Amazon warehouse could affect A1, says councillor
A councillor is worried about the impact it may have on the A1 if traffic lights are installed.
Amazon warehouse could affect A1, says councillor
The planned Biggleswade Amazon Robotics Sortable (ARS) fulfilment centre will look similar to the one opened in Northampton
A councillor has said plans for an Amazon fulfilment centre that could generate about 2,000 jobs would have a major effect on a town’s road network.
Earlier this year, Amazon submitted a planning application to Central Bedfordshire Council for the robotics-enabled facility at Symmetry Park on Stratton Business Park, Biggleswade.
The site would sit beside the A1 and have an internal footprint of about 1.4 million sq ft (130,064 sq m).
Grant Fage, a Conservative councillor for Biggleswade East, which includes the business park, said: "This is a very complicated application and will have huge impacts on Biggleswade, positively in terms of job creation but negatively for our road network."
Central Bedfordshire Council has set 18 November as the target date for a decision on the scheme.
Fage said on social media that Amazon’s proposal for the Biggleswade Amazon Robotics Sortable (ARS) included changes to the A1 south roundabout, including traffic lights on approaches from the north and south.
"If [National Highways] confirm that signalisation is required, I hope it highlights the desperate state of the A1 in Biggleswade, given that we would have the only traffic lights on the entire A1 stretch between South Mimms and Scotland."
Fage said this would feel like a step backwards because it would create queues, with vehicle movement no longer free flowing.
He added "this didn't work for the Black Cat Roundabout", which is currently being transformed in a £1bn project.
The BBC has contacted National Highways for comment.
Amazon said it selected Biggleswade because it provided access to a "highly skilled labour market, which is essential for operating and maintaining the advanced robotics and automation systems within an ARS facility".
The warehouse would be joined by three further units with an estimated construction spend of £300m, said the
Tritax Big Box Developments, which owns Symmetry Park, said Amazon’s support was a "strong endorsement of this location and reflects the scale of investment being made here".
The new centre in Biggleswade could handle hundreds of thousands of orders each week.
Amazon announced the official opening of its Northampton Robotics Sortable fulfilment centre, which can store tens of millions of products.
Mike Jackson, a spokesperson for Amazon, said: "Should the project progress, we would expect it to create a significant number of new roles in the area, with competitive pay and benefits."
Amazon is no stranger to Bedfordshire, where it already operates facilities in Dunstable and Houghton Regis.