A Bedford parent has raised what she says are “serious concerns about pedestrian safety and traffic congestion” on Manton Lane, warning that the route to a nursery is putting families and young children at risk, but the council and nearby schools dispute the scale of the problem.
Siobhán Woolmer-Brennan has written to Mayor Tom Wootton (Conservative) and Bedford and Kempston MP Mohammad Yasin (Labour), outlining what she describes as dangerous crossing times, an inaccessible zebra crossing and junction gridlock near Busy Bees nursery.
While councillor Henry Vann (De Parys, Liberal Democrats) has backed her call for action, Bedford Borough Council says officers monitoring the traffic lights “have not seen the problem described”.
Meanwhile, both Bedford Greenacre Independent School and Bedford Modern School say traffic is being managed and does not present a significant issue.
In her letter, shared with the Bedford Independent, Ms Woolmer-Brennan said she had already raised concerns with Cllr Vann but was told that funding for the proposed changes might not be available.
She described that response as “unacceptable”, arguing that the current layout creates “a direct physical risk to families and young children”.
Crossing to nowhere
Ms Woolmer-Brennan’s first concern is the timing of the second pedestrian crossing on the route to the nursery, which she says stays green for only four seconds.
She told the mayor and MP that this is “physically insufficient for a parent with a pram or a young child to cross safely”.
Describing a recent incident, she says she was nearly struck by a car while pushing her daughter’s pram, after a driver turned right into the industrial estate despite the pedestrian signal being green.
Her second complaint centres on what she calls a “crossing to nowhere” near the nursery, which she says has no dropped kerb and leads to a dead end, making it unusable for pram users and those with limited mobility.
Her third concern is congestion. She says traffic volumes since the opening of the nearby school have reached “breaking point”, with vehicles blocking junctions and trapping parents and staff trying to exit the nursery.
Her suggestions to the council for ‘upgrades’ to the T-junction traffic lights where Manton Lane branches off from Brickhill Drive are to increase the ‘green man’ duration, install a ‘red light’ enforcement camera, and add a yellow box junction.
She also suggests installing dropped kerbs and a footpath leading to the nursery so parents and children do not have to walk in the road.
Council considering ideas
The council has not accepted all of Ms Woolmer-Brennan’s concerns, but says officers are continuing to investigate.
Mayor Tom Wootton said any issue involving children’s safety on the journey to nursery was something he took “very seriously”, adding that officers were already in contact with the resident and continuing to look into the matters raised.
A council spokesperson said officers had been monitoring the traffic lights in recent weeks and “have not seen the problem described”. Even so, they said monitoring would continue over the coming weeks.
The council also pointed to a limitation on what it can directly change, saying parts of the road are privately owned and that it has “no control over the provision of footways”.
However, it did suggest there may be scope for some intervention, acknowledging that wider traffic management issues may need attention, and confirming that officers are looking into road markings such as yellow box junctions or “keep clear” markings.
Councillor pushes for action
There is, however, clearer support from ward councillor Henry Vann, who said he backed Ms Woolmer-Brennan’s request for action both “as a ward councillor” and “as a local resident”.
He said he had already contacted the highways department, chased an update on light sequencing and supported the deployment of traffic enforcement cameras. In his view, “longer crossing times and better signalling at this junction are key”.
That puts him at odds with the council’s current position, which is that officers have not observed the issue described, although both sides agree that the signals should continue to be reviewed.
Cllr Vann also said highways officers had told him they would arrange for an engineer to monitor the signals over the next two weeks “to ensure that the pedestrian detectors and phasing are operating correctly”.
A spokesperson for Mohammad Yasin’s office confirmed the correspondence had been received and said the issues were being taken seriously.
The office said it would review the concerns raised and respond directly to the constituent, but would not comment further publicly while that process was ongoing.
School push back
Two schools in the area have pushed back against the idea that traffic around Manton Lane is presenting a major problem.
Bedford Greenacre Independent School principal Ian Daniel said the school had continued to monitor traffic carefully since opening last year, and continued to work with neighbours and Bedford Borough Council.
He said traffic flow had “improved significantly over the past year”, helped by staggered finish times, after-school clubs, and parents using both school car parks.
He accepted that there is “a short period of time when it is fairly busy at peak times”, but said this was “entirely normal” and “well-managed”.
From the school’s perspective, he said, drop-off and pick-up traffic is “functioning smoothly and does not present a significant issue”.
Bedford Modern School struck a similar note.
A spokesperson said the school offers a range of sustainable travel options, with many pupils arriving by bus, on foot, by bike or by train.
They said before- and after-school care helps stagger arrival and collection times, while the school’s three-lane gyratory system is designed to keep traffic moving in and out of Manton Lane.
Both schools added that they remain committed to listening to neighbours and parents and continue to review their arrangements to minimise both traffic volume and its impact.
But, Ms Woolmer-Brennan stands by her belief that Manton Lane is no longer able to cope with the amount of traffic using schools and businesses on Manton Lane or heading to the station on Ashburnham Road or other parts of the Borough and beyond via the A6.
”No matter which mode of transport I choose,” she says, “Walking with my infant or driving to drop off my eldest, I am faced with potential danger.
“It is disheartening to be told that ‘lack of funds’ is the reason these life-safety issues remain unaddressed.”
Do you have views on the traffic on Manton Lane? Do you agree with Ms Woolmer-Brennan, or do you believe it’s not as bad as some make out? Whatever your view, please let us know by submitting a letter via our letters page.
