A GOVERNMENT panel has asked National Highways to provide more “fine-grained” traffic information for Barnard Castle as it examines proposals to upgrade the A66.
This comes as campaigners say current plans for a new junction at Rokeby will send dangerous amounts of traffic down The Sills, at Startforth, causing an increased risk to pedestrians and motorists.
A panel set up by the Government’s Planning Inspectorate to examine National Highways’ application for a development consent order for its A66 scheme held a preliminary hearing at The Witham, in Barnard Castle, last week.
Under questioning, National Highways solicitor Joel Semakula said it was agreed that the preferred junction option for Rokeby would lead to a 53 per cent increase in traffic along The Sills. He added: “What we are saying is changing the traffic on The Sills is one of the things we need to do to achieve the changes we want to do on the wider project.”
Campaigners argue that The Sills is too narrow and winding to safely accommodate additional traffic.
While National Highways officers agree traffic will rise at Startforth, they maintain that overall traffic in Barnard Castle will decrease once the upgrade is completed.
They said they expect traffic flows along the A67 through Barnard Castle to fall as more drivers use the A66 due to the improvements which will reduce journey times.
Barnard Castle HGV Action Group member Ros Evans was not convinced.
She said: “Specifically for here, the people using the A67 through Barnard Castle are not going east-west, they are going north-south. In the main the A67 is used by drivers moving in north and south directions.”
Examining inspector Neil Humphrey noted that there were a number of different percentage increases in traffic flows in the representations that had been made to the panel.
He said: “There isn’t a fine examination of any environmental effects on The Sills itself, it is more on Barnard Castle as a whole rather than the effect on a particular street.
“I am wondering whether a more fine-grained analysis will help us understand any effects on The Sills. Does 53 per cent have any significant effect on The Sills? It is a potentially large increase that may have some effect.”
Mr Semakula argued that the 53 per cent increase was misleading as it was an increase from a low base.
He added: “When we see a low reporting of accidents, that is generally a safe road.
“Road safety generally is a key objective of this project and when we look at reported collisions, particularly on the A66, we are talking about a road that is more dangerous.
“When we look on the evidence base before us, and the actual impact of the option we have selected is expected to have, we say there are balancing benefits that flow from this option.
“And when you put that 53 per cent in context the impact isn’t as great as 53 per cent suggests.”
