THE Dunstable and Houghton Regis Campaign Against The Bypass considers the job it started 24 years ago is now done.
So the campaign has donated the remainder of its fighting fund, £7,000, to Keech Hospice Care.
The group was formed in 1988 when the Department of Transport announced plans for an A5 bypass for Dunstable and Houghton Regis.
Campaign chairman David Gravestock said: “To many, this proposal was initially seen as the saviour of the two towns, ridding our town centres of the dreadful traffic congestion.
“But to those who looked a little more closely at the proposed benefits there was a problem.
“Not only did the proposed road destroy local sites of natural beauty, but it did not deliver any real lasting benefits for Dunstable and Houghton Regis.”
Mr Gravestock added: “Initially there was considerable opposition to and mistrust of our campaign and we were cast as NIMBYs.
“But as the figures of volumes of traffic were analysed and explained, more and more understood our concerns.”
In 1996, the Government requested an all party conference instead of a public inquiry. An inspector heard the arguments and recommended that the A5 bypass be reviewed and better ways of easing Dunstable’s transport problems investigated.
“And so today, we have an extra lane on the motorway and plans for a bypass north of Houghton Regis between the M1 and A505 Leighton Buzzard hopefully being started soon,” said Mr Gravestock.
In total, the campaign raised £38,658 and donations have already been made to Downside Lower School in Dunstable, Friends of the Wildlife Trust, Dial-a-Ride, Houghton Quarry Conservation and other groups.