Four crashes on the A14 this weekend provide yet more evidence of the urgent need to upgrade the A14. The need for this road to be widened has been known for years but first it was cancelled by John Prescott and then the Lib Dems got their way with a public enquiry this February. Thanks to these needless delays the cost has rocketed to $1.3bn but that doesn't make it any less essential.The new government's review of various projects was inevitable given the constraints on public finance (largely thanks to Labour's chronic overspending in earlier years) but I hope that this project gets through. Given the importance of the A14 for the local area as well as nationally and internationally it is no surprise that Conservative MPs and council leaders in the area are backing the project and lobbying the government for it.
It is somewhat disappointing that the local Lib Dems are letting their 'isolationist city' mentality guide their frantic attempts to stop this crucial work, with the MP even going so far as to call a Westminster Hall debate on the subject.
I agree that we can do more with getting freight onto rail but there's something slightly loopy about the Lib Dems' obsession with stopping the 'superhighway' into Cambridge - I hope they will think again and join local Conservatives in standing up for this crucial piece of infrastructure during the government's review. Coalition speaking unto coalition?
1 comment:
The railway from Felixstowe through London to Birmingham and Glasgow has already been improved and can take trains loaded with 9'6" high containers.
The railway from Felixstowe through Ely and Peterborough to Birmingham and Glasgow is now being improved and will take more freight trains loaded with 9'6" high containers.
But, still, we need the A14 improved and Conservatives must continually stress the urgent need for this improvement.
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