The Green group at Suffolk County Council have shared their reaction by the council’s Cabinet today to spend £300k to look again at options to relieve the pressure on traffic routes in Ipswich.
The plans follow a decision made at council in July when the MP for Central Ipswich, Jack Abbott, tabled a petition of support for an Ipswich Northern Bypass which had been signed by 3,978 local residents.
Proposals for a northern route were prepared by the council a few years ago but did not proceed due to lack of funding for the projected £350m cost and significant opposition from the rural communities where the routes would be sited. It is likely that a similar scheme would now cost at least £500m.
Other options that will be considered this time include an alternative crossing (bridge or tunnel), works on existing roads and junctions to improve resilience, and an Upper Orwell style crossing to reduce congestion in the town. It also highlights the importance of rail improvements which would reduce the number of lorries to and from the Port of Felixstowe.
Andrew Stringer, Leader of the Green group, questioned the willingness of the Reform UK administration to spend the money going over old ground, when the funding required for the solutions was likely to be an even higher figure, and just as difficult to source.
He explained:
“This seems like it is just going to be another waste of money.
The council still doesn’t have the money for a northern bypass or an alternative Orwell crossing and has no guarantee it could find funding for them. Cllr Hudson acknowledged in the meeting that the council had no money to do any of it.
Instead of folding from pressure from the Labour MP for Ipswich and spending £300k to go over old ground, perhaps they should be the ones lobbying Jack Abbott to get the long-promised rail improvements at Ely and Haughley delivered.
He has said in the past that they are ‘straightforward schemes’, so it should be easy for him to sort out.
If the Ely improvements were made, 2,900 extra rail freight services could be put in place which would mean 98,000 fewer lorry journeys for the port. This would have a considerable impact on the level of traffic on the A14.
This wouldn’t just benefit Ipswich in the event the bridge is closed, it would improve the traffic in all the towns along the A14 which suffer when there are problems with the road.
The economic growth in Suffolk that Reform UK are saying they will deliver will lead to a 40% increase in traffic before any of these potential schemes sees the light of day, while the shovel-ready rail improvements that would take 98,000 HGVs off the A14 are still unfunded.”
