Environment and roads

Area and urban transport plans

Improving transport in Hertfordshire

Improving transport for everyone who lives, works or travels in Hertfordshire is a key priority for us at Hertfordshire County Council. We produce a Local Transport Plan every five years so that we can plan and improve transport in the county. This document sets out our objectives for improving transport across the county – from reducing congestion to making it easier for people to walk and cycle, from improving air quality to reducing the number of deaths and injuries on our roads.

Introduction to the Urban Transport Planning Process

The Local Transport Plan is a strategic document that covers the whole of Hertfordshire. We make sure that the strategic objectives of the Local Transport Plan are applied to local issues through our urban transport planning process. Urban transport plans look at specific areas to find out what the local transport issues are. Following this consultation with residents, local politicians and stakeholder groups takes place and solutions are identified. These solutions may be anything from improving the frequency of a bus service to major engineering works to alter a road layout - but each solution will contribute in some way to the overall aims and objectives of the Local Transport Plan.

Timetable

Each urban transport plan is reviewed on a regular (approximately five-yearly) basis. Details of our programme are available in the adobe acrobat document below. Each urban transport plan should be completed within 12-18 months of the start date. By complete, we mean that an area’s problems have been identified, residents and local councillors have been consulted, and a document containing ways of tackling the problems has been formally approved. It will take longer to carry out any engineering works that the plan identifies. Any works that the county council identifies have to be ranked in order of priority before being placed on our works programme.

Method

How do we set about identifying transport problems within an area?

• We look at the data we have on road deaths and injuries in the area.
  
• We ask residents and stakeholders (such as the district and parish councils)
  
• We look at what future pressures there might be on an area (for example, house-building)
  
• We review the area paying particular attention to
  
• Signs
  
• Freight HGVs, LGVs etc)
  
• Speed limits
  
• Parking facilities for cycles, motorcycles and disabled motorists
  
• Pedestrian crossings - to make sure they comply with the most recent Disability Discrimination Act requirements
  
• How we can promote pedestrian routes
  
• How we could reduce congestion
  
• How we could reduce clutter by removing unnecessary signs etc
  
• Parking

How you can get involved

Public consultation is an important way of kicking off the process. Without good local knowledge we cannot be sure that we have identified the real, key issues for an area. A further consultation will take place at the final stage and residents are asked for their opinions on the draft plan.