TMS Consultancy

London Luton Airport Expansion

London Luton Airport Expansion

TMS has recently completed numerous Stage 1 Preliminary Design Road Safety Audits on various highway mitigation and access schemes associated with the proposed expansion of London Luton Airport.  It is the UK’s fifth busiest airport and they are proposing to increase it’s future capacity over a number of years, to 32 million passengers per annum, by making the best use of their existing runway.

London Luton Airport’s proposed expansion will take passenger numbers from current levels of 15.6 million to 21.5 million per annum in 2027, 27 million per annum in 2039 and 32 million per annum in 2043. Therefore, capacity will be doubled by 2043 with the expansion involving a phased development programme designed to deliver capacity over time in response to demand.

The airport is proposing to expand the current terminal (T1) and build a new terminal (T2) and associated facilities.  The fundamental objectives of this expansion are to ensure improved access to the airport including Luton DART and rail access, car parking and various internal and external road improvements.  The proposals are to create a new access road for the airport, which would be introduced for phase 2 of the scheme. There will also be a number of improvements to roads in the wider area around the airport to provide greater capacity in line with the expansion.

 

Luton Airport Aerial View
A bird's-eye view of a roundabout forming part of the external roads near Luton airport.

The role of TMS was to provide road safety audit services on 16 highway mitigation schemes in the Luton and Hitchin areas and two audits on a new access road to the proposed brand-new Terminal 2 at London Luton Airport.

The schemes in Luton and Hitchin included signalisation of existing roundabouts, conversion of existing roundabouts into traffic signal junctions, highway widening and provision of new junctions. The new access road to Terminal 2 will be a dual carriageway (built in two phases), with large roundabouts and signalised junctions.

TMS Engineers Harminder Aulak and Lee Williams undertook the site visits and commented:

“It was a pleasure to be involved in this high-profile project, which involved a lot of planning and early review of the drawings to ensure we carried out the site visits in a logical and efficient manner. It was interesting to see how the proposals would fit into the existing infrastructure, especially with Luton Airport being on high ground, requiring the construction of bridges and embankments for the Terminal 2 access road. We hope to be involved in the project in the long term and observe the highway works as they evolve in the future.”  

If you have a scheme of this nature that requires a Road Safety Audit, then please call us on +44 (0)24 7669 0900 or alternatively please email Lorna Styring.

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Road Safety Audits

TMS raise over £500 for Children in Need

TMS bake off winners, Rich Cook, Lorna Styring and Lola (Age 12)

TMS raise over £500 for Children in Need

TMS took part in the SPOTacular day as we hosted our first ever Children In Need event! We had a fun filled day full of spotty people as we embraced the BBC Children in Need fundraiser. There was a host of activities for people around the Business Innovation Centre (BIC), from a raffle with different prizes, guess the chocolate in the jar and of course the TMS yearly bake sale!

This year we had strong contenders for our bake-off style competition ranging from tiffin’s to vegan chocolate cakes and there was even a prize for the best one! This year we opened the competition for everyone around the BIC to give Lorna, the reigning champion, more competitors! Lyndsey from TalentTech was tasked with a difficult job to taste all the cakes and decide a winner…the results are as follows…

Pudsey bear plushie and pastry forks
TMS bake off winners, Rich Cook, Lorna Styring and Lola (Age 12)

3rd Place – Richard Cook (TMS) who won a Pudsey Pin badge

2nd Place – Lola Age 12 (TalentTech) who won a Pudsey Bear plushie

1st Place – Lorna Styring (TMS) who won pastry forks

 

Lorna once again continues to defend her title…will she ever be stopped?

We’ll find out next year!

Other winners from the raffle and the guess the chocolate in the jar were:

Raffle:

Bottle of Prosecco – Steve Barnard (TMS)

Sparkling Roose – Lorna Styring (TMS)

Guiness – Hammy Aulak (TMS)

Baileys – Lyndsey Hulm (TalentTech)

Guess the Chocolate Balls in the Jar:

145 – Steve Barnard (TMS)

An assortment of prizes e.g. wine bottles, pastry forks and a pudsey plushie
Lindsey judging cakes

With the efforts of TMS and other business around the BIC such as TalentTech, Geeka Media, Reeds (Coventry) and many others,we managed to raise a total of £285.28 from cash donations and through the Just Giving page campaign. This will be matched by TMS to bring the total to £570.56. This money will be used to help disadvantaged children and young people around the UK.

BBC Children in Need charity raised £33.5million nationwide!

Events

Auditing the Golden Arches (McDonald’s)

Auditing the Golden Arches (McDonald's)

For many years TMS have been involved in carrying out Road Safety Audits on almost 100 new McDonald’s sites throughout the UK, for one of our most long-standing clients.  Typically, the schemes involve Drive Thru restaurants which are often located on the edge of busy town and city retail and leisure complexes.  They are ideally situated to serve the visitors to the retail/leisure parks and nearby town and city centres, as well as being convenient to the surrounding residential catchment and busy road network.

