Transport Planning

Clackmannanshire Council’s transport planners are looking towards the future to assess what the travel needs for the area will be. The Local Transport Strategy sets out our vision and details how we plan to achieve our objectives. We wish to create more opportunities and choice for travel and reduce our dependency on cars. Working with land use planners, retail and residential developers, and the general public we aspire to make Clackmannanshire more accessible for everyone and to make the area a better place to work and live. In order to achieve our vision the Council are promoting the safer routes to school initiative and travel to work plans for both the Council itself and other new developments in the area.

Local Transport Strategy

The Local Transport Strategy covering the period 2006 to 2009 was approved by Council on the 19th October 2006 and is available to view on the Local Transport Strategy page.

Transport Assessments

Most new development proposals and extensions to existing developments are likely to have some form of transport implication. A transport assessment sets out to identify all the issues relating to transport and seeks to address impacts through mitigation measures. The level of detail contained within the transport assessment will vary from development to development and location to location. In some smaller developments a transport assessment may not be required or a simple transport statement will suffice. In larger and more complex developments, where there are likely to be significant transportation issues, the use of a specialist transportation consultant is recommended. A Transport Assessment Scoping Form is available to download from below, this form is usually submitted to the Council in support of any planning application to establish the need for an assessment and the scope of the requirements.

Travel Plans & Car Sharing

In recent years the number of vehicles using our roads has been increasing, of particular concern is the number of single occupancy trips i.e. cars with only one person in them. This is leading to increased congestion, noise, air pollution and community severance. In order to address this problem Clackmannanshire Council is promoting the use of travel plans. In a society over-dependent on the car for both long and short journeys, a travel plan is essentially a package of measures aimed at increasing choice whilst reducing reliance on the private car in favour of alternative sustainable modes. The role of a travel plan is to promote travel choice by increasing the awareness and relative advantage of transport alternatives to the car, particularly walking, cycling, public transport and car sharing. Further information on travel plans and car sharing are available below.

Traffic Data

Clackmannanshire Council monitor the levels of traffic on the road network in order to forecast future traffic trends and historical traffic growth. The traffic data is collected using a network of permanent and temporary automatic counters, supplemented by manual counts.

There are sixteen permanent loop sites in Clackmannanshire (gif image, 64kb), located on strategic routes. These sites are monitored on a rotation basis in order to collect a minimum of one weeks information at each location every month. This information is then used to determine the Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT) and the monthly variations. Four cycle counters are also located throughout the area.

Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT) for 2006 (gif image, 25kb)
Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT) for 2005 (gif image, 99kb)
Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT) for 2004 (gif image, 74kb)

In addition to the fixed sites, the Council operates a programme of data collection using pneumatic tubes, speed detection radar and manual traffic counts. These surveys are carried out on a rolling three year programme for priority routes, which include Alloa town centre and the local schools. Additional surveys are carried out to assist in traffic calming and management schemes.

Clackmannanshire Transport Model

Everyone uses the transport network on a daily basis, however increasing car use is leading to congestion at peak times at some locations within Clackmannanshire. As a result Clackmannanshire Council has developed a computer facilitated transport model to represent the road network of our area. This model provides a visual representation of present and future traffic movements in Clackmannanshire.

The model is used to illustrate the relationship between the flow of traffic on the road network and the road space still available for vehicles. This model can then be used by the Council when making decisions regarding proposed developments and road improvements. As the model will simulate individual vehicles, the Council can model complex strategies, proposals and solutions to ascertain the impact on the whole of our road network.

SESTRAN - Regional Transport Strategy

The South East Scotland Transport Partnership (SESTRAN) is a statutory partnership of the eight local authorities in south east Scotland.

SESTRAN has an obligation under the Transport (Scotland) Act 2005 to develop a Regional Transport Strategy (RTS) for transport within its regions. This is SESTRAN's primary duty under the Act .

It will set out the vision, aims and objectives for strategic transport in the region – especially for links from the region to and from Edinburgh – and the projects that will be implemented to achieve the vision. The RTS will address transport issues in the region over the next 10 to 15 years. The RTS will be the key regional framework guiding investment in transport in the south east of Scotland region, and will provide the strategic direction for transport policy in each of the eight SESTRAN local authorities.

Scotland's Transport Agency

Transport Scotland is the new national transport agency for Scotland. The agency is responsible for delivering the Scottish Government's vision for transport and the capital investment programme for the next ten years. Transport Scotland is also responsible for the running of the trunk road network, the rail network and the national concessionary travel scheme.