LTN man
12th May 2003, 14:04
Work starts today on building a new dual carriageway into Luton Airport. The government-funded programme, which is costing around £21 million, will start at the Ibis Hotel Roundabout. It will then cut through the edge of the now renamed Midterm car park cutting a path between the runway and the back of the industrial estate emerging through a new cutting close to the approach lights onto the existing Airport Way. It will then continue, crossing the main railway line and eventually joining up where the existing dual carriageway ends. To start with there will be nighttime and weekend closures of Airport Way from the M1 until the end of June. Once complete the airport will be linked to the M1 by dual carriageway. Work will be complete at the end of 2005.
In the mean time the traffic lights at the bottom of the hill have been switched on again after 10 months. The last time they were switched on they caused traffic chaos so were switched off and covered up after only 24 hours. This time they are going to be part time traffic lights. They came to life again on Thursday and caused gridlock all the way back to the M1. The council have been trying to adjust the sequencing of the lights but so far have failed to improve matters. It can be only a matter of days before the council gives up on the idea with the traffic lights being abandoned for good.
Talking of traffic chaos the airport authority installed a barrier to the drop off zone. The idea was that you took a ticket, dropped your passengers off and got out of the zone before 10 minutes otherwise it would cost the unlucky motorist up to £50. So confident were TBI that they got rid of all their traffic wardens. Well the single entry barrier couldn’t cope with the amount of traffic with traffic often queuing through the tunnel.
The barriers lasted less than two weeks and have now been taken out of operation. The barriers were brought into operation due to a government directive about unattended cars parked close to the terminal. The barriers were meant to stop this. Now with the barriers out of action and the traffic wardens gone the drop off zone has become an unofficial free long-term car park. Not sure how long this can continue before some government department starts kicking ass at the shambles.
In the mean time the traffic lights at the bottom of the hill have been switched on again after 10 months. The last time they were switched on they caused traffic chaos so were switched off and covered up after only 24 hours. This time they are going to be part time traffic lights. They came to life again on Thursday and caused gridlock all the way back to the M1. The council have been trying to adjust the sequencing of the lights but so far have failed to improve matters. It can be only a matter of days before the council gives up on the idea with the traffic lights being abandoned for good.
Talking of traffic chaos the airport authority installed a barrier to the drop off zone. The idea was that you took a ticket, dropped your passengers off and got out of the zone before 10 minutes otherwise it would cost the unlucky motorist up to £50. So confident were TBI that they got rid of all their traffic wardens. Well the single entry barrier couldn’t cope with the amount of traffic with traffic often queuing through the tunnel.
The barriers lasted less than two weeks and have now been taken out of operation. The barriers were brought into operation due to a government directive about unattended cars parked close to the terminal. The barriers were meant to stop this. Now with the barriers out of action and the traffic wardens gone the drop off zone has become an unofficial free long-term car park. Not sure how long this can continue before some government department starts kicking ass at the shambles.