Petition bid to stop learner HGV drivers using Leighton Buzzard road

The petition asks for the removal of the current HGV training vehicle exemption between number 1 and 222 Stanbridge Road, according to a report to a local authority traffic management meeting on Tuesday (December 2).

This exemption request relates to the 7.5 tonnes except for loading weight restriction road sign, said the report.

The petition states the number of lorries and training HGVs driving up and down Stanbridge Road is “out of control” and poses a danger to residents.

A traffic restriction order (TRO) was approved in 1996, restricting vehicles over 7.5 tonnes except for loading from number one to 222 Stanbridge Road, explained the report.

“This TRO included an exemption for driver training vehicles, meaning all learner HGV drivers driving vehicles of more than 7.5 tonnes could drive up and down the road freely.

“That HGV training vehicle exemption is still in place nearly 30 years later, and the number of lorries driving up and down this road is now out of control.

“The number of HGVs driving on Stanbridge Road has nearly doubled in just 18 months. That has been identified in two seven-day traffic surveys.

“CBC noted 1,118 lorries using the road in November 2023 and Bedfordshire Police recorded 1,922 HGVs on the road in May this year.”

That figure is unacceptable because: children and adults walk on the narrow pavements and cross this road to get to a nursery, to school, to the park and into town on an extremely busy route, warned the petitioners.

“Residents in houses built feet away from the road feel their homes shake through vibrations when lorries drive past. These HGVs are too heavy and wide for Stanbridge Road.

“Some have been seen mounting the pavement when another HGV passes in the opposite direction, as well as hitting the kerb when they can’t get around a roundabout, while mini roundabouts are driven straight over because the vehicles are too long to go around them.”

When campaigners asked the highways team why there was the exemption on that road, they were told: “There’s a test facility for HGVs and buses located on Leighton Road.

“This is less than a mile from the weight limit on Stanbridge Road, which will be the main access to Leighton Buzzard for those taking tests.

“Those vehicles must be allowed access to the weight limit, as the drivers will need to show they can safely manoeuvre through such areas, including other weight limits, for delivery purposes.

“We understand the frustrations of local residents with the situation, but the exception must be retained within the weight limit.”

Allowing learner lorry drivers to drive on weight-restricted roads, also encourages other HGV drivers to do the same, added the residents. “This was confirmed when the police placed a commercial vehicle unit on the road to monitor the number of HGVs.

“In a two-hour period in May, police observed 16 vehicles contravening the weight restriction. Seven of these were learners and six were delivering, who were all exempt. But three drivers were ignoring it.”