Celebrating Road Safety Week: How Can Transport Planning Make Roads Safer?
As we mark Road Safety Week, it’s the perfect time to reflect on how our built environment influences road safety. Road safety isn’t just about individual drivers or pedestrians being cautious; it’s also about how well our infrastructure is designed to prevent accidents, manage traffic, and encourage safer travel for everyone.
From the initial stages of planning a development, incorporating road safety measures through Transport Assessments, Travel Plans and detailed designs can have a significant impact on the safety and efficiency of a project. But what role do these play, and how can they contribute to a safer, more sustainable future?
The Role of Transport Assessments in Road Safety
Transport Assessments (TAs) evaluate the potential transport impacts of new developments and recommend strategies to mitigate them. When integrated effectively, they ensure that the roads surrounding a development are designed with safety in mind, taking into account current and future traffic volumes, road users, and potential hazards. A TA can identify the need for improved pedestrian crossings, cycle lanes, and traffic calming measures, which help reduce speeding and promote safer interactions between cars, bikes, and pedestrians.
The Impact of Travel Plans
While Transport Assessments focus on infrastructure, Travel Plans aim to influence travel behaviour. These plans promote alternative, safer modes of transport, such as walking, cycling, and public transport, reducing the reliance on cars and ultimately improving road safety. Encouraging people to shift from car use to more sustainable forms of transport not only reduces congestion but also lowers the risk of accidents.
Travel Plans are essential in promoting safe school routes, ensuring that children can walk or cycle to school on routes that are free from hazards. Similarly, they can be used to promote carpooling or bus services, reducing the number of cars on the road during peak hours and improving overall safety for all road users.
The Importance of Transport Design
Transport design goes beyond basic layout; it involves careful planning of infrastructure elements that promote safe and efficient movement. For example, our work on the redevelopment of RAF Upper Heyford highlights the importance of engineering expertise in ensuring road safety. Since 2012, we have provided extensive design services post-planning for this large-scale project, including 3D road modelling, private levels and drainage designs, adoptable drainage calculations, and detailed construction specifications. This project also included significant s278 works, with major upgrades to the 1.5 km Camp Road, which runs through the centre of the development. These carefully crafted designs enhance safe connectivity, ensuring that roads are built to accommodate both current and future traffic needs safely.
Designing for Safe Travel Choices
Good transport design also supports safe travel choices, promoting walking, cycling, and public transport options that reduce reliance on cars and improve overall road safety. In the case of RAF Upper Heyford, our designs have played a role in opening new development areas and establishing safe routes for future expansion, including a 1.8 km road linking Camp Road with Phase 2, which will ultimately support new residential areas and a school. Crossing Camp Road to the west and Chilgrove Drive to the east also provides access to two bridleways, expanding safe travel options for equestrians. Thoughtfully designed routes and infrastructure can significantly reduce congestion, lower accident risks, and create safer environments for all road users.
Road Safety Audits
To ensure that all of our designs adhere to the latest road safety requirements and guidance relevant to the context of the proposals, independent Road Safety Audits are commissioned at key milestones of the proposals to offer specialist input and recommendations where necessary. The proposals are then modified to suit the recommendations.
Road Safety and the Built Environment: A Collaborative Effort
At Woods Hardwick, our approach to ensuring road safety is not an afterthought but an integral part of our design process. Whether through careful analysis of a site’s transport impact or the development of proactive Travel Plans, we collaborate with Local Authorities, Transport Planners, and Developers to ensure that every project contributes to a safer road network. We believe in creating environments where safety is embedded at every level.
If you have an upcoming project and want to ensure that road safety is a priority, our team of experienced planners and transport experts can help. Get in touch with us today to discuss how we can work together to make the built environment safer for everyone.
