Campaigners say they fear a huge increase in traffic on local roads after proposals for a designated bypass north of Luton were scaled down.
A 70mph dual carriageway costing up to £140 million to build had been proposed to link the M1 and the A6 as part of housing development of 4,000 homes.
But Central Bedfordshire Council has now said it is unlikely such a large sum of money can be secured, and that it has had to consider alternative options.
Minutes from a meeting of the council’s executive committee show the road will not be a dual carriageway, and that it is likely to be “completed in stages, as housing completions progress”.
In spite of this the council says the road will act as an alternative route for HGVs which would otherwise travel through the villages, and accommodate traffic from the 4,000 new homes and from the proposed rail freight interchange at Sundon.
Mary Walsh, chair of Harlington Parish Council, said: “They’re trying to build a piecemeal road, as and when the money comes about.
“I don’t know exactly what it is they want to build. There’s no particular route and there’s no particular finance.
“We will be left with a new estate and no new road. All that traffic will will be going through the villages.”
Lynne Hammond, from the ‘No to North’ campaign group, said: “This has always been a housing scheme masquerading as a road scheme. Now they’ve dropped the strategic nature of the road it will just be a minor road, and it can’t possibly deliver the traffic benefits a major road would have.”
Councillor Nigel Young, responsible for sustainable communities, called the road an “important piece of infrastructure”.
He said: “We have had confirmed by the developers that it will be fully funded through Section 106 agreements from new housing and employment developments proposed north of Luton.
“In the event that other funding is required later down the line, the council would also look to the Community Infrastructure Levy, which will be gathered from developments across Central Bedfordshire to help provide funding.”