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.
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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