Villages go on traffic pollution blacklist

PARTS of Fenstanton and Brampton close to the A14 are so polluted by nitrogen dioxide that they are to be declared air quality management areas. But, because trunk roads are out of Huntingdonshire District Council s control, there is little the authority

PARTS of Fenstanton and Brampton close to the A14 are so polluted by nitrogen dioxide that they are to be declared air quality management areas.

But, because trunk roads are out of Huntingdonshire District Council's control, there is little the authority can do to manage the problem.

The two areas will be added to a list of areas polluted by traffic that already includes Huntingdon's inner ring road - to which traffic on the A14 viaducts also contributes - and part of St Neots town centre.

Homes in Hilton Road, Fenstanton, have been found to be polluted. Even houses south of the A14, away from the prevailing wind, are included in the area.

At Brampton, a small number of homes nearest to the Brampton turn off the A14 are included in another air quality management area.

Both new areas will be relieved by the proposed new route of the A14, which will take the road further south from Fenstanton towards Hilton and to the south of Brampton instead of the north, as now.

If the Huntingdon southern bypass is built as a six-lane highway and the existing road is closed, it will also provide some pollution relief on Huntingdon's ring road.

In St Neots, a joint committee of councillors from the county council and HDC is looking at new traffic management arrangements.

INFORMATION: A preferred route for the new A14 is expected to be announced by the Highways Agency. If approved by the Government after a public inquiry, work is scheduled to begin in 2008/09, with completion some time between 2011 and 2015.