Works complete on Britannia Road

The Transporting Bedford project on Britannia Road is now complete, bringing congestion easing measures to this well-known traffic hotspot in Bedford.

Britannia Road links two major roads in Bedford; Ampthill Road and Kempston Road, past Bedford Hospital South Wing.

This project has delivered a major change 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 to improve traffic flow.

There were also improvements carried out to the layout of the main Hospital car park and existing drop-off areas, helping to improve traffic flow down Britannia Road.

Councillor 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. The completion of the Britannia Road works was unfortunately delayed, not least due to the coronavirus outbreak, and our thanks go to business, residents and commuters for their patience during these works. 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, with changes to the roads, improvements to traffic signals and more helping to ease congestion and make our roads safer."

Hilary Chipping, Chief Executive at SEMLEP added, "We are delighted that Britannia Road is now complete and open for public use. "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. SEMLEP are proud to have awarded the Transporting Bedford project £15.5 million of Local Growth Fund investment, continuing to use our area's connectivity to shape business opportunity."

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.

Find out more about the project at www.bedford.gov.uk/transportingbedford