Annex 4 - Regeneration and Congestion - Detailed Strategies

Falmouth and Penryn have a strategic maritime location that provides a unique asset both for industry and tourism. The urban area has a diverse economic base of maritime and industrial activity and a strong tourism economy, as well as being a retail centre. The maritime heritage and industry are important to the future. Falmouth already hosts the National Maritime Museum Cornwall (NMMC) and there are opportunities for regeneration of the harbour and waterfront. Penryn is the central location for the CUC and there are regeneration opportunities through the contribution that CUC will make to educational, and the research and business capacity of the County as a whole.

There are weaknesses in the transport network that will require investment if new regeneration opportunities are to be developed. The strategy for Falmouth-Penryn aims to offset any increase in traffic levels through the delivery of a sustainable transport strategy, targeting both internal trips within the town and trips to the towns. The aim of the strategy will be to target sufficient modal shift away from car use such that any residual increase in traffic can be accommodated on the existing highway network, with some targeted junction improvements.

The Falmouth-Penryn Transport Strategy and the draft Falmouth-Penryn Development Framework have informed the five year strategy for Falmouth and Penryn. We have undertaken a priority assessment of the proposals included within these studies, which has determined the schemes to be taken forward. The strategy for Falmouth-Penryn (as defined under the 'toolkit') is illustrated in Figure 1.12.  The five year Regeneration and Congestion Strategy is represented in map form in Figure 1.14.

Falmouth Docks is a prime centre of maritime industry in Cornwall.  It undertakes ship repair, maintenance, boat building, cruise ship embarkation, freight transfer and other associated activities. Major development proposals are currently being evaluated by the owners and South West Regional Development Agency (SWRDA). The envisaged project will include a new cruise ship terminal and associated dredging to facilitate enhanced access by shipping to the docks.

A low height railway bridge on Bar Road restricts access of high sided road vehicles into the port. These vehicles have to re-route via a narrow residential street.  It is proposed to improve road clearance, access and alignment of the Bar Road Bridge. The scheme will reduce the adverse impact of large vehicles on the residential area and will encourage economic growth of the docks and the local area.

The main routes into Falmouth and Penryn off the A39 do not act as gateways at present, as they fail to announce the towns or orientate visitors. Improvements that will be made are:

• simplification of signing; and

• implementation of a signing strategy to emphasise the gateways to Falmouth and Penryn.

Within Falmouth a number of local points on the highway network create problems. Church Street and Market Street are often used as a cut through for traffic heading north-south, which causes both pedestrian and vehicle conflicts on the main shopping streets within Falmouth together with associated air quality problems. The introduction of restricted daytime access and shared surfaces in the main streets has reduced traffic flow, but congestion and related air quality issues still occur at peak times. Improvements that will be made to address this are:

• redirecting the one way system to reduce the route attraction and provision of clearer signed alternative routes; and
• restricted access to Market Street/Church Street/High Street.

The A39 forms the main route into and through Falmouth. A number of the local junctions on this corridor are creating delays. These occur at the Dracaena Avenue/Kimberley Park Road junction and the Dracaena Avenue/Western Terrace roundabout in the evening peak period, where queuing can extend back beyond the Wood Lane junction. Future development and housing proposals in the town will increase the impact of these problems. A package of measures is proposed to address traffic congestion within Falmouth. These are:

• Dracaena Avenue/Kimberley Park Road junction improvements.

• Dracaena Avenue Route Management scheme, which will include improved signing, junction improvements and environmental enhancements along the route.

Highway improvements will also be undertaken in Penryn. Commercial Road used to be the main route into Falmouth before the A39 Penryn Distributor Road was completed. The road now also acts as a local retail area within Penryn. However, significant levels of traffic still use this road as a through route to access Falmouth, due to its more direct routing. A scheme will be undertaken on Commercial Road to emphasise the local centre and discourage through traffic by reducing speeds. This will be achieved by formalising car parking and providing enhanced facilities for cyclists and pedestrians. The width of the corridor will be reduced through these measures together with traffic calming proposals, in order to reduce vehicle speeds. The scheme will also improve the environment of Commercial Road, attracting more people to use the services and retail outlets, thereby assisting their viability.

Environmental enhancements will also be undertaken in Penryn town centre.

Improvements to Rail

There are a number of economic initiatives in the Falmouth and Penryn area, whose ultimate success will depend on the level of accessibility that can be achieved, and maintained. Given the severe constraints on the road network in this particular area, there is an increasing dependency on the rail service as a means of improving accessibility and sustainable economic growth.

