What traffic and transport covers
Any development that generates vehicle trips has to demonstrate that the surrounding road network can absorb them, and that access to the site is safe. That demonstration is the traffic impact assessment, and it is frequently one of the conditions that determines whether a development application succeeds.
Alongside it sits the practical work of getting services and access approved: wayleave applications for work in or across road reserves, and coordination with the roads authority on access arrangements.
Typical deliverables
- Traffic impact assessments — trip generation, distribution and assignment for the proposed development, with an assessment of the effect on the surrounding network.
- Traffic impact statements — the lighter-touch assessment appropriate to smaller developments.
- Access design and review — geometry, sight distances and turning movements at the site access.
- Transport planning input — road network and access planning for precinct and township layouts.
- Wayleave applications — preparation and submission of applications for services crossing or occupying road reserves.
When you need it
Almost always as part of a development or rezoning application, and usually early: authorities frequently require the traffic assessment before they will consider the layout, and the assessment can change the layout by determining where access is permitted. Commissioning it late is a common cause of avoidable delay.
Wayleave applications come later, once services are designed and about to be constructed, but they have their own lead times and are worth starting well before the contractor needs access.
How we work
We establish the development's trip generation from its land use and scale, assess the existing network condition, and then test the network with the development in place to identify where upgrades or access restrictions are required. Where improvements are needed, the point is to find the least costly intervention that genuinely resolves the problem.
On larger developments this work runs alongside infrastructure planning, since access and bulk services usually compete for the same road reserve.