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

  • Record-breaking year for US toll facilities, says IBTTA
    April 1, 2016
    Last year (2015) was a record-breaking year for toll road, bridge and tunnel usage according to a new report from the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association (IBTTA). The National Toll Facilities Usage Analysis found that drivers' use of toll roads increased by seven per cent between 2014 and 2015, a record-breaking rate of growth that puts tolling usage on pace to double in less than ten years, says IBTTA. The analysis was compiled by collecting data from 31 toll-operated facilities acros
  • Mayor’s lane rental scheme cuts roadwork disruption
    April 11, 2014
    A new study into London’s lane rental scheme shows that since its introduction the amount of serious and severe disruption caused by planned roadworks has been cut by 46 per cent on the capital’s busiest roads, reducing delays for all road users. The scheme, which came into effect in June 2012 on the busiest parts of London’s road network, is designed to encourage utility companies to avoid digging up the busiest roads at peak traffic times. Following the introduction of the scheme, around 90 per cent of
  • Taiwan to go all-electronic free flow tolling
    November 28, 2013
    Taiwan’s 900 kilometres of toll roads will transition to all-electronic free flow operations early next year. The roads, which include three north-south routes with 22 toll points, carry out around 1.7 million transactions a day, generating some US$700 million of annual toll revenue. Private contractor Far Eastern Electronic Toll Collection Company (FETC), under contract to the National Freeway Bureau to collect the tolls, says that the IR-based toll system worked well and some 43 per cent of transactio
  • Thailand expands transportation infrastructure
    March 11, 2013
    The Thai government is expanding its current transportation systems with plans for 55 transportation projects worth US$72 billion which are expected to be completed by 2020. Of the US$72 billion, 64 percent will be spent on 31 rail projects, 24 per cent on 13 road projects, 7 per cent for seven water transportation projects, and 4.75 per cent is for four air transportation projects. These projects are designed to make Thailand a crossroads for the ASEAN logistics network, enabling cities in the region to be