The Truro–Falmouth Rail Branch Line is a single track line that currently carries services seven days a week between Truro, Penryn and Falmouth. The A39 road network along this particular corridor is frequently at capacity, and, due to environmental constraints, there are no proposals for road schemes that will relieve or create further highway capacity. There is an opportunity to improve rail services between Falmouth and Truro, which will greatly relieve road congestion between the towns and provide capacity on this corridor to facilitate further development in Truro.

As the line is single track only a limited frequency of service is achievable. The construction of a passing loop will facilitate a doubling of the frequency of service. Technical feasibility study work has been carried out jointly by Network Rail and the County Council, and the current estimated capital cost of the work is £4.9m.

The rail proposal is a capacity building initiative required to provide support to key town initiatives and projected investment. 

With a doubling in frequency (and capacity) of the scheduled daily rail services between Falmouth, Penryn and Truro, the general outputs are:

• improved accessibility and modal switch from car to rail;

• support to economic initiatives and developments in Falmouth and Penryn; and

• removing a major planning hurdle for the development of new initiatives in Falmouth and Penryn.

The current patronage of the service is 278,000 journeys per year. By 2012, it is estimated that demand in the base growth, plus development effects (NMMC, housing growth, Eden, CUC) will increase to 560,000 journeys per year.  

It is also important that the station environment and facilities meet with the higher expectations that people will have of the service. Station improvements have been included for Falmouth and Penryn as part of the Riviera project within the integrated transport block of the LTP2. Improvements will include improved car parking and pedestrian and cycle access to the stations. As with other schemes within our programme these improvements will bring transport benefits whether or not the EU Objective One related funding for the branch line improvement is successful.

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Improvements to Bus

Quality bus corridors will be provided within Falmouth in order to encourage the use of bus services for the large number of internal trips that occur within the towns. Additionally, the services from Falmouth to the other main towns will also be designated as quality bus corridors to encourage modal switch from the car to more sustainable means of travel. There is a strong travel to work trip relationship between Falmouth and Truro and Falmouth and Camborne. The travel demand to and from Truro will be accommodated through an improved rail service as the existing level of congestion on the A39 is as detrimental to bus services as it is for cars. Therefore, the bus services designated for enhancements will be:

• Falmouth and Penryn Town services.

• Falmouth Park-and-Ride.

• Camborne–Falmouth corridor.

The Camborne to Falmouth Corridor enhancement will see an improved service provision for this key route as part of the successful 'Kickstart' bus challenge bid. There is a strong flow between the two towns that is likely to be increased by the growth of CUC and related business incubation in Penryn, and the housing and retail and business development plans for CPR. The bus will be important for catering for this demand as well as the travel to work trips between CPR and Falmouth. The proposed improvements to the corridor are:

• targeted publicity and marketing (particularly at the colleges and major employers);

• enhanced service frequency to half hourly with investment in new vehicles;

• real time SMS information; and

• ticketing initiatives aimed at major employers.

Schemes will also be implemented to improve the infrastructure provision for bus services within Falmouth and Penryn. With Phase 2 of the CUC there will be a greater demand for transport within Falmouth and Penryn from the increased number of students that are predicted at the University. It is important that the facilities are in place to meet the demand so that sustainable transport habits are formed, rather than trying to encourage users away from non-sustainable modes that have already become engrained. Bus stop upgrades will include:

• Penryn 'Seven Stars' improvement.

• Penryn CUC stop upgrade.

• Targeted marketing and ticketing initiatives at CUC.

• Additional town service journeys.

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Falmouth has strong links with Helston, due to their proximity and the relative isolation of Helston from the other Cornish conurbations. This link is particularly evident for travel to work trips. The Falmouth to Helston corridor enhancement will aim to build on this relationship by encouraging greater use of bus through improved service provision. Improvements will include:

• an upgrade to a half hourly service together with vehicle enhancement;

• targeted publicity and marketing; and

• real time SMS information.

Improvements to Waterborne Transport

Falmouth’s location on the Penryn River, its maritime history and economy together with its role as a tourist destination makes it ideal for implementing waterborne sustainable transport initiatives. This has been proved by the success of the Park and Float scheme from Ponsharden, which is operated during the summer. We wish to build on this success by encouraging further use of waterborne transport, particularly to address the level of tourist trips on the highway so that the travelling itself becomes an experience that will attract people. To this end, the 'Fal River Links' is being developed, which will link a number of the existing key attractors in the Fal Estuary, using existing waterborne infrastructure and resources but linking them together in a coordinated way. This will be achieved through:

• expanding the use of Information & Communications Technologies (ICT);

• provision of visitor information terminals;

• co-ordination of public transport timetables around Falmouth; and

• Trelissick Landing Stage - promotion and co-ordination of ferry timetables.

