~Highways Agency~ chiefs say they have learned their lessons from a traffic management scheme in Dunstable, sharply criticised last week by a public spending watchdog.
The ~National Audit Office~'s highly-unusual investigation of the controversial £2M ‘queue relocation’ scheme for the A5, which runs through the town, was prompted by the local MP.
Calling for closer working with local highway authorities, the NAO takes the agency to task for failing to consult stakeholders and the local community properly. It is also critical of traffic modelling, costing, and the safety impact in the Bedfordshire town. Dunstable was, and is, plagued by queuing traffic, including a high proportion of HGVs heading for the M1. Following postponement of a bypass, the HA proposed a temporary solution – untested on a town centre route – combining external gateways and SCOOT. Co-ordinating new and existing signals would create a ‘green wave’ effect, reducing delays and pollution, and improving safety, the HA promised.
The watchdog accuses it of creating unrealistic expectations, compounded by unannounced design changes after the consultation phase. These allowed some congestion to build up in the town’s high street, so as to reduce unmanageable out-of-town queues and rat-running through surrounding villages. The NAO criticises the lack of ‘true partnership’ and area-wide traffic modelling. Costs for the scheme – delivered in two phases, with revisions, between summer 1999 and March 2004 – were also underestimated, rising from £1.4M to £2M.
Journey times increased by up to 27%, the NAO reports. Although accidents fell, overall, they increased at some junctions, and rose in severity, due to increased waiting times and pedestrians’ unfamiliarity with the new road layout.
An HA statement accepted the recommendations, particularly on consultation, but maintained that gridlock in Dunstable had been ‘considerably reduced’. In the 19 months to February 2006, total accidents, particularly pedestrian injuries, had fallen, it added. It is now working with local councils to improve several pedestrian crossings further.
Bedfordshire Council  and Conservative MP Andrew Selous endorsed the findings. Only a bypass could solve Dunstable’s problems, said assistant county director ~Richard Watts~. Although a regional priority, the start date for a northern bypass will slip five years to 2013, without additional funding.
Selous is now warning the watchdog of a ‘further waste of £10M’ if M1 widening does not include a new junction for this A5-M1 link.
A5 Queue relocation in Dunstable – wider lessons. Available at www.nao.org.uk