Major Northamptonshire highways projects scrapped from Local Transport Plan
Several major traffic mitigation schemes across West Northamptonshire have been deferred or scrapped completely, as the council has laid out its priority projects in its Local Transport Plan (LTP).
The plan, which went out to public consultation as a draft last summer, will serve as a baseline for priority highways and transport improvements for the next 20 years. On Monday (January 13), West Northants Council (WNC) discussed a list of projects that will not be carried forward within the LTP.
The report highlighted a number of issues raised across multiple consultation responses and clarified the future of those schemes in the plan. These include:
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Deferring junction upgrades at the Great Billing Interchange and the A45 Wootton Interchange
Throwing out requests for a Farthinghoe and Cold Ashby bypass
Deferring the Northampton Northern Orbital scheme
Documents explained that the junction upgrades had been deferred after National Highways suggested that WNC review the Northampton Growth Management Strategy (NGMS), which was first published in 2019, before committing to the A45 junction works.
Cllr Andre Gonzalez De Savage raised concerns about delaying the Wootton Interchange improvements due to large residential developments in the area and their impact on the "key junction".
Cllr Phil Larratt, cabinet member for highways, told members that there is "not enough money in the pot" to carry out all the upgrades due to inflation. He added that the NGMS needed to be revisited as there were commitments that were no longer necessary, such as upgrades at the Brackmills Interchange.
He agreed that the Wootton Interchange needed to be "top of the list" in the strategy review, but that more time was needed to get an updated understanding of forecast traffic levels in Northampton to ensure improvements are appropriate and long-lasting.
Several representations were received around the importance of the two village bypasses within the LTP consultation last year, however papers state that neither requests will be taken forward. Instead, the transport plan suggests an A422 traffic mitigation scheme at Farthinghoe and a traffic calming programme within Cold Ashby.
Cllr Larratt said the plans for a Farthinghoe bypass "do not stack up" despite the authority's attempts to create a business case. He added that the Cold Ashby request "falls into the same pot" and wouldn't be deliverable.
Lastly, WNC stated that, at this time, the "need, nature and deliverability" of the Northampton Northern Orbital scheme is not defined enough to include within the LTP.
The plans were supposed to relieve traffic from the north of Northampton and surrounding villages by linking the A5199 and Northampton North West Relief Road. Planning officers said the project remains deferred for further study to await the new Local Plan and react to the scale and location of future development.
Following feedback from the Place and Overview Scrutiny Committee meeting, WNC's Cabinet will be asked to support the LTP’s adoption at Full Council in March 2025. This will be the first transport plan created by the new unitary council and will replace the 2012 plan of the former Northamptonshire County Council.