Annual Progress Report 2003
Road Traffic Reduction Report
Local Road Traffic
Data collection
Permanent traffic counters are in continuous operation and monitor traffic levels within Lancashire. This equipment has been installed progressively on cordons around a number of town centres and on screenlines throughout the County from 1997 onwards. These counters provide data of the highest quality and remove the need to rely upon the application of standard seasonal factors.
The assessment of traffic levels has differentiated between those roads for which the County Council is the Highway Authority, non-core Trunk Roads and the core Trunk Road network. The cordons are located on the perimeters of urban centres at positions where traffic movements into the town centres can best be monitored. The screenlines are located between principal towns.
Urban Cordons and Inter-Urban Screenlines
The traffic data presented in the assessment is 24 hour, 7 day average values and has been analysed on a quarterly basis. At this stage there is insufficient data available to derive factors that could be used with any degree of confidence and so annual traffic levels have been presented. The urban areas that have been assessed are Lancaster and Preston, for which five years data is available, and Accrington and Burnley, for which baseline data is presented. The inter-urban screenlines include Burnley/Pendle, North Rossendale, Preston/Blackburn, Preston/Lancaster, Fylde/Wyre and West Lancashire.
The following abbreviations are used:
- AADF
- Annual Average Daily Flow
- QADF
- Quarterly Average Daily Flow
Urban Cordons
NB: Traffic levels during the first half of 1998 were abnormally low due to major sewer works in the city centre, which caused considerable disruption to traffic conditions. Also, traffic levels at specific locations on the cordon between April 2000 and March 2001 were affected by the construction of a new bus station.
Inter-Urban Screenlines
The opening of the M65 (Blackburn Southern Bypass) extension between the M6 and M61 is likely to have contributed significantly to the increased flows on this screenline between 1997 and 1998.
The opening of the M65 (Blackburn Southern Bypass) extension between the M6 and M61 had a major effect upon traffic levels across the screenline.
Urban Traffic Growth
There is insufficient observed data to determine reliable growth on the monitored urban cordons.
Rural Traffic Growth
Analysis of traffic trends at the inter-urban screenlines indicates a constant traffic growth for the past three years, with central Lancashire screenlines having the greatest growth in traffic.