East Anglia welcomes plans to drop A14 toll
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By Chris Tindall
REPORTS THAT the government was due to scrap plans for a toll on a new stretch of the A14 have been welcomed by freight groups and businesses in East Anglia.
As CM went to press, speculation was growing that the chief secretary to the Treasury will announce in today's Autumn Statement that the £1.5bn cost of the A14 upgrade in Cambridgeshire will be paid for by the government.
The Road Haulage Association (RHA) strongly opposed the proposal to charge LGVs up to £3 for using the 12-mile Huntingdon Southern bypass and launched a campaign to raise awareness. RHA policy director Jack
Semple said: "We gave the Department for Transport a clear RHA view that we would be opposed to a toll on the updated route two years ago. It's a completely unjust local toll. We would be pleased if the government withdrew it." Graham Newman, cabinet member for roads and transport at Suffolk County Council, said if the plan was dropped it would "represent a welcome response", adding: "The original toll plan would have been almost uniquely injurious to Suffolk businesses, particularly our ports, logistics and tourism industry. Much of Essex and Norfolk have other routes to the Midlands and the North. Moreover, many local users would have been exempt from the toll, while being the chief beneficiaries
of the improved route."
Pressure has been mounting on the prime minister to consider shelving the idea after he was forced to respond to concerns from his own party for the second week running in a Question Time session.
"I am well aware of the strong feelings in Suffolk about this issue, and I have been approached about it by many MPs," said David Cameron.
"I believe that road tolls can play an important part in providing new road capacity and it is important that we find ways to pay for road capacity, but I also understand the concerns about this individual case."
• Go to conunercialmotor.com today for all the latest news on the chancellor's Autumn Statement.