Proposed changes

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Business survey

Customer survey

How will Baldock businesses be impacted if the road under the railway bridge becomes a “a single lane of traffic…controlled by traffic lights”?

North Herts Council signed off the masterplan for ‘Growing Baldock' in June. The master developers, Urban & Civic, will return in the autumn for planning approval.
Urban & Civic want to shift the town away from cars and towards cycling and walking, but we are worried that some of the changes underestimate the degree to which the town depends on outside custom.
Urban & Civic plan to reduce the road under the railway bridge to “one car lane, [shuttle system] controlled by traffic lights, with the rest of the road providing a safe cycle and walking route”. This may also be combined with a left turn ban at Whitehorse Street. Traffic is likely to build-up on North Road, Clothall Road, Letchworth Road and Royston Road.
The changes will deter visitors to the town coming from the North e.g. from Ashwell, Biggleswade, Bygrave, Hinxworth, Newnham, Radwell and Stotfold. Knock on traffic on surrounding roads will impact those dependent on their cars - particularly older residents and families with young kids - who may struggle to walk or cycle in.
We are concerned it will undermine our local businesses and that a measure designed to reduce ‘through’ traffic may deter customers coming to Baldock from the north of the town, long before the new houses are built bringing new customers.
Urban & Civic mention businesses only in passing. Following a drop-in session on 12 July we now know no work has gone into understanding the impact on Baldock’s businesses or where local businesses get their custom.
- - What proportion comes from within the town and what proportion comes in on the North Road?
  - Will customers be deterred, head to other towns, or just stay at home and how much of an impact will that have? Are local businesses resilient enough to deal with this?
  - If they change the road at ‘an early phase’ but additional residents only come later, what happens to businesses in the meantime?
Once they change the road layout it’s hard to go back and it will be expensive for taxpayers. What do these changes mean to you? Have they got the approach right? Have they got the phasing right?

Neither North Herts Council nor Urban & Civic have done the work, so we need to do it.

Will you help us gather evidence of the impacts and – if needed – ask Urban & Civic, Herts County Council Highways, and North Herts Council to think again? Complete our survey here.

You can find out more about the Growing Baldock Strategic Masterplan here. See page 11, 61, 65, 68 and 85 for details of the changes for drivers, also pasted below.

Extract: Appendix A - Growing Baldock Strategic Masterplan.pdf - page 11

Screenshot page 11: text reads: 10. Redistributing Through Ttraffic Approximately half of the traffic going through Baldock is through traffic that does not stop in the town. The Baldock development aims to repurpose the existing network to allow more sustainable journeys and ‘reclaim’ the streets for Baldock. It will be easier to walk and cycle through the heart of the town, although this does mean that it will be harder to drive through the town on some roads. Some junctions and roads within the town centre will need to change, in particular at the North Road railway bridge, where the width of the road will be restricted for vehicles and a ‘shuttle’ system controlled by traffic lights will be introduced. The Strategic Masterplan also suggests preventing cars being able to move from Station Road to Icknield Way/ Football Close to stop rat-running, and a ‘modal filter’ onto Norton Road where it joins with Icknield Way, to prevent people avoiding the road under the railway bridge. The Strategic Masterplan also proposes restricting some of the turns that can be made at the Whitehorse crossroads, including a left-turn ban from Whitehorse Street into Station Road. This would stop people using Baldock to get to the A1(M) from Letchworth, but it would inconvenience some residents who would need to approach Station Road from Clothall Road instead.

Extract: Appendix A - Growing Baldock Strategic Masterplan.pdf - page 61

Extract from 'Growing Baldock Strategic Masterplan', page 61. Shows full map of road changes

Extract: Appendix A - Growing Baldock Strategic Masterplan.pdf - page 65. Shows the changes for private vehicles including the 'traffic light controlled one-way 'shuttle' working under railway bridge.

Screenshot of page 65. Shows a map of the changes for private vehicles, including a "traffic light controlled one-way 'shuttle' working under railway bridge"

Extract from Growing Baldock Strategic Masterplan. Shows picture of the railway bridge with the text "Shuttle working • The limited space under the Station Road railway bridge means the existing pavements are narrow and there is no space for a dedicated cycle route; • Narrowing the carriageway under the rail bridge for general traffic to one lane would provide space for pedestrians and cyclists; • The single lane of traffic would be controlled by traffic lights.'

Screenshot of the map of changes effecting private vehicles

Extract: Appendix A - Growing Baldock Strategic Masterplan.pdf - page 68. Describes the main changes to roads and routes within Baldock.

Extract from Growing Baldock Strategic Masterplan, page 68: "Off-site Interventions Walking and cycling conditions within Baldock, between key destinations, will be safer and made suitable for all ages and abilities, through a combination of widened pavements, traffic- free cycle paths and reduced traffic on quieter back streets. Improved junctions and crossings are proposed at key points in the town to enhance the pedestrian and cyclist experience. The Strategic Masterplan incorporates the following main changes to roads and routes outside the Strategic Masterplan area, within Baldock: • alterations to the Whitehorse Street junction to provide wider pavements , reduced wait-times for pedestrians, improved safety for people cycling, and restricted turns; • redesign of the Station Road / Icknield Way junction to provide improved access to the station for pedestrians and cyclists, and to create a new east-west cycle route connecting the town with the proposed employment area on Royston Road; • a new access is proposed into Clothall Common from Royston Road. This would allow access by buses, cyclists and pedestrians, but not private vehicles; and • provision of additional capacity at Junction 9 of the A1(M). The following interventions are needed in order to allow the improvements above to be delivered: • modal filters which allow pedestrians and cycles to pass only; • shuttle running is proposed on Station Road under the railway; and • restricted turns at the Whitehorse Street junction, including potentially the left turn into Station Road from the High Street to remove the significant through movement from the west and stopping movements between Station Road and Royston Road, to encourage use of the new road through the development. Taken together the measures above are designed to reduce through-traffic volumes, create more space for walking and cycling and more flexibility in routing buses. Some residents making car trips may be inconvenience, but the benefits should be felt by all residents and visitors to Baldock. The plan at Figure 36 provides an indication of broadly when the changes which will affect how people move around Baldock might happen – as part of an early or later phase of interventions. The measures, their timing, costs and responsibility for delivery and funding are being discussed in detail with HCC (highways team) and will be tested as part of the outline planning application in due course."

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