Experience has shown that whilst the opening of a bypass and the consequent removal of through traffic provides relief to the town environment and some safety improvements, traffic problems remain. Without complementary measures in the town, the maximum benefits of a bypass can seldom be achieved. Early benefits are eroded over time as local traffic grows. The Bypass Demonstration Project, announced in the 1990 Environment White Paper "This Common Inheritance", was launched in 1992 and is running for three years. It focuses on six towns where bypasses opened last year or are due this year. The sorts of complementary measures envisaged in the Project include traffic calming, better provisions for cyclists, pedestrians, and the mobility handicapped, and environmental improvements such as landscaping and planting. Within the Project the Department is providing funding assistance for the six towns to enable them to design their measures quickly and, where appropriate, with a degree of innovation. The Department has appointed consultants to manage the Project. They are working closely with the local authorities in the design of schemes and advising the Department about progress. Another task is to monitor the impact of schemes in the towns, and at the end of the Project, the consultants will produce guidance material, including a video, which will be of benefit to local authorities which will be faced with similar situations in future years. (A)
Abstract