£200M Central Bedfordshire road building investment on time and on budget

Road building schemes which will unlock economic growth are on course to be delivered on time and on budget.

A £200M road building investment that will unlock economic growth by connecting new businesses and up to 7,000 new homes, is part of the government’s long term economic plan for Bedfordshire.

The two linked projects are passing their one year milestone this spring and will be completed in spring 2017.

The 2.8 mile, £162M A5-M1 Link scheme is being delivered by Highways England, to improve the east-west connection between the A5 and M1 and includes the building of a new dualled road, three new junctions including a new motorway junction and six new bridges.

The £38M, 1.8 mile Woodside Link project is being completed by Central Bedfordshire Council and will connect the industrial areas of Houghton Regis and Dunstable to new M1 junction 11a.

Up to 40 hectares of land for business will be unlocked, and the schemes will provide the infrastructure for 7,000 new homes to be built to the north of Houghton Regis. They will also provide better access to the M1 and reduce congestion in Dunstable.

On the A5-M1 link, milestones that have been reached include starting the work on the layout for the new M1 junction 11A, with new roundabouts and bridges, as well as the rebuilding of the B579 Luton Road East and West to align it with junction 11a. Work on the link road itself has also progressed, with drainage, fencing and some of the foundations and surfacing completed. Work on the new A5 roundabout has started too.

Woodside Link milestones so far include the completion of major earthworks, the construction of two bridges, the installation of drainage and a retaining wall, and the cutting of ‘road boxes’ prior to surfacing.

Roads Minister Andrew Jones said: “We are determined to deliver better journeys and the infrastructure that will allow the economy to grow in Bedfordshire.

“We are investing £15Bn nationally to improve our roads, and this project is an important part of that.

“It is pleasing to see the progress that has been made with the A5-M1 and Woodside link schemes which will lay the ground for new businesses to thrive and homes to be built for hard working people.”

Highways England project manager Karen Green said: “We continue to work closely with Central Bedfordshire Council to ensure both projects progress alongside and to minimise disruption to users.

“Once opened, we anticipate that both schemes together will provide significant improvements in terms of journey time reliability and safety for long distance and local traffic. Local communities will also see pressure easing on their local roads as more traffic will be using the new routes.”

The HRN1 development is contributing a total of £45M to help deliver the A5-M1 Link Road, along with land for the Woodside Connection. The improved connectivity that these roads can deliver will promote increased business productivity, skills and economic performance, all of which are needed to support and deliver additional housing growth.

In addition to new houses and associated services, HRN1 will deliver over 5,000 new jobs, bring 130,500sq m gross of employment land including new office space and the opportunity for business start-ups next to the new junction 11a.

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