Ribbon cut on new ‘gateway to the east’ road

With a deft snip of the scissors Val Letheren,the new Chairman of Buckinghamshire County Council, declared Aylesbury’s new Stocklake (urban) link road ready for traffic.

It was her first official engagement and fitting in the light of the six years she spent leading the council’s transport portfolio.

The Chairmanbecame the first citizen to drive along some of the fresh tarmac, watched by a small group of councillors, business leaders and contractors.

At nearly a kilometre long, the £5.3 million ‘gateway to the east’ of Aylesbury, from Park Street, will connect with a new rural section in August, providing a link between the town and the new 2,450-home Kingsbrook housing estate being built by Barratt and David Wilson Homes.

The first section from Park Street roundabout opened to traffic at 6am on Bank Holiday Monday, following five months of construction, and the remainder will open to two-way traffic on June 13 once footway finishing work has been done.

Following the opening, contractors will concentrate on converting the old Stocklake intoa service road providing easier access to homes and parking for residents, landscaping with semi-mature trees, and refurbishing Park Street roundabout.

Mark Shaw, Cabinet Member for Transport, said: ‘The Stocklake scheme is an important part of a transport plan that will ease congestion in the east of Aylesbury, and provide a valuable gateway between the town and homes and businesses in this developing part of the county.

‘It has been a superb collaborative project between the Local Enterprise Partnership, the designers, the contractors and the County Council and I’m really encouraged that we’ve been able to build it so speedily.’

The Stocklake (urban) link road is the first project in Buckinghamshire to be paid for through Buckinghamshire Thames Valley Local Enterprise Partnership’s (LEP) £44m Local Growth Deal funding from the government.

LEP Chief Executive Richard Harrington said: ‘The development of local road infrastructure is essential for Aylesbury’s growth and the Stocklake Link Road scheme is a key element to smooth traffic flow in the town area and also to link into new road networks such as the Eastern Link road and provide easier access to the A41 and London.

‘We are therefore delighted with the completion of the Stocklake Link Road which marks the first Local Growth Funds project to reach completion and will have a positive impact for local traffic flow but also improve the environment for the local community and enable economic growth to the east of Aylesbury.’