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M5
junction at capacity – improvements required
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Obtain
details from Highway Agency showing how the junction can be
improved to improve public safety and lessen traffic congestion
All
development should be required to make a contribution to
improvements to the M5 junction
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