Aiming to address congestion and long-term capacity issues on and around the strategically crucial A14, the Government has said that it will add a major scheme involving tolling to the Department for Transport (DfT)’s programme of major projects.
A study has confirmed that funding for the planned changes can be generated in part through tolling a length of the enhanced A14, featuring around 20 miles of new or widened road.
However, the DfT will need to do more work to determine the best solution, including what length the tolled section should be, how users would pay and what the tariff should be.
Transport Secretary Justine Greening said: “The A14 is a crucial strategic route for the east of England, vital not only for international road traffic using the port of Felixstowe but everyone who relies on it daily.”
She explained that the improvement package includes: widening the Cambridge Northern Bypass between Milton and Girton and enhancement of the Girton Interchange; provision of high standard roads for local traffic use running in parallel to an enhanced A14 carriageway between Girton and the area near the current Trinity Foot A14 junction; and construction of a bypass to the south of Huntingdon between the area near Trinity Foot and the A1, at both ends tying in with the existing A14.
For the Confederation of British Industry, Director-General John Cridland said: “As the major route for goods coming into the UK by road, linking one of our busiest ports at Felixstowe with the Midlands and the North, the A14 has been crying out for the sorts of improvements the Government is proposing.”
He said that the plans showed that the Government was looking at innovative ways of attracting private investment into the areas of infrastructure that need it most.
However, sustainable transport campaigner Sian Berry, speaking for the Campaign for Better Transport, said: “Behind the spin, the reality is that it doesn’t give the go-ahead to a large toll road through the Cambridgeshire countryside, but simply moves all the options into the next stage of consideration by the DfT.”
