Access to the proposed development site is to be taken from a new fourth arm on the A433 London Road/Quercus Road roundabout. A pedestrian and cycle connection will be provided between the site and Northlands Way to enable safe walking routes towards the local schools, the town centre and other retail facilities. Pedestrian connections will also be provided to and across London Road and to the Public Footpath that runs along the western boundary of the site. The internal road and pedestrian routes will be designed to create a high level of permeability.

Traffic surveys at the junctions either end of Long Street in the town centre and at the London Road roundabout have been undertaken together with the A433 junctions with Kemble Lane and the A429 to the northeast of the town. Traffic growth has been applied to these survey values to represent future traffic flow conditions with the additional traffic associated with the consented Tesco store extension also being added in. The operation of the surveyed junctions without the proposed development has been assessed using the appropriate computer software and shown to be acceptable.

The traffic flows associated with the proposed development have been derived through a robust comparison with other similar sites and using the modal choice of existing Tetbury residents. These development flows have then been added to the current traffic flows so that the operation of the various junctions under post development conditions can be accurately assessed. In general, the increase in traffic flows is slight at an average of approximately 7% which has no significant impact on the operation of the various junctions.

The proposed development will not have any significant severance effects as new pedestrian and cycle links will be provided through to both Northlands Way and London Road. The main pedestrian route to the town centre is already provided with signalised crossing points of London Road at which pedestrians have priority. These help to minimise any potential severance effect associated with the relatively minor increase in traffic flows.

As previously mentioned, the average increase in traffic flows during the AM and PM peak hours is approximately 7%. This increase in traffic flows will also increase queuing and driver delays at the various junctions but only marginally. It is therefore considered that the changes to the operation of the junctions, queuing and delays will have only a slight impact on existing road users.

The proposed development will have no impact on pedestrian and cycle delays. Direct pedestrian and cycle connections will be provided to Northlands Way and London Road so that a very permeable pedestrian and cycle environment is created. The off-site pedestrian and cycle facilities in the area are already considered to be good and suitable to accommodate the increased number of pedestrian and cycle movements.

The increase in traffic flows may have a slight impact on road safety and the risk of additional accidents however the number of recorded personal injury accidents for the area over the last five years is considered to be low. There would also appear to be no accident clusters that could represent a particular ‘black spot’ location. Pedestrians are the most vulnerable when it comes to road safety but there are existing high quality crossing facilities of London Road that would help to minimise any adverse impacts.

Development of the site will involve traditional construction techniques only therefore no hazardous loads are anticipated.