Traffic light upgrades in Bedford

The junction of Kingsway and Cauldwell Street in Bedford is a well-known traffic hotspot. As part of Transporting Bedford, this week works will begin to upgrade the traffic lights at this junction.

Alongside other traffic light upgrades, this will help to improve traffic flow at the junction and around the wider town centre making it easier for residents, visitors and commuters to get around.

Over four weeks, these works at the Kingsway and Cauldwell Street junction will see equipment and software put in place to improve the detection and control of traffic, along with new signal heads, re-wiring, and some pavement works at the crossing points.

This work at the Cauldwell Street and Kingsway junction joins other recently upgraded traffic light junctions including London Road and Elstow Road; Newnham Avenue and Goldington Road, River Street and Midland Road, St Peters Street and St Cuthbert's Street, and Bromham Road and Union Street. These upgrades will make our traffic light system better connected, better able to respond to demand and help manage traffic.

Councillor Charles Royden, Portfolio Holder for Transport said "These traffic light upgrades across Bedford will together have an impact on Bedford's traffic and help to ease congestion. By installing traffic light junctions with the latest technology, they will operate more efficiently, reduce congestion, and improve journey times. There will be temporary traffic lights in place during these works at the Kingsway and Cauldwell Street junction, with occasional lane closures required to install traffic detection equipment. Thank you for your patience as we carry out these works, which will bring improvements to Bedford's roads for the future."

Transporting Bedford is an £18million project to tackle congestion hotspots in Bedford, funded by both Bedford Borough Council and £15.5M funding from the South East Midlands Local Enterprise Partnership (SEMLEP), through the Local Growth Fund and represents the largest ever investment in Bedford's roads.