Does Luton need a northern bypass?

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owen b
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Does Luton need a northern bypass?

Post by owen b »

Luton Borough Council, South Bedfordshire District Council and Bedfordshire County Council have appointed Halcrow to examine whether a bypass is needed. Halcrow has set up a website : www.luton-northern-bypass.comand are inviting comments from the public.
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Post by Jimbo »

Looking at the layout of roads in the area, but not knowing anything about traffic issues, it looks pretty obvious to me that a northern bypass is probably a could idea. Just the fact that the D2 A505 between Hitchin and Luton peters out when it gets to Luton suggests that this road needs to go somewhere. A northern bypass, along with the A505 and a Hitchin southern bypass would provide a decent M1 to A1(M) link as well, alleviating some of the load from the M25 and A14.

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c2R
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Post by c2R »

It definitely needs one - coupled with a Hitchin bypass - at the moment, the only way for Steveange traffic to get to the M1/MK is through Hitchin and Luton, or instead through Hitchin, Barton le Clay, and Sharpenhoe.
The opening of the northern bypass could then replace J12, which is sited too close to Toddington and is a pathetic junction anyway. Also included would be a nothern Dunstable bypass for the A5.
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Post by A303Paul »

I think that a Luton Northern Bypass is inevitable.
However I don't think the powers that be have fully realised the implications of dualling the A421 from the M1 J13 to Bedford and widening the M1 from J13 to Luton.
I suspect most traffic from Luton to Bedford will transfer from the A6 to the A421/M1. If there is not a freeflow from the M1 to the A421 chaos will result.
I can see the A6 becoming the A1081 south of Bedford and the A5120 becoming the B530 as far as M1 J12
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CJ
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Post by CJ »

Yes, it certainly does, coupled with a Hitchin Southern Bypass.

Recently I had to travel quite a lot between Stevenage and Dunstable, and it's a nightmare -there's no decent route at all. A Luton Northern Bypass would definitely help things.
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Post by Guest »

You may find thatthe two schemes cancel each other out. At the moment it takes me more or less the same time via two different routes to get from my house in Bedford to the M1 J11. The two routes being the A421/M1 and the A6/fight-your-way-through-North-Lutonefforts, neither of which are pleasant. Both routes are likely to be improved to about the same extent.
I get the impression that locals have got wind of the idea that joining the A505 at Leighton Buzzard with the A505 at Stopsley constitutes plugging a gap in a sort of London outer orbital road. Such a scheme was proposed before and foundered in the early 1990s. I wonder whether the road will be built further East than the A6.
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Post by Jimbo »

> in a sort of London outer orbital road

and why is this a problem ?? Would the residents of North Luton prefer their roads to remain congested ??

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Post by si404 »

anything to avoid L*ton :P

i would think that improving/extending the southern bypass would be easier than linking the A6-A505, due to the Warden Hill area, so we might see that happening. I note that the Dunstable northern bypass has been approved, so maybe the Luton bypass to at least the A6 isn't far off.

possible renumbering if the bypass ends at the A6:
A5 through Dunstable=A5183
A6 through Luton=A1081
Bypass east of M1=A6
bypass weat of M1=A5
Leighton Buzzard Bypass=A418 (unless the Linslade-Stoke Hammond bypass takes this number, instead of A4146)
otherwise, bypass=A505, A5 and A6 prolly end on bypass, signed in brackets along bypass too.

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Post by Latexloo1 »

does anyone know to what standard this by-pass is being proposed to? The exisiting Leighton Buzzard by-pass is a dangerously wide S2 where there is a free for all overtaking situation in both directions. Surely this by-pass has to be minimum D2 standard, hopefully with GSJ's as well, but this might be too much to ask for!!
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Post by JohnnyMo »

I can see the problem with linking the A505 (east of Luton) with the A6 but unless it is done the missing link will be there indefinitely, similar to Hindhead. It should be easier to plan the road with this in mind (consider the route as a whole) than leave it (consider the route east and west of the A6 separately) and hope to fill in the gap later.
I have tried following the Luton north ring road (A5228) from the A505 to Jct 11 but now use Jct 10 twice as long but quicker. I can see the Vauxhall Way & Airport Way being upgraded but not to NSL/GSJ standard as these are urban roads.
The A505 should be seen as a strategic route from the South Midlands to East Anglia and not as a series of unconnected bypasses.
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Post by Birchington »

