I think Bourne does need a bypass because there is a lot of through traffic and congestion at the main traffic lights. In my opinion Bourne would benefit from a bypass, there would be less lorries and cars making the air cleaner, reduce noise, and danger of accidents. However in the morning there is always a large traffic jam, which a bypass would not sort out because the traffic is going to and from various schools in the area.
Shaun Caffrey 11z
Figure 1 shows the number of cars coming into Bourne at lunch time 13:00 – 13:30 and at the rush hour 17:30 – 18:00 at Cherry Holt Road.
Figure 2 shows the number of cars coming into Bourne at lunch time 13:00 – 13:30 and at the rush hour 17:30 – 18:00 at North Road.
Figure 3 shows the number of cars coming into Bourne at lunch time 13:00 – 13:30 and at the rush hour 17:30 – 18:00 at Spalding Road.
Figure 4 shows the number of cars coming into Bourne at lunch time 13:00 – 13:30 and at the rush hour 17:30 – 18:00 at West Road.
Generally there are more cars coming into Bourne during the peak periods where everyone is going to or coming from work, and it seems Bourne would benefit from a bypass if half the people going through Bourne don’t live there.
Figure 5 shows the 6 car parks roughly in the center of Bourne and their usage. It gives a rough idea of how much trough traffic there is.
There are approximately 1450 cars coming into Bourne a day and 583 spaces in total over the 6 car parks, of which 433 are being used at a certain time. If I take away the number of used spaces from the total of cars Bourne has roughly 1017 through vehicles a day.
There is an obvious pattern between figures 1,2,3 and 4, in that between 13:00 and 13:30 there are significantly fewer cars than between 17:30 and 18:00. This trend has developed because most people are at work at 13:00, and finish around 17:00, it seems to me that the majority of people have 9-5 jobs and the roads are busier when they are traveling home.
Figures 7, 8 and 9 are photos showing traffic jams and road blockages.
I have also compiled a survey that took place outside Sainsbury’s and Budgens. It is not very accurate as I only asked 28 people, but my results were quite clear.
- Most people who I asked live in Bourne. 16/28.
Shaun Caffrey 11z
- Most people say it is the closest place to do their shopping. 17/28. However 11 people shop in Bourne because they think it is better quality.
- 50% of the people I asked thought there are too much through traffic.
- 21/28 thinks Bourne needs a bypass. 7 don’t.
From the data collected during the course of this study it is apparent that Bourne doesn’t need a bypass. I have drawn this conclusion by conducting; surveys, traffic counts, and car park counts. As there is 583 car park spaces and I recoded 450 cars I don’t think it is necessary for Bourne to have a bypass.
EVALUATION
I think my study was a success however I could have used better methodology than I did. This could have led to inaccurate results of the number of cars and the survey, and the conclusion I have made will have an extent of questionable viability.
I could have taken more results for the number of cars, the survey and used all of the car parks in Bourne rather than a select group.
If I had done this I would have had more evidence to back up my conclusion.
If I were to do this again I would make several improvements:
- Recoded the types of vehicle so I could work out the road capacity.
- Taken a larger Traffic count.
- Used more people in the survey.
- Get some more people to help with the traffic count to see how many cars go in to and out of Bourne in an hour at peak and quiet times.
