Work on the £7.5m Clophill roundabout improvement scheme could begin in November and be finished in just over a year, if all goes to plan.
A project exhibition was held in Maulden Village Hall where residents from nearby towns and villages turned could view the proposals.
The proposals benefit from £6.8m of government Levelling Up funding and the current consultation runs until Monday, July 11.
Central Bedfordshire Council’s chief officer infrastructure delivery Paul Mason said: “We’ve been looking at it as a congestion hotspot for a number of years.
“It was subject to an expression of interest for the local pinch point funding, which then turned into a full bid for Levelling Up funding.
“There’ll be better connectivity for acceptable modes of transport, cycling and walking, and air quality should be improved because of the reduced congestion.
“We’ve taken the chance to improve accessibility, and cycling and walking opportunities, by putting Toucan crossings on each of the arms.
“We’ll improve the drainage while we’re there as well,” he explained. “We know there are drainage issues, so we’ll be improving that with an extra 20 per cent capacity.
“The key is to allow two lanes approaching and departing the roundabout. It gives the maximum opportunity for using gaps in the gyratory.
“At peak times, individuals will be saving between five and nine minutes on their journeys and all those add up to make it worth doing.
“We recognise there’s a national cycle route on the northern side, which will benefit from a Toucan crossing.
“Removing the footbridge over the A507 (Shefford side) and replacing it with a Toucan gives a better accessible crossing than at the moment.
“We can’t rub out all the current constraints. We work within what we’ve got and make the best we can of what’s there.”
The formal consultation on the project is open for eight weeks, according to Mr Mason.
“Once that’s closed, there’ll be a point of considering all the various views and the benefits for the road users,” he added.
“The decision will be made about proceeding with the scheme and assuming that’s positive we’ll be on the ground in the autumn, probably November.
“All the approvals we need are in place and delegated to senior directors in CBC.
“It’s 12 to 14 months anticipated for completion. Obviously that will depend on the contractor’s programme when we’ve got a preferred construction partner on board.
“The estimates are around £7.5m for the whole scheme. We’re waiting for the tenders that we get returned before we commit to an actual figure.
“There’ve been many opinions about the scheme and we’ve taken on some of the things during the engagement process and adjusted the scheme already.
“This is the formal consultation stage and we’ll wait and see what comes out of that.”
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