Will £2.8m Bury St Edmunds roads ‘upgrade’ make traffic better or worse for cars?

The double mini roundabout between Parkway and Cullum Road. Picture: CHRIS SHIMWELL (Image: Archant)

Plans to spend nearly £3million on road ‘upgrades’ in Bury St Edmunds could make traffic worse, it has been claimed.

The £2.8m investment is hoped to improve congestion and safety for motorists, pedestrians and cyclists, but some members of the Bury Town Centre Masterplan group called into question Suffolk County Council’s plans.

While the money is being welcomed, the decision to introduce traffic lights and traffic-lighted pedestrian crossings on key routes into Bury has been labelled a backwards step.

David Nettleton, independent county councillor for Tower Division and masterplan group member, said the council have been urged to go “back to the drawing board”.

“We welcome the money, but we need to get better value,” he said. “They want to spend £2.8m, but at the moment it would make the system worse.”

He said the plans, aside from the removal of the double roundabout at the junction of Parkway and Cullum Road, were too focused on “belts and braces” safety instead of relieving congestion and improving traffic flow.He called on the county council, who have been awarded the funding from the New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership, to look at introducing pedestrian islands and zebra crossings instead of toucan crossings.

Ray Curry runs West End Shoe Repairs, situated next to the double roundabout. He said the two roundabouts did a good job for traffic flow but could be confusing.

“I always go around very slowly,” he said. “The number of accidents I would have had if I had gone just a bit faster. If something happens it’s usually people error.”

Independent Bury Town councillor and town centre group member Paul Hopfensperger agreed with Mr Nettleton about the traffic lights, saying they had “no place” in a modern road network.

The plans, announced on Monday, March 21, include changes to roundabouts on Tollgate Lane, Tayfen Road and Northgate, as well as at the Spread Eagle roundabout.

Mark Cordell, chief executive of the Ourburystedmunds Business Improvement District, said: “It is great to hear that there is some investment planned for the road infrastructure for Bury in the next 12 months.”

He said the plan to improve traffic flow while also attempting to encourage more people to walk and cycle in to the town by improving safety could only be a good thing.