Visit to Tree Survey - Witnessing Another Key Step Towards Delivery of the Bypass

As I have reported here on mayordave.org.uk previously, we are making real progress towards delivering the essential final section of the Western Bypass, which will complete the link between the A6 to the north of the town with southern routes on the A6 and A421 without the need for traffic to go through the town centre. Since my election as Mayor, we have been successful in working to put together the funding for the project, and I am very pleased to report that preparation work is now going on 'on the ground' on site. This week saw the start of the tree survey, for example, which involves recording all of the trees on the route in order that we can ensure that as many as possible can be retained. I went along yesterday to witness some of the work going on and to speak to Christine Marsh of Hankinson Duckett Associates, who is carrying out the work at the Biddenham end of the route.

It was very interesting to see how the tree survey work is done. It was a cold day, and I sympathised with Ms Marsh when she recalled the days before handheld computers and she had to use a pencil and paper to make her records with ice cold hands! She makes a record of all the trees, or groups of trees where there are several similar trees together, on or in close proximity to the proposed route of the road. Information which is recorded about the trees includes their location and the size, type and condition of the tree. The process will be complete within a week or so. This information will then be looked at alongside the proposed route, and informed decisions can be made as to, for example, which trees can be retained and which may need to be removed, whether the route can be amended slightly to protect certain trees and so on.

Local residents in and around Bedford know what a huge difference the completion of a full western bypass will make in terms of cutting congestion in and around Bedford, improving local air quality and boosting the local economy. Seeing this preparatory work going on is a welcome sign of the progress being made towards the delivery of the road, and I can assure you we will keep up the momentum to ensure we have a completed western bypass for Bedford as soon as possible.