Commuter anger as route to motorway still shut months after original target.
Milton Keynes City Council has been slammed for failing to reveal a ‘proper timetable’ for the re-opening of a major through route that has been closed for four months longer than originally predicted.
A section of the A509 main road, which leads from Newport Pagnell to junction 14 of the M1 motorway has been shut for 500 days – more than four months beyond the original one-year plan.
When it was closed for construction work to take place on the massive MK East development site in September 2023, commuters and residents were told it would re-open in September 2024.
Now, more than 120 days late on the re-opening, and with no clear timeline as to when the road will once again be in use, local Lib Dem councillors are demanding urgent answers.
At a recent Full Council meeting, councillors discovered that no set timetable for a re-opening has been confirmed. They also heard that the City Council has not applied any financial penalties from the contractors working on the MK East development site.
“The delay was due to a change of management and the new management had to get up to speed,” said Jane Carr, Leader of MK Lib Dems. “They also had to get a school and a medical centre in there to continue to receive Government funding for the project.
“We were also told that part of the delay is due to the weather. Now I’m not a weather expert but I know the rain is going to come and that has to be factored in. We told them the land was waterlogged. Some of their predictions for managing the water there were a little on the short side.”
Councillor Carr says the delays have created months of inconvenience, extra fuel use and increased carbon emissions for commuters, and hardship for Newport Pagnell businesses.
“It certainly has been affecting local people,” she said. “Not just the inconvenience, but the businesses on the High Street. I know of one business that is losing £10,000 a month because of this.
“We just want it finished; people are totally fed up with it. We are asking for proper details, the real story. We want to see a proper timetable and then the management held to that timetable.”
The new section of road will feature a ‘dog-leg’ junction and a roundabout through the new development but it will, says Councillor Carr, reach junction 14 of the motorway. A bypass will also join it, bringing traffic from the north of the MK East development.
