EAS was commissioned by Bidwells on behalf of the Muslim Academic Trust to prepare a Transport Assessment for a proposed purpose-built mosque in Mill Road, (Romsey) Cambridge City.
The site was initially vacant land which was previously used as a distribution centre.
The proposed mosque (now built) was designed to accommodate 1000 worshippers. The religious traditions for Muslims to pray together at various times of the day, week and year mean that very intensive transport activity occurs over short periods of time but with varying impact. In order to understand how the mosque would operate a range of bespoke surveys were undertaken by EAS at an existing mosque in Cambridge including basic counts and interview/questionnaire surveys.
This enabled us to clearly understand and predict the demands of a mosque and therefore to disseminate an accurate picture to the authorities to enable a full understanding of the potential issues especially with regard to peak time transport impact and potential car parking problems.
The likely short term car parking impact presented conflicting issues between demand, availability and policy, especially as all on site car parking for the mosque has been designed to be underground and so is a costly undertaking. It is believed that an appropriate outcome has been reached balancing the sometimes conflicting demands and views.
EAS were present at the public consultation exercise and transport was given high consideration.
Client:
Bidwells on behalf of the Muslim Academic Trust
EAS Input:
Transport Assessment
Location:
Cambridge
