Coalition Boost to Local Roads - A5-M1 Link now Halfway to Completion
Originally published by Nick Hollinghurst - promoting social democracy as a Liberal Democrat and working for a greener world!
Plans to build a link between the A5 and the M1 under the Coalition Government's "Roads for Prosperity" Programme when Liberal Democrat Norman Baker was the Under Secretary of State for Transport kicked off with a Public Enquiry in February 2012 and, after a delay caused by a budget review, work started in March 2015.
The cost of this link road will be £162 million and is part of a £2 billion transport infrastructure investement package that the Coalition Government committed for the East of England Region.
The link road will involve a new junction on the M1 (Junction 11A) to be located just south of the Toddington Services.
This road should help reduce traffic congestion in Aylesbury, Tring, Leighton Buzzard, Dunstable and North Luton.
Construction work is now half way through and the scheme is due to be completed in May 2017
However the huge expense of schemes like this means that other longterm measures will be needed to reduce traffic congestion and air pollution. These must include continued efforts to move freight from road to rail, to boost the uptake of electric powered vehicles and to improve the scope and availability of public transport, especially buses.