We will complete the site preparation work for Clophill Roundabout improvements shortly and, Octavius, our contractor will soon have its temporary site compound set up in the nearby highway depot. This will be securely fenced and gated and located off the highway to cause minimal disruption for parking and deliveries.
Work will start on the main Clophill roundabout improvements on Monday 13 March. The work will focus on one arm of the roundabout at a time to minimise disruption and enable road users to continue to use the junction.
We will start with the northern A6 approach. This work will take up to four months to finish before we move on to the eastern A507 arm. Attention will then shift to the southern A6 approach and finally the western A507 arm with the full scheme expected to be complete within one year.
To enable traffic to flow through the junction better we are widening each roundabout arm to create two traffic lanes in and out. As well as easing congestion and reducing queuing, this will help the roundabout to support expected future increases in traffic.
We are introducing new footways and installing three toucan crossings which, together with the retained footbridge, will mean there is a crossing point on all four arms. We will reduce the speed limit on the approaches to 30mph and carry out further measures to improve the roundabout and road safety.
The northern A6 work will require temporary traffic signals and lane narrowing for the health and safety of the workforce. However, we will keep these arrangements to the absolute minimum and avoid peak travel times wherever possible.
The Clophill Road (Maulden) and the Clophill High Street junctions with the A6 will need to be closed for short periods to carry out the improvements at these locations. We will inform people of the dates in advance.
To enable us to re-surface the A6 northern arm we will also need to close the A6 northern section overnight, keeping it open for traffic during the day. Again, this is designed to minimise disruption for road users. These closures will be accompanied by signposted diversions and will take place once the work progresses. We will provide dates in due course and road users will be notified by road signage displayed in advance of the scheduled work.
We will coordinate this scheme with other highway works being undertaken in the area and apologise in advance for any delays and disruption required to carry out the improvements.
We will discuss the plans in further detail at the Parish Council Briefing organised for Tuesday 7 March at 6.30pm through Microsoft Teams.
Drop-in event
To share more information about the plans with residents and businesses we are holding an information event at Clophill Methodist Church on Thursday 16 March from 4pm to 8pm.
Members of our project team, community engagement team and Octavius will be there to answer questions and discuss the details of the project. Please share the attached flyer highlighting this engagement session through your channels.
We intend to provide you with regular updates as the works programme progresses, so you are informed of any forthcoming traffic management.
Further information about the scheme is available on: www.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk/clophill
We also have a dedicated email address set up for the project: clophill@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk
If you have any questions, please contact me.
Kind regards
Trish Etheridge