Long-awaited plans to cut congestion and improve safety in Luton's Bury Park stall again

Long-awaited traffic flow and pedestrian safety improvements for Bury Park in Luton have stalled again, after a political intervention by Labour councillors.

Attempts to reduce congestion along Dunstable Road and to stamp out illegal parking are back on ice, after the borough council's opposition group decided to call in a package of highways measures agreed by the new executive.

The procedural move means the local authority's plans for the area will be debated again at a hastily arranged meeting of its overview and scrutiny board next Thursday (October 29).

Initial proposals to cut congestion and make pavements and road junctions safer for residents and visitors were drawn up under a Labour administration on the council.

These included an 18-month trial red route scheme along a stretch of Dunstable Road. This was considered unnecessary by the then Liberal Democrat opposition group on LBC, which wanted more stringent enforcement of current parking restrictions.

The Lib Dems called in Labour's Bury Park highways improvements for further scrutiny at a full council meeting. Although winning the vote, the Labour ruling group's executive opted to press ahead with its planned changes, including the red route.

A subsequent vote of no confidence last month led to the end of nearly 20 years of Labour rule in the town. The opposition coalition of Lib Dems and breakaway Labour councillors took control and its executive dropped the experimental red route from the highways works.

Council leader and Liberal Democrat Barnfield councillor Amjid Ali described their alternative plans as "a more practical and structured approach".

Among issues to be addressed are better safety for pedestrians by removing parked cars around formal crossing points, restrictions to stop vehicles illegally parking on footpaths, and Increasing parking space availability in the Bury Park area.

Loading bay hours would be extended to give businesses more time to load and unload, while loading bay maximum stays would increase from half an hour to 45 minutes.

Further traffic surveys could identify whether bus stop design and layout is contributing to congestion. Old or disused signage, bollards and clutter could be identified and removed, with more seating and planting where possible.

LBC officers are due to commission an independent economic impact assessment of the highways scheme. This will consider the economic benefits and costs of the measures, in particular the red route, compared to an extra enforcement option, according to a previous report to the executive committee.

Specific elements to be analysed are estimating the potential impact on local business, assessing the merits of reduced congestion and improved pedestrian access, consideration of other wider social and economic costs and benefits, and an overall value for money assessment of the project, said the report.

The economic impact work is forecast to take three months, with a report back to the executive early next year. It remains to be seen whether that schedule can be adhered to, while the immediate concern for the current administration is the challenge its highways measures face next week.