Skip to main content

Traffic flow information substantiates benefits of new route

The number of heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) travelling through Carlisle’s city centre in the north east of England is estimated to have been reduced by more than a third since the US$276.5 million Carlisle Northern Development Route opened in February 2012. Information gathered from a network of 20 permanent and temporary traffic counters dotted around the city showing ‘before and after’ CNDR road usage is starting to build a more meaningful picture of the benefits the new road has brought to Carlisle.
August 20, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
The number of heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) travelling through Carlisle’s city centre in the north east of England is estimated to have been reduced by more than a third since the US$276.5 million Carlisle Northern Development Route opened in February 2012.

Information gathered from a network of 20 permanent and temporary traffic counters dotted around the city showing ‘before and after’ CNDR road usage is starting to build a more meaningful picture of the benefits the new road has brought to Carlisle.

There has been a marked reduction in both cars and HGVs along the main north to south arterial route through the city – the A7 and A595 – as an average of more than 10,000 vehicles a day use the new 8.25km/5.13-mile road.

Carlisle’s busiest stretch of road, the A595 at Castle Way, has shown a 16 per cent reduction in all vehicles from 38,083 a day before the opening of CNDR to 32,050 afterwards (with a 41 per cent reduction in HGVs from 6,860 to 4,060). Other city centre hotspots have shown similar reductions, with the A7 at Stanwix Bank showing a 16 per cent reduction in all vehicles and a 32 per cent reduction in HGVs.

CNDR has quickly become a key route to travel between the south west of the city and the industrial areas to the north - a big factor for employers looking to develop good communications channels in areas ripe for commercial development.

As expected, there are higher levels of traffic on certain radial routes that have direct links to the CNDR. The county council has already set aside additional capital funding to mitigate against this effect and also improve links to CNDR for pedestrians and cyclists along these radial routes.

Related Content

  • North Florida signals coordinated approach to congestion management
    October 7, 2013
    David Crawford investigates innovative congestion management in Florida. The largest US city by area is well into the implementation of an ambitious congestion management system (CMS) on the scale of those of higher-profile centres such as Seattle and San Francisco. Regional agency the North Florida Transportation Planning Organisation (NFTPO) aims to ensure that commuters on major highways in Jacksonville can rely on a minimum 72km/h (45mph) driving speed in normal conditions.
  • Funding shortfall for US Interstate upgrades
    May 11, 2012
    Andrew Bardin Williams investigates tolling on the federal Interstate system as maintenance and upgrade requirements increasingly outpace funding The I-95 corridor through North Carolina is one of the most heavy trafficked interstates in the US, seeing upwards of 46,000 vehicles per day in some stretches-and North Carolina’s Department of Transportation (NCDOT) estimates this number will to rise to 98,000 vehicles per day by 2040. Along with the rest of the federal interstate system, the North Carolina str
  • Kapsch traffic management for Chile
    June 21, 2013
    Kapsch TrafficCom has been awarded a US$860,000 contract to implement and operate a new variable message sign (VMS) system on the only access road to El Teniente copper mine, Chile. The system is the first stage of a planned traffic management system. Situated around 80km south of the capital city of Santiago de Chile in the Andes mountains, El Teniente is the world’s largest underground copper mine, operated by the state-owned mining company Codelco. More than 10,000 miners are transported to and from th
  • Jenoptik cameras reduce collisions
    March 19, 2022
    An analysis has shown that Jenoptik’s average speed cameras can reduce fatal and serious collisions by 50%. Ben Spencer learns that this technology also requires an understanding of the local environment