The Parish Council held their 2nd meeting with Universal Executives last
night along with the Mayor and ward Cllr Spice to understand more of the
plans for the upgrading of local infrastructure to cope with the
Universal site. Although the Parish Council are very supportive of the
proposals, it is with an exception that the local infrastructure is
aligned to meet its needs. It is expected that 40% of customers will
arrive by car, the remainder by other forms of public transport.
Highways Engineers (the lead Engineer lives locally, so understands our
roads) are working with Highways England and The Department of Transport
to facilitate a plan that will take traffic effectively into the site
with the creation of a new junction off the A421 directly into the site.
We have asked for further improvements to be made to the junction from
Broadmead Road onto the C94, possibly with the addition of a roundabout.
Further consideration needs to be given to the new location of Stewartby
Station on the new East West Rail line as the newly proposed location is
not well located for students of Kimberely College or local residents.
Bedford Borough Council will need to ensure appropriate parking controls
are in place within the Village to stop those visiting Universal
clogging the streets and preventing parking for residents.
As from the offset, Universal executives have been very engaging and
open to working with local stakeholders. This is most certainly an
amazing opportunity for the local area, but we will continue to work to
ensure the plans allow for the needs of those who live here.