If they're going to build a new runway at Luton airport, the roads around Luton will need to be upgraded ie. Dunstable to Luton northern bypass.
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Post by CJ »

<< The exisiting Leighton Buzzard by-pass is a dangerously wide S2 where there is a free for all overtaking situation in both directions. >>
I don't understand this either. The "wide single carriageway" as the HA call it seems just as dangerous as the old suicide lane to me, since it invites all sorts of crazy overtaking manouevres. Even sillier, a wide S2 is only marginally narrower than a D2, and it seems such a waste of land not to be built as dual carriageway.
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Post by PeterA5145 »

<< .. I don't understand this either. The "wide single carriageway" as the HA call it seems just as dangerous as the old suicide lane to me, since it invites all sorts of crazy overtaking manouevres. >>

In theory, yes it does.

However, apparently in practice it does lead people to judge their overtakes better - the old S3s apparently encouraged some drivers to simply bimble along in the middle lane without really thinking what they were doing.

The typical sheep-like driver wouldn't even contemplate an overtake "down the middle" on a wide S2, and probably mumbles "what a nutter!" when he sees someone else doing one.

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Post by coasterjunkie »

an overtake "down the middle" on a wide S2

I know this isn't a problemwhen it is three cars that are parallel, but the number of times I see a car sandwiched between two HGV's is frightening. The A46 at Newark seems especially bad for this; some drivers there certainly aren't judging things any better!

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owen b
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Post by owen b »

The feasibility study for the Luton Northern bypass has been published. http://www.luton-northern-bypass.com/reports.htm

It's a big and very detailed document. I haven't begun to wade through it, but I have looked at the Executive Summary http://www.luton-northern-bypass.com/pdf/summary.pdf and the route proposals http://www.luton-northern-bypass.com/pd ... igures.pdf.

Initial observations are that the study has identified far more options than I expected, some with significantly more northerly and north-easterly alignments than I'd envisaged. The study doesn't make any clear recommendation, but indicates the likely pros and cons of different routes. As expected, it identifies major developmental issues for the M1 to A6 section, and major environmental and cost issues for the section between the A6 and A505.

I think this has all the makings of a highly controversial scheme :
i) it's in one of Prescott's four growth areas in the SE, with development expected north of Luton
ii) congestion and rat-running are already major problems in north Luton and the surrounding villages
iii) different alignments will be of different value to through or local traffic. In particular a more easterly alignment towards Lilley will favour long distance traffic aka London Outer Orbital
iv) the area immediately NE of Luton is of very high environmental value -part AONB, it's prime chalk scarp landscape, with lots of biodiversity, ancient heritage etc.
v) it'll be very expensive
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Post by owen b »

It's all been very quiet on the Luton Northern bypass of late. The website hasn't been updated in yonks. I guess it's quite low down the food chain given that the Dunstable northern bypass has been significantly delayed and M1 J10-13 widening looks like it won't happen (hard shoulder running instead).

Now the focus is on a plan to build 3,000 or 5,500 houses on the eastern edge of Luton. This was accompanied by a very vague map reported in the local press showing a new access road from the A505 north east of Luton running to the east of Luton but coming to a stop before the airport (ie. not linking up with the A1081 airport link from M1 J10A). Not surprisingly, the housing and road proposal has triggered much local opposition.

Today a letter has been published in the Luton on Sunday from the Luton Borough Council Head of Planning stating that : "Any larger scheme.... must include a ring-road to the east of Luton extending from the A505 to the East Luton Corridor [that's the A1081 airport link from J10A] currently under construction. By providing the new road in this way, traffic using the A505 to access Luton will be greatly reduced particularly through the Stopsley area." He then states that an extension of the proposed Luton-Dunstable guided busway to the new development area and the airport will be required.

