Well-connected street networks have significant advantages regarding:
- shorter user routing options across a given area;
- the avoidance of reversing manoeuvers;
- minimisation of land-take by avoiding the need for wasteful turning areas at the ends of cul-de-sacs;
- encouraging active travel to local destinations, improving a community’s health while reducing motor traffic, energy use and pollution;
- improved personal security and road safety from greater active travel use. Research shows that the presence of pedestrians on streets causes drivers to travel more slowly;
- the provision of services and alternative service routes for utility companies;
- highway and utility maintenance operations. Traffic can be routed around a point of closure if it is necessary to excavate the carriageway for maintenance.
New residential streets should be designed to form part of a well-connected street network. The tables above provide guidance on limits to development from single points of access for both residential and commercial sites. Developments exceeding these limits will be assessed on a site-by-site basis.
Developments will typically require at least two access points to the highway network. The number of external connections that a development provides depends on the nature of its surroundings. These access points should be to adoptable standards and available for public use.
Under limited circumstances cul-de-sacs may provide the best solution for developing difficult sites that, for example are, linear in nature or have difficult topography.
Emergency accesses
Due to issues relating to misuse and safety, emergency accesses should only be a design option of last resort and a case for their use must be agreed by the council. Additionally, the developer must demonstrate that:
- highway safety is not compromised and the access is not likely be a source of crime or anti-social behaviour;
there are appropriate means of controlling its use; - the emergency services have been consulted and the proposals are deemed acceptable. Consultation with the police must include officers that deal with both traffic management and antisocial behaviour;
- the access is designed to safely accommodate all vehicles likely to use it; and
- long-term maintenance responsibilities are clearly defined and secured.
Failure to provide suitable access arrangements may jeopardise the success of the planning application and result in the council declining the adoption of the road.