Nearly 4.5 million journeys have been made on a northern England city’s key new road in its first year – prompting praise for its impact on reducing city centre traffic. Traffic counters positioned on the Carlisle Northern Development Route (the A689 which runs from Junction 44 of the M6 to the A595 Wigton Road) have shown that since the road opened on 14 February 2012, an estimated 4.416 million vehicles have been counted crossing its most popular point - the new bridge over the River Eden. This equates to
Nearly 4.5 million journeys have been made on a northern England city’s key new road in its first year – prompting praise for its impact on reducing city centre traffic.
Traffic counters positioned on the Carlisle Northern Development Route (the A689 which runs from Junction 44 of the M6 to the A595 Wigton Road) have shown that since the road opened on 14 February 2012, an estimated 4.416 million vehicles have been counted crossing its most popular point - the new bridge over the River Eden.
This equates to an average of 12,100 vehicles (including 880 HGVs) a day using this part of the road.
The new 8.25km (5.13 mile) road, built as part of a 30-year, US$273.03 million (£176m) PFI-funded contract with Connect Roads, part of1146 Balfour Beatty, is also said to be having a positive impact on reducing traffic flows through the centre of Carlisle. Traffic counters positioned on Eden Bridge on the A7 in the city centre are registering over three million fewer vehicles a year now compared with before the road opened.
Cumbria County Council says the benefit that the road has brought to businesses is clear as HGVs are not only registered as using the road, but also the number of HGVs in the city centre has dropped. Eden Bridge, for example, used to register 850,000 HGVs crossing it in a year before CNDR opened, but is now showing 538,000 HGVs. Other city centre areas indicate the number of HGVs dropping by around a half.
Traffic counters positioned on the Carlisle Northern Development Route (the A689 which runs from Junction 44 of the M6 to the A595 Wigton Road) have shown that since the road opened on 14 February 2012, an estimated 4.416 million vehicles have been counted crossing its most popular point - the new bridge over the River Eden.
This equates to an average of 12,100 vehicles (including 880 HGVs) a day using this part of the road.
The new 8.25km (5.13 mile) road, built as part of a 30-year, US$273.03 million (£176m) PFI-funded contract with Connect Roads, part of
Cumbria County Council says the benefit that the road has brought to businesses is clear as HGVs are not only registered as using the road, but also the number of HGVs in the city centre has dropped. Eden Bridge, for example, used to register 850,000 HGVs crossing it in a year before CNDR opened, but is now showing 538,000 HGVs. Other city centre areas indicate the number of HGVs dropping by around a half.
