We were commissioned by Walsall Council to develop a Baseline Study for the Walsall Town Centre Interchange project.
Scope
The purpose of the Baseline Study was to establish a clear picture of the current transport environment and the existing commitments within Walsall Town Centre. This formed part of a wider ambition to improve transport facilities and public realm within the Town Centre according to the Walsall Town Centre Masterplan. This Study sought to understand the key issues facing the Town Centre, the aspirations for the area under the Masterplan and Area Action Plan, and the gaps between the existing schemes in terms of transport and movement, focusing on the area around St Paul’s Bus Station.
City Science Approach
Baseline
In order to guide the development of the scheme and assist with the appraisal process at a later stage, a set of objectives were developed in collaboration with the project team at Walsall Council. The objectives are shown below:
The Baseline Report included an extensive policy and best practice review, identifying the key themes from national, regional and local policy and the priorities for Walsall Council through their investment in Walsall Town Centre.
It also provided a comprehensive overview of the planned town centre schemes which included A34 Sprint, Connected Gateway and Active Public Spaces, and considered the likely implications of these schemes on the Interchange Scheme.
Extensive data analysis and workshops with key stakeholders within Walsall Council helped identify themes at the baseline stage which would later form the basis for the gap analysis. These included conflicting bus movements within and around St Paul’s Bus Station, loading and servicing management in the area, access to the Bus Station by walking and wheeling, traffic and parking enforcement and the overall Town Centre experience.
The Baseline Report was a Cadence 360-enabled report, which allows readers to interact with the static maps in their internet browser, helping them gain a clearer picture of the content.
Gap Analysis
The gap analysis took the results from the baseline, and identified the areas of opportunity within them, as well as the benefits, constraints and considerations that needed to be made in order to deliver the greatest benefit to the Town Centre. The ten opportunity areas are shown below:
A set of logic maps was also created at this stage, following a Theory of Change process. The results of the baseline data analysis were used to feed into the problem identification, and the proposed inputs, leading to the development of a defined set of outcomes relating to each of the objectives set out at the beginning of the project.
Stakeholder Engagement
Stakeholder engagement was a critical part of this study, in order to ensure that sufficient information was gathered about each of the coexisting projects within Walsall Town Centre and that there was a consistent picture of opportunities and constraints across the team. Three workshops were held to maintain communication throughout the project:
- Internal Regeneration Team Workshop to understand the current plans for Walsall Town Centre, gather information on wider regeneration projects which are likely to impact the transport system around Walsall and to gather available data to support the baseline analysis.
- Opportunities & Constraints Workshop to outline the baseline analysis findings and discuss the opportunities and constraints identified as a result.
- Summary & Recommendations Workshop to disseminate the findings of the gap analysis and discuss the high level options for the Town Centre in the future.
Final Report
The Final Report brought together the outcomes of the baseline, gap analysis and stakeholder engagement, and presented a series of high level recommendations and options which responded to the opportunities and challenges identified earlier in the study. This included options for re-routing buses around the Town Centre to remove traffic from St Paul’s Street, improvements to the public realm, alternative options for freight and parking access, and opportunities for further study and data collection.
Outcomes
The Walsall Town Centre Interchange project is included in the West Midlands City Regional Sustainable Transport Settlement (CRSTS) for development up to 2027, with the intention to progress the scheme to delivery if CRSTS 2 (2027-2032) programme is confirmed in the future. This Baseline Study will support the development of a business case as the scheme is further developed.
Client testimonial:
The team at City Science led our Walsall Town Centre Interchange Baseline Study in a structured and professional manner. The team’s honest and analytic approach, working through our constraints and opportunities, led to the team producing a clear set out outputs and actions in line with our needs and assurance process. This has provided the Strategic Transport Team at Walsall on a clearer pathway to the next steps of scheme development. Just a big thank you to the team.
Nichola Byrne, Principal Transport Planner, Walsall Council