My own view of the below translation from more homes to where to how is as follows: his claim this will reduce congestion is spurious, it at best will shift it. It is well known more capacity attracts more traffic. It would use railway arches and land to get to and from the Commercial Road Junction and unless demolition will happen creating a large roundabout, could be a problem for buses, large lorries and other long vehicles turning into Preben Street. Council have identified brownfield land for more urban housing with presumably more traffic. It should be directing north - south movements to the bypass and around urban Bedford not encouraginging another High Street flow through residential areas. Again the Mayor puts a hard sell gloss on it, but it won't cut congestion overall and end to end of the road will be more congested in all likelihood. The Borough consigns East-West Rail to existing rail layouts rather than station remodelling and designs, which will restrict access and adds to less than optimum rail access to Bedford, which could provide more alternatives. It strikes me as strange Mayor Dave can find £10 million capital funds towards a Wixams Station and now this road scheme, but cannot do the same for a station on the Bedford-Bletchley line to give access to the Retail Park, which studies have shown would boost and win, win for all? In short it seems ill-thought out or rather pandering to pop motoring interests and developers not necessarily public transport, emissions reduction or greener transport solutions making development more sustainable.
Council bid for Prebend Street relief road funding
Bedford Borough Council has submitted a bid for £15m of government funding to help reduce congestion at the Prebend Street / Midland Road roundabout.
Working with Homes England, the Council have developed the plan since submitting an expression of interest last year, and have now submitted the revised bid.
The new relief road would link the bottom of Ashburnham Road with Commercial Road West, reducing the number of cars queuing along Prebend Street and Midland Road, particularly at rush hour, while also helping to improve air quality in the area.
Mayor of Bedford Borough, Dave Hodgson, said “The Prebend Street Relief Road will be a key measure in cutting congestion. The relief road will improve the day-to-day experience of those who travel through Bedford and reduce the burden on the 5-way roundabout with Midland Road and Ford End Road. It will also bring benefits for Prebend Street and Midland Road with reduced traffic and improved air quality for local residents.”
ENDS
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