The Bypass Committee has continued its investigations
and researches over the past six months following the original
submission to the New Forest Transport Strategy Group in
the Autumn of last year and the subsequent presentation to the
working group in April of this year.
The document “The PC Route Recommendation A
two mile diversion of the A337 east of Lyndhurst” represents
a distillation of the Committee’s findings. It
has been backed up by a detailed assessment of the relevant
important ecological and nature conservation issues set out
in a separate report.
It is intended that the document should form the cornerstone
of an ongoing campaign to convince interested bodies, opinion
formers and residents that this proposed new road represents
the best compromise solution to alleviating the traffic pollution
in Lyndhurst and the congestion in Lyndhurst and throughout the
Forest.
There have been three main changes in recommendation since the
earlier reports were made:
- We now place great emphasis on the importance of maintaining
the existing traffic flow arrangements within the village and
the existing rural nature of the main approaches to the village.
- We have omitted at this stage any mention of a westward extension
to the bypass as we feel further work needs to be done in partnership
with the County Council before a firm recommendation can be
made for this Phase II section of road.
- We have reduced the recommended tunnel length behind Bolton’s
Bench to 400 metres or thereabouts. At this length and
level the cut and cover tunnel construction will be simplified,
with a resultant saving in cost, whilst still maintaining the
overall environmental benefit of a tunnel.
The main benefits of the Parish Council route, when compared
with other options, are seen as:
- It maintains the integrity of the village (95%), its immediate
approaches and its important relationship to the Forest as
a whole.
- At two miles long it is a relatively short length of
new road to be built largely over land already owned by Government. There
are no buildings to demolish.
- The route was thoroughly researched
by Hampshire County Council and others prior to the 1983 Public
Enquiry at which it did not fail. We have further studied
the environmental issues relating to the route and have not
found anything that would significantly affect construction
or acceptance under current EU legislation.
- Because the road
is as close to the village as is acceptable to the residents
it offers users a minimum shift away from their established
desire lines. This means that the road
has the best chance of voluntary use without the adoption of “draconian” and
unacceptable traffic management measures within the village.
- Whilst
covering only two of the four possible sectors of bypass around
the village the road as illustrated caters for the two most
heavily trafficked routes. It has the potential
to eliminate lorries almost entirely from the village and reduce
current vehicle usage by about half. This would then
meet the New Forest Transport Strategy Group target for traffic
reduction through Lyndhurst aimed at the year 2011 and have
the potential to bring pollution down to legally acceptable
levels.
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