ROAD wars may be raging in Dunstable after the allegedly “experimental” closure of Downs Road – but Downs Road residents themselves are basking in the unexpected peace and quiet.
Martial arts expert Andy Pilborough-Skinner said: “We didn’t ask for it to happen but in a short space of time our lives have been transformed.
“A recent traffic survey showed there were 18,000 vehicles a week using this short cut. That’s a lot of cars and lorries for a residential street.
“There are two issues really – one the traffic was virtually gridlocked morning and evening and two, safety was compromised early and late by boy racers.”
People in Grove Road and Park Road are up in arms after concrete plant pots were placed on Downs Road near the intersection with Allen Close.
The move by Bedfordshire Highways is an attempt to prevent “rat-running traffic” racing through the residential area on commuter journeys between Downside, the A5 and A505.
One angry resident told the Gazette: “The noise is absolutely horrendous. The drains are constantly rattling as they’ve been loosened by the sheer volume of traffic.”
Long term Downs Road resident Penny Woodhead said the problem had been a nightmare for the past decade: “We set up a campaign 13 years ago to get something done for the good of the whole community. But nothing came of it.” She described the concrete planters as “a Heath Robinson affair, divisive to the neighbourhood.
“They think we asked for this measure, but we didn’t.”
Her neighbour, accountant Ann Murphy, agreed: “We all need to get together to devise a decent system, even if it’s a one way. The size of some of the lorries coming down here is unbelievable.
“I’m unable to sit in my garden in the summer because of the noise and the fumes.
“I couldn’t reverse out of my drive because you never knew what was speeding round the corner.” Midwife Sharan Hewitt added: “We all took our lives in our hands every time we crossed the road to post a letter.”
The DG letters page has been full of the controversy since the closure was put in place in mid November.
The scheme will be in operation for up to 18 months.