Highways Agency

A421 Great Barford Bypass

Scheme Information

Introduction

The Highways Agency is building a new bypass to connect the east end of the Bedford Southern Bypass, and a new enlarged Black Cat Roundabout.

The bypass will remove the majority of the traffic from the existing A421 through the village of Great Barford; which will reduce congestion and improve safety along this busy strategic route

Background

The A421 through Great Barford currently carries approximately 23,000 vehicles per day and suffers from considerable congestion, particularly during peak hours.

The high traffic flows result in unreliable journey times for travelers, a poor accident record along this section of the A421 and a reduction in the quality of life for the villagers of Great Barford.

The Problem

The Problems associated with the existing section of the A421 though Great Barford are:

• Existing traffic flows on the A421 cause major severance and poor environmental conditions in Great Barford.
• The A421 through Great Barford suffers considerable traffic congestion, particularly during peak hours. In the year 2000, traffic comprised an average of some 15% heavy goods vehicles.
• Approximately 76 houses front the existing A421; frontage is especially concentrated in the village of Great Barford. All are subject to high levels of disturbance, and heavy through traffic poses potential danger for pedestrians and cyclists.
• Severance problems in Roxton are less acute with only six houses separated from the village by the existing A421. However the existing high traffic flows on the A421 cause difficulties for vehicles turning into or exiting the village. Pedestrians crossing the road to or from the cottages and bus stop opposite Park Road also experience problems with these high traffic flows.

The principle environmental issues relating to the existing route corridor are:

• High traffic flow and congestion
• Poor air quality
• High traffic noise
• High levels of driver stress
• The effect of the above on the settings of Listed Buildings and Conservation areas in Great Barford
• Community severance
• Pedestrian safety

Along this section of the A421, there were 36 personal injury accidents between the A421/A428 Roundabout and the Black Cat Roundabout during the 3-year period, 1999-2001.

The main objectives of this project are:

• To improve air quality and reduce traffic noise through the villages by removing longer distance and more local through traffic.
• To reduce the number of accidents along the A421 and improve safety for pedestrians in the village.
• To provide an improved strategic access from the M1 to the A1, east of Bedford.
• To make the detrunked route safer for pedestrians and cyclists and improving reliability for local buses.
• To improve journey times and reliability for trunk road traffic.

Project Management Structure

The Highways Agency maintains, operates and improves the network of trunk roads and motorways in England on behalf of the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions. The Agency works closely with local authorities and rail, coach, bus, water and air operators to integrate its network with the rest of England's roads and other forms of transport.

The Agency currently looks after a network of some 6,500 miles of motorways and trunk roads in England, valued at around £55 billion.

Public Consultation

The Department of Transport published a Consultation Brochure in November 1989, which showed two route options for the Great Barford Bypass. The Outer Northern Route was subsequently adopted as the Preferred Route.

A modified Public Consultation exercise for a single route option to extend the proposed bypass to the A1 Black Cat Roundabout took place during July and August 1990. The responses indicated strong support for the Department's consultation route. In May 1992 this route was amended slightly by moving it 100m north west. This had the effect of increasing the distance between the old road and the bypass to approximately 120m.

Publication of Draft Orders

On 28 February 2002 the Secretary of State for Transport published Draft Line and Slip Roads, Detrunking, Side Roads and Line Orders for the scheme. On 14 March 2002 he published a draft Compulsory Purchase Order. The objection period ended on 17 April 2002. On 20 September he published Draft Supplementary Side Roads and Supplementary Compulsory Purchase Orders. The Supplementary Orders dealt with minor revisions to the original order and the objection period ended on 6 November 2002.

Public Inquiry

The Public Inquiry occurred in January 2003. The decision letter and Inspectors report were received by the Highways Agency in September 2003. It stated that the Secretary of State for Transport would make the following orders (subject to modifications stated in the Inspectors Report):

• The A421 Trunk Road (Great Barford Bypass and Slip Roads) Order 20;
• The A421 Trunk Road (Great Barford Bypass Detrunking) Order 20;
• The A421 Trunk Road (Great Barford Bypass Supplementary Side Roads) Order 20;
• The A421 Trunk Road (Great Barford Bypass) Supplementary Compulsory Purchase Order (No.) 20;
• The A421 Trunk Road (Great Barford Bypass Side Roads) Order 20;
• The A421 Trunk Road (Great Barford Bypass) Compulsory Purchase Order (No.) 20

Programme

The scheme is currently under construction and is anticipated to be completed by Autumn 2006.