Much road investment has been to provide by-passes for towns and thus relieve them of through traffic. Future road investment will concentrate even more on such schemes. Such investment normally produces benefits for road users in reduced journey times and vehicle operating costs and an improvement in safety. It also reduces environmental nuisance from traffic to residents and pedestrians in the by-passed roads. These effects have been studied and reported and are taken account of in the department of transport's new road appraisal methods in the form of a cost benefit analysis and an environmental appraisal. However, there is little information available on how these environmental and traffic changes affect land use, commerce, and development in the by-passed towns. The paper describes a study of 31 towns in great Britain which have had by-passes constructed round them between 1970 and 1980. Five towns without by-passes have been used as controls. The effect of the by-passes has been studied by means of observation in the field and by consultation with local planning authorities, highway authorities and chambers of trade and commerce. The project has covered:- (a) the location of different land uses before and after by-pass construction, (b) changes in levels of economic activity and use of facilities, (c) pressure for development, (d) the effect on planning and investment policies and decisions, (e) travel within the towns.(a) for the covering abstract of the proceedings see IRRD 274491.
Abstract