Britannia Road roadworks finally reach completion

Months of traffic disruption are now, hopefully, at an end after it was announced the Britannia Road part of the Transporting Bedford project has finally reached completion.

Britannia Road, which runs alongside Bedford Hospital links two major roads, Ampthill Road and Kempston Road

In a bid to reduce congestion, the project has made major changes to the road layout, widening the road to create more space for traffic to flow.

A new traffic light junction at King’s Place, and upgraded traffic lights along the length of the road have also been installed.

The layout of the hospital car park has also been adjusted to help with the flow of traffic near existing drop-off areas along Britannia Road.

Cllr Charles Royden, Portfolio Holder for Transport and Highways said: “I am delighted that this next phase of the Transporting Bedford project is now complete and this road is completely reopen to the public.”

“This scheme is one element of this wider project, and will link in with works on Ampthill Road expected to start later this year, delivering improvements along this whole corridor coming into Bedford from the south.”

Transporting Bedford is an £18million project to tackle local congestion hotspots in and represents the largest ever investment in Bedford’s roads.

£15.5M of the budget has come from the South East Midlands Local Enterprise Partnership (SEMLEP) through the Local Growth Fund.

“We are delighted that Britannia Road is now complete and open for public use,” added Hilary Chipping, Chief Executive at SEMLEP.

“We look forward to seeing the refurbished road have a positive impact on our local economy enabling greater business productivity in the town centre by improving traffic movement.”

The completion of the Britannia Road works, originally due to end in April, were delayed due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Read: Manton Lane roadworks to be completed this week, but Britannia Road work to be halted

But, other projects in the Transporting Bedford are also due to complete soon.

“As more and more of the Transporting Bedford project comes to fruition, I hope that people will really start to see and feel the improvements,” added Cllr Royden.

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