Buckinghamshire Council seeks your opinions on South East Aylesbury Link Road

And the council want to hear your thoughts on the new road.

Designed to improve connectivity around the town, the link road will join up with a future southern link road from the A418 Oxford Road.

This comes as part of Buckinghamshire Council’s vision to create an orbital route around the town.

Buckinghamshire Council has submitted updated plans and further environmental information which will now be consulted on. If planning consent is given construction work is expected to start in 2021.

The updated information signals the start of a six week formal consultation, which closes on 11th January 2020

The planned £35.5 million dual-carriageway road will link the A413 Wendover Road and B4443 Lower Road. The South East Aylesbury Link Road will relieve the impact on the town's Walton Street Gyratory, caused by the A4010 Stoke Mandeville relief road which is being delivered through the HS2 Hybrid Act.

At just under a mile long, the South East Aylesbury link road will connect at Lower Road with Stoke Mandeville relief road, and will also connect at Wendover Road with Aylesbury's Southern link road, set out in the planning application by the developers of the proposed Hampden Fields estate.

The validated planning application CC/0015/20 can be seen at https://publicaccess.buckscc.gov.uk/online-applications and representations can be made here, too.

Here's what the council say about the new road and it's strategic importance:

Buckinghamshire Council Leader Martin Tett said: "The South East Aylesbury link road is a major infrastructure investment and a great step forward in supporting present and future growth for the county."

Nick Naylor, Cabinet Member for Transport, said: "It's a real enhancement for our road network and puts yet another section firmly in place to help Buckinghamshire Council towards the aspiration for an orbital route around Aylesbury.’

The plan detail and who's paying:

The £35.5m cost of designing and building the link road will be met from a government Local Growth Fund grant and from local developer contributions, while HS2 will pay for the construction of the bridge needed to carry the link road across the Aylesbury to London railway line.

Construction includes two new roundabouts, flood alleviation ponds, and extensive landscaping.

Following feedback from public exhibitions in 2018, link road plans have been changed to move the road slightly further away from the Stoke Grange estate.

This was as far as the scheme could be moved without impacting on properties directly on Wendover Road.

Other noise reduction features include a three metre high noise barrier, an extensive tree planting programme, and a steeper embankment design to reduce traffic sounds.

Nick Naylor said the road's overall 10% biodiversity net gain would mean extensive planting of trees and vegetation. The ecology corridor along the railway will be enhanced to protect wildlife and encourage vegetation growth with plenty of space under the bridge to provide for this.

The South East Aylesbury Link Road forms part of the Council’s long term vision for an orbital route around Aylesbury to draw traffic away from the town centre and relieve congestion. One section is already built, one is under construction, and five more are under development, including the South East Aylesbury Link Road.

If you would like to see the application, please click here.