Don’t waste the work already completed on A14 upgrade

AFTER the bitter disappointment of having the A14 Ellington to Fen Ditton scheme cancelled a year ago, it is ironic that the Government – goaded by public and business opinion – has now decided to restart the process.

Clearly the �20million allocated in the first tranche of monies will barely scratch the surface, and improvements to the Girton and Spittals interchanges – while useful – may turn out to be nugatory in the longer term, since the road clearly needs to be rerouted away from Huntingdon and other settlements en route to Cambridge.

Furthermore, the bridge over the railway continues to deteriorate, and accidents again feature almost daily in national road reports.

The section of the A1 between Alconbury and Peterborough provides a role model for how this work could be done by private enterprise – generating employment in the process – while the capital expenditure is spread out for the national exchequer.

Finally, we have already had a major investigation, consultation and design studies costing nearly �40million and taking some years, which clearly identifies how the A14 needs to be developed for the benefit of local and national users. It would be foolish to waste such a useful investment just to start the process all over again – so, please let us dust it off and start talking to developers how it can be reinstated as soon as possible.

RICHARD TAPLIN

Cambridge Road

Godmanchester