Luton wants to signalise the Vauxhall Way roundabout and run cycle tracks to Queen Elizabeth School. Comments close 4 October, drop-ins 19 and 21 Sept.

Luton Council wants to take out the roundabout where Crawley Green Road meets Vauxhall Way and replace it with a fully signalised junction. It has opened a public consultation on the idea, and it closes on Sunday 4 October.

The proposals go well beyond traffic lights. According to the council’s news release, published on 14 September, they include:

  • shared walking and cycling routes around the junction
  • signal-controlled pedestrian crossings on all approaches and exit lanes
  • two-way segregated cycle tracks between the junction and Queen Elizabeth School
  • extending the 30mph zone by about 150 metres north and south of the junction
  • a no-exit restriction from Saywell Road onto Crawley Green Road

Queen Elizabeth School is on Crawley Green Road itself, at LU2 9AG, a short distance east of the junction.

You have less time than the announcement suggests

The council announced the consultation on 14 September. It did not open on 14 September.

The timeline on the council’s own consultation site, Keeping Luton Moving, dates the public consultation on Crawley Green Road from 7 September to 4 October 2026. So a quarter of the four-week window had already gone by the time most people heard about it.

Timeline showing the Crawley Green Road consultation opening on 7 September, drop-in sessions on 19 and 21 September, and the consultation closing on 4 October 2026

There are two drop-in sessions where you can put questions to the team in person:

  • Saturday 19 September, 11am to 1pm, Raynham Way Community Centre
  • Monday 21 September, 6pm to 8pm, High Town Gym and Wellbeing Centre

The survey is at keepinglutonmoving.commonplace.is.

Why this junction, and why now

The scheme is not a standalone piece of road safety work. The council calls it part of the Vauxhall Way upgrades programme, a phased series of changes to what it describes as one of Luton’s most important transport corridors.

The reason it is being done now is growth. The council names three things that will push more traffic onto that corridor:

  • the expansion of London Luton Airport
  • the Luton Gateway project on the former Vauxhall site
  • new housing

Cllr Javeria Hussain, the cabinet member quoted in the release, put it as: “As Luton continues to grow, we need to make sure our transport network can cope.”

The same corridor already appears in the council’s draft Local Transport Plan 5, which lists Vauxhall Way corridor improvements alongside increasing capacity at M1 junction 10 and an access road for the airport business park.

What happens after 4 October

This is the informal stage. The council says it will review the feedback and use it to refine the designs, and its consultation timeline then shows a statutory consultation on the final plans before anything is built.

That second stage matters, because a signalised junction, a 30mph extension and a banned exit from Saywell Road all need traffic regulation orders, and a TRO carries its own formal objection period.

Construction is expected to begin in 2027, subject to planning approvals.

What it means for you

If you drive, walk, cycle or catch a bus through that junction, this is the stage where the design can still change cheaply. Once it reaches the statutory consultation, the council is consulting on a settled plan.

Three groups have something specific at stake.

  • Saywell Road residents. The proposal bans the exit from Saywell Road onto Crawley Green Road. That is a permanent change to how you get out of your own street, and it is the single most concrete restriction in the package.
  • Parents and pupils at Queen Elizabeth School. The segregated cycle tracks stop at the school, and the 30mph zone extends about 150 metres either side of the junction.
  • Drivers using Vauxhall Way. Signals instead of a roundabout changes the way queues form, particularly at peak times.

Nothing here is decided. The survey takes comments until 4 October, and the two drop-ins are the only chance to ask the design team directly before it closes.

Current closures and works across the borough are in Luton roadworks and travel, and the bigger schemes behind this one are covered in Luton planning news.

Frequently asked questions

When does the Crawley Green Road consultation close?

It closes on Sunday 4 October 2026. The council’s own consultation timeline dates it from 7 September, so the four-week window opened a week before the council announced it on 14 September.

Where are the drop-in sessions?

There are two. Saturday 19 September, 11am to 1pm at Raynham Way Community Centre, and Monday 21 September, 6pm to 8pm at High Town Gym and Wellbeing Centre. Neither needs booking.

What would actually change at the junction?

The roundabout where Crawley Green Road meets Vauxhall Way would become a fully signalised junction, with signal-controlled pedestrian crossings on every approach and exit lane, shared walking and cycling routes around it, two-way segregated cycle tracks running to Queen Elizabeth School, the 30mph zone extended by about 150 metres in each direction, and a no-exit restriction from Saywell Road onto Crawley Green Road.

When would the work be built?

Construction is expected to begin in 2027, subject to planning approvals, and a statutory consultation on the final plans comes first.

Sources