Planned development - access road

raddy59

This is a long shot I know, but perhaps somebody can advise me?

There is an appliction for a development on the land behind our house - about 90 dwellings.

The proposed access road, running over the existing cycle/foot path,will be roughly 16 metres wide.

My concern, and hence my question, is if this width of access is suitable for a development this size? A builder I once knew told me of a similar situation where an application was refused because it breached the rules governing expected traffic flow and road width (they could have gained access down our road which is only the same width as the proposed route - I suspect it was deemed too narrow?)

I'm not too bothered about the development per se - my major concern is that during the "school run" the roads are jam packed with cars and buses and kids walking and cycling to and from school. A serious major accident is only a matter of time

FreeBear

raddy59 wrote: »

The proposed access road, running over the existing cycle/foot path,will be roughly 16 metres wide.

That is wide enough to build one, even two more houses on. Certainly wide enough for a small housing estate.

Got a similar development taking place within sight of my place. Only 70 or so houses with contingency plans for another 30 if the developers can purchase an adjacent plot of land. The access road they are putting in will be half the width of yours.

Doozergirl

16 sounds plenty to me.

boliston

A motorway lane is 3.65m so there would be room for a dual carriageway

Davesnave

There isn't an access road to our village which is that wide at any point, yet double decker buses and huge farm machines use it, apparently without difficulty.

Even an average commuter in a 4x4 ought to manage with something over 50' wide.

Doozergirl

boliston wrote: »

A motorway lane is 3.65m so there would be room for a dual carriageway

I was thinking along the lines of that. I live on the A38 - one lane each side, cross hatchings and very generous pavement. It's probably that to my opposite neighbour's boundary.

somethingcorporate

That's wider than a 3-lane motorway!

Davesnave

I expect the OP means the width to include verges and pavement(s.)

They're also right that an increase in the number of people using local roads will produce a corresponding increase in the number of accidents, but that's what one of my more sarcastic teachers used to call, "a shattering glimpse of the obvious."

Doozergirl

Davesnave wrote: »

I expect the OP means the width to include verges and pavement(s.)

They're also right that an increase in the number of people using local roads will produce a corresponding increase in the number of accidents, but that's what one of my more sarcastic teachers used to call, "a shattering glimpse of the obvious."

We once had an objection to a planning application that said that our new driveway would be "at a dangerous 90 degree angle to the road".

raddy59

Fact check - 10 yards wide (corrected by a neighbour who gave me an incorrect figure)
So 30 feet to include 2 pavements, leaving say 20 feet for cars

daveyjp

It won't be feet. Roads are measured in metres.

2m path and 8m road or 2x2m path and 6m road. Depends if a footpath is needed on both sides.