Is Barnstaple's traffic gridlock reaching a breaking point?

The traffic congestion around Barnstaple goes to gridlock on a weekly and sometimes daily basis: many factors can be associated with the root causes. 

Peak time traffic is when parents and carers drop students to schools and colleges then go to their places of employment with the other commuters – peak happens again when educational providers and employers finish at the end of the working day. 

Peak time traffic does cause congestion, it is undeniable and can cause buses to be unable to keep to a timetable unless a bus lane can offer a traffic-free solution. 

There is off peak congestion that is associated with vehicle collisions, utility companies that have to install new and repair their existing networks, Highways repairing and maintaining the road networks and the installation of new associated infrastructure.

When discussing congestion, many will remember the old 1990’s bumper sticker "Barnstaple home of the traffic jam"; some might even dare say that it's back!

Inrix are a universal data company that gathers vital information that can be used by transport authorities to assess towns and cities.

Inrix Global Traffic Scorecard has the global seven continents with 37 countries and over 900 plus towns and cities in its database and each place is then ranked.

Inrix states that the Scorecard utilises the most up-to-date post-COVID travel patterns to truly analyse and compare how commuting differs in more than 900 cities across the globe.

When viewing Barnstaple on the official Inrix Scorecard, the town officially ranks at 221 on the most congested towns and cities on the planet! 

What is more alarming is the official ranking of where Barnstaple appears in the nation (UK), for congested towns and cities.

Barnstaple is actually in the top 50 or to be exact number 46!

What is concerning is apparently that the town is actually heading up the ranking unless solutions are found to the daily transport challenges. 

Viewing the Year-Over-Year Speed Changes Peak Speeds, the absolute worst portion of the morning and afternoon commute times were 2020–25mph, 2021–21 mph, 2022-20 mph while the Off Peak Speeds the low point between the morning and afternoon commute time periods show were 2020-31 mph, 2021-29 mph, 2022-28 mph. 

Do you see that decreasing speed pattern that is now part of your daily commute? 

When the official 2023 figures are released there is little doubt that the pattern has now been set to a gradual decline in speed due to congestion.

One way to overcome the congestion is if the public all use sustainable transport – bicycles, buses and trains. 

Of course, not all of us are in a position to have access to a bus route, railway or cycle network and that is why we must work on the solutions before the Barnstaple area goes to gridlock on a daily basis. 

Bideford and Northam are developing around 6,000 new houses in estates near the Affinity shopping centre and A39.

These new houses will be inhabited by 2/3 people meaning an extra 12,000-15,000 more vehicle movements (peak and off peak), will be coming into, through or around Barnstaple and that has not included vehicles coming from new housing developments around Ilfracombe, Braunton, Fremington, Landkey and South Molton.

Car-centric culture has rapidly become unsustainable for North Devon and Torridge and that is why Devon County Council is proposing bus lanes around Barnstaple with footpaths and crossings for walkers and cyclists. 

We need our sustainable transport networks to link up and connect with other associated modals. 

A utopian vision would include multimodal corridors so that cyclists, walkers, bus and train service users are able to change to each network without the need to join the car congestion.