MAJOR plans for a new link road from the A338 to Royal Bournemouth Hospital have been submitted as huge developments continue at the site.
The scheme, submitted by University Hospitals Dorset, will see the demolition of existing garages and trees removed as well as other on site work to create the link road.
Last year, permission was given for significant development at the main hospital site including the BEACH building (births, emergency care and critical care and child health) at the front of the hospital.
The permission also included an extension of the multi-storey car park to meet future demands.
Currently, the only access to the hospital for all visitors is via Deansleigh Road off Castle Lane East.
The new road would allow access for staff, deliveries and potentially blue light vehicles only.
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It would not be open to the general public – patients and visitors – and would be controlled by a barrier within the site, a statement with the planning application said.
The transport statement also said currently, there is no formal means of accessing the north east of the site for those on bikes or by foot, but the proposed scheme presents an opportunity to provide access to the site via the bridge on the A338 which connects Riverside Avenue to Holdenhurst Village Road.
It added: “The provision of a secondary access into the north east corner of the hospital site would provide network resilience for hospital staff and blue light vehicles by increasing the options for access/egress.”
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Effectively, it would mean hospital staff travelling on the A338 southbound, could get to the hospital site, without using Castle Lane East and Deansleigh Road.
Impact assessments say there would not be a “sufficient impact” on the current traffic to prevent planning permission.
The scheme to BCP Council comes after recent discussions showed the costs for the entire scheme had doubled, and exceed how much the hospitals trust paid for the area of the site, which they bought from the local authority.
Land for the access road which will link the A338 to Deansleigh Road was sold to UHD in February 2021 after approval from BCP Council.
Around twelve trees would be removed from the boundary of the hospital campus.
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