Wednesday, November 5 2008
On behalf of the Highways Agency, Flintshire County Council and Wirral Council, JMP are undertaking a feasibility study at Deeside Industrial Park in North Wales in order to assess the likely effectiveness that the introduction of an Influencing Travel Behaviour (ITB) programme would have on both improving access to the industrial park, and promoting sustainable travel options. The Taith Joint Transport Board (comprised of the six county authorities in North Wales), and the Mersey Dee Alliance (partnership of Authorities across the West Cheshire, Wirral and North East Wales Area including Welsh Assembly Government and Merseytravel) have also had some involvement in guiding and informing the study given the importance of Deeside Industrial Park as a regional employment site.
A key task to be undertaken as part of the study includes liaison with numerous companies on site in order to attempt to engage their staff in a travel behaviour survey. The survey is intended to provide an understanding of staff modal split on the journeys to and from work, the key transport issues at the site, the potential for encouraging an increase in the use of sustainable modes and investigating the demand for an increase in Borderlands services to Hawarden Bridge Railway station.
A full site audit will be undertaken in addition to the identification of any relevant work and proposed transport improvements in the area in order to assess their impact on access to Deeside Industrial Park. An accessibility mapping exercise will also be carried out in order to fully appreciate access issues at the site.
The various tasks aim to identify the potential beneficial impacts which could result from ITB work in order to develop a series of recommendations for the successful implementation of an ITB programme at Deeside Industrial Park.