What I'd like to know is the route for the new ring road. Could a route be threaded between the urban area and the airport or would it have to go all the way around the far side of the airport runway, in which case it would be very circuitous?
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Post by A303Paul »

owen b wrote:It's all been very quiet on the Luton Northern bypass of late. The website hasn't been updated in yonks. I guess it's quite low down the food chain given that the Dunstable northern bypass has been significantly delayed and M1 J10-13 widening looks like it won't happen (hard shoulder running instead).

Now the focus is on a plan to build 3,000 or 5,500 houses on the eastern edge of Luton. This was accompanied by a very vague map reported in the local press showing a new access road from the A505 north east of Luton running to the east of Luton but coming to a stop before the airport (ie. not linking up with the A1081 airport link from M1 J10A). Not surprisingly, the housing and road proposal has triggered much local opposition.

Today a letter has been published in the Luton on Sunday from the Luton Borough Council Head of Planning stating that : "Any larger scheme.... must include a ring-road to the east of Luton extending from the A505 to the East Luton Corridor [that's the A1081 airport link from J10A] currently under construction. By providing the new road in this way, traffic using the A505 to access Luton will be greatly reduced particularly through the Stopsley area." He then states that an extension of the proposed Luton-Dunstable guided busway to the new development area and the airport will be required.

What I'd like to know is the route for the new ring road. Could a route be threaded between the urban area and the airport or would it have to go all the way around the far side of the airport runway, in which case it would be very circuitous?
Last time I drove round the existing A505 through the northeast quadrant of luton (Vauxhall Way) it seemed that the road had been built with eventual dualling in mind
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Post by Truvelo »

Was Vauxhall Way ever intended to be extended Northwards? This strip of land seems just right to carry a dual carriageway.
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Post by owen b »

Last time I drove round the existing A505 through the northeast quadrant of luton (Vauxhall Way) it seemed that the road had been built with eventual dualling in mind
Correct. I don't have access to the documentation, but I've definitely seen something to this effect. In any case, it's pretty obvious on the ground that there's room for a second carriageway. Once the East Luton Corridor is complete there will be a gap of about two miles between the D2 sections at Airport Way and Stopsley. But if a D2 outer eastern bypass is ever built I very much doubt they'll dual this section - another example of future proofing coming to nothing.
Was Vauxhall Way ever intended to be extended Northwards? This strip of land seems just right to carry a dual carriageway.
Correct again. That's the line of one of the possible routes (the most obvious route, really) of the north east section (A505 to A6) of the Luton bypass. It's been a protected line for several decades and was shown as projected on several editions of the Collins atlases in the 1980s. This route is one of the options in the ongoing Luton northern bypass study. In a less controversial setting the road would have been built donkeys years ago, but it's very sensitive because a) it's the posh area (yes, there is a posh area); b) there's a golf course; c) it cuts across the scarp slope of the chalk hills (basically, the Luton end of the Chilterns) and as such it's of unusually high landscape and environmental value - it abuts the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and the line of the road would pass between Luton and the local beauty spot that is Warden Hill.
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Post by CJ »

owen b wrote:It's all been very quiet on the Luton Northern bypass of late. The website hasn't been updated in yonks. I guess it's quite low down the food chain given that the Dunstable northern bypass has been significantly delayed and M1 J10-13 widening looks like it won't happen (hard shoulder running instead).
The latest information I could find is:

"A report to the Joint Committee on 29 February 2008 on the Issues and Options Consultation for the Core Strategy showed that public opinion is divided on whether an inner or outer bypass should be built and, particularly in the context of the A6-A505 section, indeed if a bypass should be built at all. It is therefore proposed that a full public consultation be carried out using the detailed appraisal work undertaken by Halcrow in 2006 so that a more informed choice can be made. It is suggested that this be carried out in the Autumn together with consultation on the Woodside Connection but that this be kept as a separate exercise from the consultation on Draft Preferred Options for the Core Strategy. Funding for this work is available from GAF3."

So it looks like we're due yet another consultation in the autumn. At this rate it's unlikely anything will happen on the ground until 2020...
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