McDonald's Drive Thru with the Golden Arches in front

Over the past two decades, we have seen a big increase in the number of new retail and leisure parks being built, together with huge expansions of existing complexes.  As a result, pushing the demand for convenient restaurant and food outlets such as McDonald’s to support this growth, subsequently increasing the requirement for Road Safety Audits by Local Highway Authorities.  As a company, we have also seen an increase in demand for Road Safety Audits on the likes of Costa Coffee and Starbucks Drive-Thru schemes.

Currently within the UK there are approximately 1,400 McDonalds restaurants.  McDonalds has over 36,000 restaurants in the world, operating in over 100 countries and territories. There are approximately 120,000 people employed by McDonalds UK and over one million worldwide.  McDonalds are looking to open 300 new restaurants over the next 10 years, reinforcing their drive and commitment for growth across the globe.

 

Some of the proposed McDonald’s restaurants are developed on vacant, derelict or disused retail/warehouse sites and can often involve the demolition of existing buildings to facilitate the installation of the Restaurant and Drive Thru lanes.  In turn, improvements and changes often need to be made to the public highway to allow for such developments to be built, which prompts the requirement for a Road Safety Audit.  For commercial schemes of this nature, our auditors would typically review the proposed highway design to allow for the:

Provision of a new access and/or service access or the forming of a new junction and closing of an existing junction

Widening of existing access/egress

Realignment of tactile paving crossing point / upgrade of existing tactile paving within the vicinity

Upgrade of traffic signal crossings

Upgrade of existing pedestrian crossings

Widening of service road to accommodate two-way traffic

Provision of a new pedestrian refuge island

Provision of new roundabout arms to lead to a new restaurant and/or other future developments

Kerbing – installation of full height kerbing including dropped kerbs

Reinstatement of footways

Proposals for a left-out only exit and a left-in only

Widening of the carriageway to accommodate a new ghosted right turn lane

TMS are often commissioned to carry out Road Safety Audits at varying stages of the design and construction process.  For some McDonald’s sites, we have audited the scheme at every stage, from the pre-planning application (Stage 1) right through to the restaurant being built and open to the public (Stage 3).  In some cases, we have been asked to carry out Stage 4 Post Opening Monitoring audits where there have been issues with high volume traffic and vehicle/pedestrian conflicts within the vicinity of the restaurant and surrounding area.

Our audit teams have carried out site visits at every corner of the United Kingdom from Bridgwater to Kent to Enniskillen, Fife, Swansea and everywhere in between.

From a road safety audit point of view, it is great to see our clients incorporating the findings from the design stage road safety audit reports, which in turn allows them to build a safe, cohesive environment for their customers and all visitors to the restaurants.

McDonald's (Golden Arches) in Rugby

If you have a scheme that requires a Road Safety Audit for a new proposed McDonalds restaurant or any other food and retail outlet, then please call us on +44 (0)24 7669 0900 or alternatively please email Lorna Styring.

Request a quote

Road Safety Audits

Upturn in Road Safety Audits for new Supermarket developments

Upturn in Road Safety Audits for new supermarket developments

For many years TMS have been regularly involved in auditing supermarket retail development schemes for the likes of Aldi and Lidl stores, at all stages of the Road Safety Audit process.  These schemes are often commissioned via our clients, who have long-standing relationships with the supermarket chains.

Typically, this type of retail scheme requires improvements and changes to the public highway to allow for such developments to be built, which prompts the requirement for a Road Safety Audit.  For projects of this nature, our auditors would typically review the proposed design to allow for:

  • accommodating new priority junctions / access points / ghost island right turn lanes
  • new roundabout access arms
  • a variety of new, proposed crossings including Toucan and Puffin
  • relocation of existing controlled pedestrian crossings
  • improvements to vehicle and pedestrian accesses
  • improvements to footways / cycleways including dedicated pedestrian walkways.
  • internal improvements to the car park layout

We have recently seen yet another increase in the number of road safety audits carried out on schemes for both Aldi and Lidl supermarkets.  Aldi has become the fourth biggest supermarket in the UK, whilst also seeing huge growth for Lidl in recent years.  Their growth and presence within the grocery industry has had a positive impact on both the number of  supermarkets being built, subsequently increasing the need for a Road Safety Audit.

Road Safety Audit of Aldi Store Development
Lidl Store Development

Our auditors have visited every corner of the country, auditing these schemes in their early design phase through to post construction, when the supermarkets are fully operational and open to the public.  Our audit teams have carried out Stage 3 Post Construction Road Safety Audits at locations such as Downham Market, Essex, Great Yarmouth, Horncastle, Birmingham, Houghton Regis, Marlow, Rugeley, Lutterworth and Hinckley, to name but a few.

From a road safety audit point of view, it is great to see our clients incorporating the findings from our reports into their design, which in turn allows them to construct a safe, all-encompassing environment for their customers, visitors and deliveries.

If you have a scheme that requires a Road Safety Audit for an Aldi or Lidl store or any other retail development, then please call us on +44 (0)24 7669 0900 or alternatively please email Lorna Styring.

Request a quote

Road Safety Audits

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