Speed cushions, build-outs and yellow lines for seven villages between Aylesbury and Buckingham. Most Quainton and Waddesdon replies opposed the lines.
Seven villages along the HS2 route between Aylesbury and Buckingham are due to get speed cushions, road narrowings and new yellow lines, paid for by HS2. Buckinghamshire Council’s Leader is set to approve them on Monday 12 October.
The schemes passed a public consultation in the summer with one clear split. Traffic calming was popular everywhere it was proposed. New parking restrictions in Quainton and Waddesdon were not, and most people who replied about them objected.
The council has trimmed both parking schemes but still recommends going ahead. Anyone who wants the decision-maker to hear their view has until 5pm on Thursday 8 October.
What each village gets
The report to the Leader lists seven schemes:
- Grendon Underwood, about 11 miles north-west of Aylesbury: speed cushions on Edgcott Road and The Broadway, near the Main Street junction
- Calvert Green, about 12 miles north-west: a traffic island on Edgcott Road near the Cotswold Way junction
- Padbury, about two miles south-east of Buckingham: a priority narrowing, where one direction gives way, on Main Street
- Steeple Claydon, about 12 miles north-west of Aylesbury: speed cushions and a priority narrowing on Addison Road, and a raised junction where it meets Willowvale Way
- Gawcott, about two miles south-west of Buckingham: a priority narrowing on Preston Road at the village entry
- Quainton, about seven miles north-west of Aylesbury: two speed cushions on Station Road, double yellow lines at its junctions with Lower Street and Lower Road, and marked parking bays with double yellows between them
- Waddesdon, about five miles north-west: double yellow lines on Baker Street and School Lane, and a single yellow line on Baker Street banning waiting from 7.30am to 9.30am and 2.30pm to 4.30pm, a school-time restriction
The Steeple Claydon scheme also revokes an existing 30mph speed limit order at the Willowvale Way junction. The report lists this but does not explain it.
The money
HS2 gave Buckinghamshire a Road Safety Fund of £3.95 million, which the council accepted in August 2019. The report says it is for problems “created or made worse by the construction of High Speed 2”.
The first two rounds of spending were released in 2021 and 2022 and have been delivered. The third and last round is worth £1.3 million. It pays for more, smaller schemes, mostly road markings, signs and traffic calming.
HS2’s Road Safety Fund project board approved 18 schemes for this round. Only the seven above needed a statutory consultation before building. The report does not list the other eleven.
The council’s own spend figures, from the report:
| Period | Budget | Spent so far | Still to spend | Forecast total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Previous years | £2,388k | £2,388k | £0 | £2,388k |
| 2026/27 | £1,561k | £417k | £882k | £1,296k |
| Total | £3,950k | £2,805k | £882k | £3,684k |
By September the council had invoiced HS2 for £3.5 million, with £450,000 left to claim once the work is finished. The report asks the Leader to let the highways director change the scope of the schemes, if needed, to fit what is left.
Where people objected
The consultation ran from 11 June to 15 July 2026. Letters went to properties on each road, notices went up on site, and the plans were posted on Your Voice Bucks.
The traffic calming schemes went through easily. All 5 replies in Grendon Underwood supported the speed cushions, as did 13 of 14 in Gawcott and 33 of 37 in Padbury. In Steeple Claydon, 30 of 33 backed the raised junction.
The parking schemes were a different story.
- Quainton, 48 replies. Only 7 supported the double yellow lines between the parking bays on Station Road, and 41 objected. The bays themselves had 12 in support and 36 against. The double yellows at the Lower Road junction were opposed by 28 to 20.
- Waddesdon, 28 replies. The double yellow lines on Baker Street and School Lane had 10 in support and 18 against. The school-time single yellow line on Baker Street was narrowly backed, 15 to 13.
Many Waddesdon objectors said residents already struggle to park, and that the lines would push cars into neighbouring streets such as Chestnut Close and Grove Way. That theme runs through the consultation response document published with the report.
What the council changed
Officers have cut back both parking schemes, but not dropped them:
- Quainton: the double yellow lines on Station Road are shorter than proposed. The southbound bus stop moves, which the report says will “maximise on street parking” and stop parked cars blocking pedestrian access to it.
- Waddesdon: the existing “School Keep Clear” marking stays, and the double yellow lines planned for the same stretch outside the school are dropped. The other double yellows go ahead unchanged.
Every other scheme is recommended exactly as consulted on. The parish councils in Grendon Underwood, Calvert Green, Steeple Claydon and Waddesdon all backed their schemes before the consultation. Grendon Underwood’s said the plan was “exactly what we asked for”.
What happens next
- Thursday 8 October, 5pm: deadline for views to reach the decision-maker, by email to democracy@buckinghamshire.gov.uk.
- Monday 12 October: the Leader’s decision. It is a key decision and can be called in.
- After that: the council makes the traffic orders and advertises them in the local press. Everyone who replied to the consultation is told the outcome.
- Building: the report says work will start “at the earliest opportunity” in the 2026/27 financial year, which ends in March 2027, depending on contractor programmes.
The work is commissioned through the Buckinghamshire Highways Alliance, with AtkinsRealis as designer and Balfour Beatty Living Places as term maintenance contractor. Maintenance afterwards comes out of the council’s own highways budget, not HS2’s.
What it means for you
- In Quainton or Waddesdon: if you live on Station Road, Baker Street or School Lane, check the amended plans in Appendix 3 on the decision page before Thursday. The lines are shorter than the ones you were consulted on, but there will be fewer places to park than now.
- Driving through the other five villages: expect build-outs, cushions and an island on the roads above. The council aims to start before the end of March 2027, but has not set dates.
- School run in Waddesdon: waiting on Baker Street would be banned from 7.30am to 9.30am and 2.30pm to 4.30pm.
HS2 construction traffic has been the background to all of this, and our roadworks and travel page tracks the closures it causes each week. For parking rules in the town itself, see parking in Aylesbury.
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