Transport Assessment for Selwood Garden

Norman Rourke Pryme (NRP) was appointed by Keyford Frome LVA to provide technical support to Neil Brant Consulting in the delivery of a Transport Assessment for the Selwood Garden Community mixed use development in Frome, Somerset.

The development comprises 1700 dwellings, two care homes, employment land, a mixed-use local centre for primary school, cafes/restaurant and convenience store. The large site is located to the south of Frome, bordered by the A361 bypass to the town, which links into the A36 trunk road.

The Transport Assessment needed to address the potential strategic and local impacts of a considerable volume of new trips associated with the development, covering walking, cycling, public transport and private commuter traffic. NRP constructed a district-wide, dynamic assignment VISSIM microsimulation model to assess Base, Future Base and Proposed traffic network operation scenarios. The traffic modelling was used to identify any areas of potential traffic impact and to develop mitigation measures and a comprehensive traffic management strategy, comprising new traffic signal junctions, introduction of partial traffic signal control modifications to existing roundabout junctions, and demonstration of the effectiveness of local parking controls to manage two-way traffic flow through the town, and the safety of a simplified streetscape design for the community hub.

The Selwood Garden Community project demonstrates the depth and variety of traffic engineering and traffic modelling skills of the NRP Traffic & Transportation team. This impressive project required understanding of strategic traffic movement impacts of the development proposals on local and regional trunk road highways and the design of mitigation measures necessary at major junction sites, yet at the same time required attention to detail to address very localised traffic, transport and environmental issues.

It demonstrates our ability to plan and deliver large-scale traffic modelling projects, made more difficult through the COVID-19 pandemic. It also demonstrates our skills at working collaboratively within a team of co-consultants, selected for their particular expertise at delivering key aspects of the planning submission.

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