Are Milton Keynes underpasses safe in the council’s hands?

A public consultation exercise held in 2017 found that an overwhelming 67 per cent of residents who responded would prefer underpasses to be constructed, compared to just 13 per cent for signal controlled crossings.

Residents said they supported underpasses at V4 Watling Street and H4 Dansteed Way because they would not affect traffic flow and that underpasses are the “consistent method of crossing for MK.”

But in January last year, Cllr Martin Gowans, the Cabinet member for public realm, took a delegated decision to go ahead with surface crossings at the Kiln Farm Roundabout between Fullers Slade and Fairfields and at Whitehouse, off Dansteed Way.

Cllr Gowans faced his critics during question time at full council on Wednesday (Feb 20).

Angry City Alderman, former Tory councillor Paul Bartlett, said: “Will you tell us why you, you Cllr Gowans, ignored a consultation that you organised on the type of crossing that residents wanted at Watling Street, Fairfield and Fullers Slade?

“Even members of your group say that there’s money available for underpasses. You look at the finances of this council and the council can certainly afford the crossings so why did you ignore your consultation which is rather odd when more residents voted for an underpass than any other option.”

Cllr Gowans hit back, saying: “It’s a shame that you, Alderman Bartlett, you didn’t attend the delegated decision meeting in January of last year, but you were not there to make those representations and you have turned up 13 months later after the crossing has been installed.

“It’s a shame that you are not telling the truth about finances.

“The truth is that when I sit here in my role as I have always been very clear, my first priority is to road safety, to minimise the chances of death and serious injuries on our road network. I take that entirely seriously and we have delivered on Watling Street a safe crossing in the budget available.”

Alderman Bartlett asked a supplementary question. He said: “Will you guarantee consultations on all crossings in the Whitehouse, Fairfields, Crownhill, Grange Farm area and will you listen to what residents say and rather than ignore the consultation you had, knowing your financial situation, will you guarantee that you will not ignore the consultation?”

But Cllr Gowans, who was advised at the time to make a speedy decision and that the council did not have the budget for underpasses, said: “It’s a shame that you don’t take road safety as seriously as I do.

“I have been very clear about the need for safe crossings in this area. I’ve taken a number of difficult decisions to provide those safe crossings and I have taken those decisions and I stand by them.”

A member of the public asked about a pending Toucan crossing on Dansteed Way. “Will you confirm that whatever the majority of residents’ views are expressed through the current consultation process are that you will honour those views even if it means changing your plans?”

But Cllr Gowans said: “My first priority is road safety to ensure there are safe crossings. At the moment on that stretch of road there are school children crossing a 60mph road. We need that safe crossing sooner rather than later.

“Will ensure that our children have safe places to cross the road.”

Cllr Dan Gilbert (Loughton and Shenley) asked for “a screeching U-turn on the H4” and challenged Cllr Gowans to say that Milton Keynes’s grid roads and traditional underpasses are safe in his hands?

But Cllr Gowans replied that it is a “myth” that Milton Keynes is built on underpasses alone. He said his priority is safety and in future he expected that on grid roads underpasses would continue to be built.