Squaring up to life without the grid

14 June 2006

Milton Keynes’ unique grid road system will not be extended in new development areas, in a bid to reduce the city’s high car dependence.
New housing and regeneration must follow a different pattern, based on more direct routes for buses, cyclists and pedestrians, and ‘walkable neighbourhoods’ of about 400m radius – or five minutes’ walk – the Milton Keynes Partnership was warned this week. Its draft growth strategy proposes high-density development at the nodes of a new rapid bus-transit system.
Five park-and-ride sites around the city’s edge, promotion of ‘smarter travel choices’, and harder demand-management measures will also be needed to combat rising congestion and travel times, the draft strategy concludes.
But, even with these and complementary measures, Milton Keynes will lag behind other cities. The overall share of public transport will rise from around 4% in 2001 to 7% by 2031 – less than the current 9% national average. But its modal share of trips to central Milton Keynes could quadruple to 21%.
More than 68,000 new homes are planned for the next 25 years, mainly to the southwest and southeast of the city. Around 15,000 would be within the urban area – in re-modelled estates along the main north-south corridor, and in under-used employment sites, as well as locations already allocated for housing.
The city’s grid structure discourages walking and cycling – despite the extensive but indirect Redway route network and hampers its limited bus services, a transport assessment concluded. Plentiful and cheap car parking leaves little incentive for drivers to switch to more sustainable modes.
‘There is a persuasive argument to move away from the existing interpretation of grid squares and the original principle of ease of movement,’ consultant, Atkins, stressed. There would still be high-speed roads but cycle and bus-priority routes would become integrated in the streetscene.
Mass-transit public transport is critical to sustainability. With tram funding unlikely, the strategy advocates a three-tier bus network, serving primary, secondary and evening/weekend routes, with an additional ‘super network’ of high-frequency services on segregated busways in key corridors.
A package of highway improvements, including M1 junctions and dualling part of the A421, is also required. The transport case for a southern bypass and east-west rail link are less clear-cut, but the latter would underpin the sub-region’s economic development. The board of the Milton Keynes Partnership – representing the council, English Partnerships and strategic players – received the draft growth strategy this week.
Kevin Whiteside, Milton Keynes’ chief highways and transportation engineer, said in response to the draft: ‘The current grid system will remain essentially unchanged. We’re not about to start knocking down relatively-new roads. But it may be appropriate for the new areas to adopt a different layout.’

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