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Heysham - M6 Link Road: Factsheet
The Heysham M6 Link Road (“Northern Bypass”) is a 5.1km (3.2 miles) dual carriageway.
It will pass from McDonald’s roundabout on Morecambe Road (A589), through the grounds of Lancaster & Morecambe College, then through green belt between Torrisholme and Beaumont to the remodeled Junction 34 of the M6 north of the Lune.
Features
- McDonald’s roundabout: would become a junction with traffic lights
- Broadoak Corner: the road would be on an embankment 26ft (7.8m) high (approximate roof height of houses on Russell Drive)
- Railway line: new road about 49ft (15m) above existing land (height of a house plus a bungalow)
- Lancaster Canal: road 21ft (6.5m) above water
- A6: Large roundabout in fields, A6 diverted & raised with flyover to carry it over Link road
- Halton Second bridge over Lune, new roundabout at Shefferlands with slip road into Halton
- Lights: would rise 33ft (10m) above road, lit all night
Cost
The County Council has estimated that it would cost £85m at 2004 prices (£66m for the Northern Bypass, + £19m for the remodeling of M6 J34). Inflation and possible costs associated with Private Financing (PFI) will increase this further. The earliest that the bypass could open is 2010.
How will it affect communities?
- HOUSES - 1074 dwellings are within 200 metres of the new road, with 187 being within 50m, 229 between 50 & 100 metres, 303 between 100 & 150 metres and 355 between 100 & 150 metres from the road. They will suffer increased noise, vibrations, air pollution, light pollution etc.
- 1-3 houses would need to be acquired for demolition.
- It will divide communities in Torrisholme
How will it affect the environment?
- FARMLAND - the footprint of the road covers 70 Ha (173 acres) of farmland.
- BIOLOGICAL HERITAGE SITES - encroaches on River Lune BHS twice and Lancaster canal BHS once, and passes close to Long Bank Wood BHS and Foundry Lane Verges BHS.
- WIDER LANDSCAPE - major impact. Possible effects on species with wide ranges such as birds, bats, otters - road kill, habitat severance, disturbance. There are 7 protected bird species recorded across the route, and 5 protected bat species use the route area as feeding grounds.
- HEDGEROWS - major impact. Destruction of 94 hedgerows totaling 11 km in length. 87% of these are supposed to be protected by hedgerow regulations. Hedgerows are key habitats, provide food, hibernation & breeding sites and navigation routes for small birds and mammals, and support a wide variety of invertebrates.
- VETERAN TREES - major impact, can’t be mitigated. A valuable resource throughout the northern route, though total number affected (by felling, changes to drainage and root damage) not known yet.
- MARSHY GRASSLAND - moderate impact. Areas supporting nationally and regionally important fungi will be destroyed.
- VISUAL IMPACT - major impact. Because of the height and the lighting, it will be seen from a wide area.
How would the new road affect traffic flows?
- In its opening year, the Link road would shave only 2-10 minutes off car and lorry journey times between Morecambe and Lancaster or the M6.
- It would at best lead to a reduction of only 20% in peak time congestion (Andrew Dobson, Head of Planning & Building Control for Lancaster City Council (LRCC) 17 Feb 2005)
- Traffic would increase on some roads (e.g. the A589 Morecambe Road), and decrease on other roads (e.g. Skerton Bridge). Overall, this does not reduce traffic, just moves some of it into the green belt.
- The new road will quickly fill up. General growth in traffic would cause most local roads to return to their pre-bypass levels in less than 10 years. (UK road traffic levels grew by 1.7% in 2004: see DfT Transport Statistics, Feb 2005.) But new roads generate additional traffic, so it will be fewer years before the new road fills up. £85 million spent and back to square one. More congestion and more pollution in the long run.
- Removal of the Luneside Link from the scheme dramatically changes the traffic flow predictions. The city centre gyratory system and road bridges across the Lune will remain congested even with the link road open.
- There will be pressure to develop the land along the bypass route (housing estates, garages, superstores, warehouses, etc). This will generate even more traffic - e.g. the average edge-of-town ‘executive home’ generates more than 8 car trips per day.
What should happen instead?
- Around 80% of traffic in Lancaster & Morecambe is locally generated (i.e. not through-traffic).
- We should examine initiatives in other towns to reduce congestion by revitalizing bus and train services, shuttle buses, park & ride, car sharing, cycle ways
- We should concentrate on encouraging as many of those short journeys as possible to switch from cars to bus, train, bike or foot.
- We should examine ways of children getting to school safely and not in cars (safe routes to schools).
- We should also manage freight better to reduce the impact of lorries on residential areas (e.g. more freight by rail, transfer goods from HGVs to smaller local delivery vehicles.)
- Transport Solutions for Lancaster & Morecambe (TSLM) will examine recent best practice in other towns and propose alternative solutions to our congestion problems.
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