Rural gridlock
Roads, like airports, provoke mixed emotions. A new road may destroy some precious green spaces. Yet congestion causes a negative environmental impact and is costly on time and stress. How also do you measure the cost of death and injury brought about by a dangerous road?
In West Suffolk, leading into Norfolk, is one of the most treacherous and congested roads in the country, the notorious A11. To dual it, and bypass the village of Elveden, would mean cutting through a man-made forest, with one landowner. By anybody’s standards, the planning and ecological impact is very low indeed.
For 30 years a plan has existed to resolve the problem of the A11. BBC2 actually put out a programme to illustrate dramatically its sheer awfulness. The incoming Labour government promised to act, and then just at the point we believed it would be built, it was moved to the East of England Regional Assembly (EERA) to prioritise this project.
There is no point in revisiting what happened next. However, following a meeting with the Transport Secretary, Ruth Kelly, there is a greater sense of understanding between EERA and the Department of Transport.
There are important hoops to get through and over £100 million would need to be found. But at least EERA understands now that it unequivocally has to back the scheme if it is to be realised.
Charles Clarke and I are hosting a meeting today to bring together all the local and regional stakeholders, to get our ducks in a row.
This is not a party political issue. When people lose their lives on the A11, as scores have, nobody asks whether they vote Labour or Conservative.
I have such a sense of personal disappointment as the local MP that the A11 has not been dualled yet. It is a disgrace. I can only hope today that our meeting really does move the matter forward.
John Ward said on June 5th, 2008 at 12:46 pm:
There is a very good saying about the twin subjects of roads and airports. It goes: “A mile of road leads nowhere. A mile of runway leads to the world.”
It is of course correct, though full-size airports capable of handling big jets, jumbos and the rest are a real issue in themselves. Far more useful in many places — especially nowadays with quiet, relatively ‘clean’ executive jets — are the smaller airfields such as the one in my own locality: Rochester Airport, which I helped campaign to save from closure several years ago.
This is an option not often considered, but is a valuable alternative in some circumstances.