What is the impact on traffic?
We hope to bring two-thirds of the fuel required by the plant, approximately 400,000 tonnes, to site through Tata Chemicals Europe dedicated rail head, with the remaining 200,000 tonnes coming to site by road.
Thorough road traffic assessments have been undertaken covering a number of different transport fuel delivery scenarios. One scenario involves up to two rail deliveries a day plus approximately three HGV road deliveries per hour. The total daily HGV movements including fuel deliveries, chemical deliveries and bottom ash export equates to 122 two way movements per day (61 HGV vehicles in bound and 61 HGV vehicles out bound).
This assessment also looked at details relating to other road users including already consented and proposed developments within the vicinity of the site. This information was obtained from CWAC in order to establish a baseline position against which to assess our own proposal. Areas covered included the Lostock Triangle Business Park and Gadbrook Park Business Park.
Taking all of this into account, our development would result in a daily increase of about one and a half per cent in volumes of traffic on Griffiths Road in 2015, the year the proposed EfW would commence operation.
The application process also required that we prepared a ‘worst case’ traffic scenario. This involved a calculation made on the assumption that all the fuel needed by the plant would be delivered by road and that no fuel at all was delivered by rail. The calculation of the worst case equates to 262 two-way HGV movements per day (131 HGV vehicles in bound and 131 HGV vehicles out bound). This would result in a daily increase of about three per cent in volumes of traffic on Griffiths Road in 2015, the year the proposed EfW would commence operation.
.
All road deliveries will take place between 7 am and 7pm Monday to Friday and Saturday morning. All waste - rail and road - will arrive on site in sealed containers. No untreated waste will be delivered or stored and no domestic refuse collection vehicles will visit the site.
Some local residents have voiced concen about the impact the extra traffic will have on Griffiths Road. The studies carried out looked at capacity levels and future projections until 2020. The Council’s Highways Engineer felt that with some mediation and improvement works, particularly around the Broken Cross junction, that the proposal was “acceptable in highway terms”.
Studies into the likely impact of additional emissions due to the increase in traffic and the potential impact on air quality have been also been carried out. No air quality issues were identified from the air quality modelling and during the consultation process the health, environmental and highways authorities made no objections to the proposals.