Northamptonshire Strategic Transport Model Traffic Forecasting Report of the JCS

The North Northamptonshire Joint Planning Unit has worked closely with Northamptonshire County Council (and their consultants KierWSP) and the Highways Agency (and their consultants AECOM) in the development of the Joint Core Strategy (JCS) and the supporting Infrastructure Delivery Plan (IDP). This has included transport modelling of spatial options (North Northamptonshire Core Strategy Housing Options: DIAMOND Traffic Impact Assessment, June 2011) and the use of the Northamptonshire Strategic Transport Model (NSTM) to assess the transport implications, including required infrastructure, arising from the quantum and distribution of development set out in the emerging JCS.

The draft Traffic Forecasting Report sets out the findings of the NSTM based on the latest development data from the JCS and testing the infrastructure identified in the IDP. In broad terms the work undertaken to date does not identify any significant network constraints which cannot be addressed through infrastructure measures. It identifies the key highway schemes that are required to accommodate development traffic on the strategic, principal and local road network within the Plan period. These schemes are referenced in the Pre-Submission JCS and in the IDP. Further work is ongoing to refine elements of the assessment, including the junction capacity required and necessary phasing for infrastructure elements.