Commuter toll road
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could ease A14 jams —
• by Guy Sheppard
A £15m toll road for commuters could free a notoriously congested stretch of the A14 dualcarriageway in Cambridgeshire.
The 10-mile road, linking St Ives with north Cambridge, has been proposed by millionaire entrepreneur Peter Dawe, who is a member of East Midlands Development Agency.
"The failure of successive Governments to invest in infrastructure in the region means there is now a sufficient gap between supply and demand to allow a private road to be feasible," he says.
Four years ago Dawe made £36m by selling a stake in an internet service provider; he now owns four radio stations and a cable TV channel.
He believes the road could be financed by a 11 toll per vehicle, removing the need for any public sector investment. Because it would not need to be designed for heavy lorries, it could cost less than a quarter of normal roads. The route would either run parallel with the A14 or along a disused railway line.
Dawe's proposal document, published earlier this month, says the mix of heavy lorries and cars on the A14 creates a "nightmare of danger and delay" because it is used as a national trunk route as well as a local distributor road. Diverting light vehicles from the A14 would
benefit the remaining users.
Mark Vigor, strategic planning manager for the county council, says the A14 is carrying nearly double its capacity at peak periods, and Dawes proposal highlights the need for investment in infrastructure.
But he adds that the council is unlikely to support turning the rail line into a road: "Our focus has been on using that as a public transport corridor."