By New junction plan to be put into action for Doughty Road depot
Written by Lauren Paul
A new access road for the Doughty Road depot in Grimsby is about to be created.
North East Lincolnshire Council, working alongside ENGIE, aim to merge their two current depots – one on Gilbey Road, the other on Doughty Road – together.
Redirecting the depot services to Grimsby town centre will inevitably bring more of their workers along with it.
The current sites are for services which include: waste and recycling, street cleansing, grounds maintenance, ecology, highway maintenance, property maintenance, fleet management, security, licensing and civil enforcement.
A new main entrance into Peaks Parkway, positioned at the junction with B&Q and Halfords, is one of the main proposed changes.
With the majority of vehicles entering and leaving the site through this new entrance, there will be less traffic on the Doughty Road entrance.
A transport assessment for the new junction was conducted by a specialist firm of traffic engineers alongside the ENGIE highway design team.
They believe the development is unlikely to have a notable impact on traffic, sustainable travel or road safety.
They claimed that “the impact of the proposals is not expected to be severe, [so] the proposals are therefore considered to be in accordance with the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF).”
On Wednesday, July 14, cabinet members have organised a meeting to discuss the transport evaluation.
Councillor Stewart Swinburn, portfolio holder for Environment and Transport at NELC, stated that “Doughty Road Depot is becoming outdated and will need to be redeveloped to cater for the services that will be based there.”
They went on to say that “Bringing our depots together on one site will reduce our property maintenance costs, improve service efficiency and provide good quality facilities for the workforce.
“The property improvements will also help us improve the energy efficiency of our buildings and move toward a zero-emissions vehicle fleet.”
It should be noted that “These are proposals at this stage, [as they] need to go through the formal planning process before any work can start.”
Their overall plan is to “submit a planning application in the next couple of months and, if successful, start work later in the year.”