A major tool in managing traffic demand is the location, availability and control of car parking.

It is intended that as an integral part of the implementation of an overall strategy, a parking restraint area will be defined in Falmouth.

The needs of the shoppers and visitors will have priority over the needs of commuters.  Within the restraint areas:

• Prices in Carrick District Council controlled car parks should be adjusted to discourage use for long-term parking.  The price of long-term parking should be gradually increased in real terms and the number of long stay spaces be reduced by converting them to short stay.
• Development for uses other than residential use will provide on site parking for operational and disabled needs only.
• For existing businesses that have no provision for operational use but can prove an essential need, a minimal number of spaces will be provided, at a fee, for exclusive use.
• In and adjacent to these areas, controls will be introduced for on-street parking.  The following measures will be introduced where appropriate:
  • preferential residents' parking schemes;
  • pricing of on-street spaces; and
  • prohibitions to provide space for pedestrians, public transport, loading, cycle and disabled facilities.

In a restraint area, a minimum number of spaces can be provided within the parking places owned by the District Council reserved for use by businesses strictly on the basis of proven need.

Detailed parking strategies for both Falmouth and Penryn have been defined and will form a key part of the overall LTP2 delivery strategy.

Falmouth and Penryn present an opportunity to increase walking and cycling. A high number of travel to work trips are self contained within the urban area (60%). Additionally, 66% of the residents live and work in the towns. As all these internal trips are likely to be of a relatively short distance a significant proportion of the journeys could be made by non-car modes.

The development and expansion of the CUC can also play a significant role in terms of creating a 'cycling culture', if a direct network is created servicing key facilities.

Cycling

Cycling is a popular mode of travel for those working at Falmouth docks, and cycling is growing within the student population. Student cycling has been successful in other university towns, and if the infrastructure can be provided a culture of cycling can be encouraged, despite the hilly topography. Falmouth has a high percentage of the resident population that work in the town, which also lends itself to cycling provision.

A cycling network will be developed in Falmouth during the LTP2 period in order to build on what already exists.  The network will comprise specific facilities and selected roads and on road signing. Phase 1 of the cycle network will be implemented during the LTP2 period. The network will include the provision of a cycle route along both the sea front and the river. These will have the effect of linking the docks and the NMMC with Swanpool along the cliffs, and to the marina and through to Penryn along the river.  There will be a third ‘external’ cycle route which links from the Swanpool and Swanvale areas into the industrial estates on the western side of Falmouth. Additional routes will link up the ‘external’ routes through the central areas of Falmouth, providing a network which gives the opportunity to cycle to the key attractors in the town from the main residential areas. The network will also include the provision of cycle stands and lockers at key locations within the towns. Additionally, we will work with local employers and service providers to improve the infrastructure provision at these key attractors.

Walking

Pedestrian provision in Falmouth is hampered by the narrow town streets, congestion and lack of integrated signing and lighting. Work on a strategic network of core walking routes within the town centre has been carried out but more work is required to enhance the network to other key locations. This core network will be the focus for pedestrian improvement measures within the town.

Improvements will be made to the:

• links to the railway stations in Falmouth and Penryn to encourage additional use of the Falmouth–Truro branch line;

• routes to visitor destinations such as the NMMC, Pendennis Castle, the beach and Prince of Wales Pier;

• a link to Princess Pavilions;

• pedestrian crossing facilities on the A39; and

• improvement of pedestrian links to and from the Tremough campus.

School Travel Plans

The following schools in Falmouth and Penryn will be invited to take part in the new 'intensive' School Travel Plan Programme: Falmouth Community; Penryn Community; King Charles; Marlborough; Penryn Junior and Penryn Infants. The programme will follow on from the work originally pioneered in the first LTP at Falmouth, that of working closely together across a range of initiatives and, where appropriate, introducing an element of competition within the cluster of schools.  These schools will form part of the bigger group of 52 schools across the County, identified as having the greatest potential for modal shift and/or being within one of the urban centres.

Workplace Travel Plans

The following major employers will be invited to work together on Travel Plans to achieve an overall 5% reduction in employee car use through the life of the LTP 2.

• CUC

• A&P Falmouth Ltd

The LTP2 programme for Falmouth-Penryn is set out in Table 1.3.