A45 ban looming
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LORRIES over 16.5 tonnes gross weight will be banned from a ninemile section of the A45 Haven Ports trunk road in Cambridgeshire, if current county council proposals are implemented later this year.
The Cambridgeshire transportation committee agreed in principle last week to a 16.5 tonne gross weight limit on the section of road between St Neots and the Northamptonshire boundary, as a means of relieving a major problem in the village of Kimbolton. Surveys suggest that this will remove 250 lorries every 12 hour day from the village, whereas a 13m length limit would only divert about 160 lorries a day from the village.
Cambridgeshire intends to advertise an experimental oneyear order, banning lorries from this road, except for access, or for loading and unloading, and it is likely that the ban will apply from a date after the next committee meeting in October.
Earlier plans for traffic to be diverted from the A45 were resisted by Northamptonshire County Council, and it still has misgivings about the latest plan, which would divert lorries from the A45 on to the A428 Northampton by-pass, and on via Bedford to St Neots.
But Cambridgeshire Police and Huntingdon District Council support an experimental restriction in principle.
The Freight Transport Association is not happy with the proposal, and the Road Haulage Association, while prepared to test the effects of an experimental ban (partly because it might prove to be a failure), would prefer a length limit rather than a weight restriction.
RHA Eastern area secretary Ken Williams told CM that his members accept that there is a serious problem in Kimbolton, where lorries obstruct oncoming traffic, and cause damage to buildings, but said he was worried that a ban could harm local businesses.
He said the alternative route for through traffic would add little to journey times, but any restriction on delivery vehicles would have the potential for closing village shops if delivery costs increased.
Mr Williams added that it was imperative that advance signing be provided for vehicles approaching the area, and he cautioned Cambridgeshire County Council against going ahead with a ban if Northamptonshire refused to erect signs.