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Where are the next big road schemes for the East of England?

Andrew Sinclair
BBC political editor, East of England
Andrew Sinclair/BBC Building work on a bridge. Scaffolding surrounds the shell of the bridge, a crane hangs over the bridge having just delivered a slab of concrete. Andrew Sinclair/BBC
The transport secretary has approved four more major schemes and said another 10 were "under consideration"

Following the Department for Transport's decision to fund four road schemes in the East of England the government has published a list of other major road projects that are "under consideration".

Over the next two years works should begin to upgrade the Lower Thames Crossing and the A12 in Suffolk, to build a new road connecting the A10 to A47 in Norfolk and to build a roundabout and establish a sustainable transport scheme for Chelmsford.

The Department for Transport has listed 10 further potential road schemes across the East of England where it would work with local authorities "to determine their viability and affordability".

These projects could be eligible for the next round of funding in three to five years time, if there was enough public support and if the business case looked attractive.

What are the schemes under consideration?

Map of the East of England showing schemes that have recently been approved on the A12 in Suffolk, the A10 near Kings Lynn, Chelmsford and the Lower Thames Crossing. it also shows schemes waiting to be approved listed below
The road schemes in black have recently been approved and the ones in red are now "under consideration"
  • Norwich Western Link: A 3.9 mile road between the A47 and Broadland Northway. This would complete an outer ring road around the city and ease congestion in the suburbs. The controversial £270m project was paused earlier this year after Norfolk County Council was unable to resolve objections by Natural England, which raised concerns about the impact on a local bat colony. The authority recently agreed to look again at the scheme
  • Pullover junction, Kings Lynn: Improving the A17/A47 junction would ease congestion. Previous suggestions have included upgrading the roundabout or building a flyover. Norfolk County Council stopped pursuing the idea last year after it was concerned the benefit-to-cost ratio was too low to attract government funding
  • A10 Ely-Cambridge: Junction improvements and making the entire stretch a dual two-lane carriageway. Cambridgeshire County Council and the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough mayoral authority have worked together on the project, but have recently been looking for ways to reduce its cost
  • A1139 Peterborough: New slip roads from Fletton Parkway to facilitate access to the new university
  • A10 Broxbourne: Junction improvements
  • A127 Basildon to M25: Various improvements are planned to both the road and to encourage greater use of public transport. Parts of the project have already received money from Essex County Council, the local enterprise partnership and Department for Transport
  • A13 Grays: Remodelling of the A126/A13 junction
  • Vauxhall Way, Luton: Dualling the road would increase capacity and improve journey times to the nearby airport. There would also be provision to encourage more use of cycling and public transport
  • A509 Isham bypass: A proposed dual carriageway around the village to improve the capacity of A509 and improve links to the A14
  • A43 Northampton-Kettering: The first two stages of dualling between the A45 and A14 have already taken place. West Northamptonshire Council is looking for funding for the third stage.
House of Commons/PA wire Heidi Alexander with grey hair and a blue jacket addressing MPs in the House of CommonsHouse of Commons/PA wire
Heidi Alexander said she will fund road projects that will help grow the economy and open up land for houses

There is no guarantee that these schemes will eventually receive government funding, as that will depend on their business case and whether councils can demonstrate that there will be a significant economic return for the cost of construction.

Schemes that can draw in funding from other sources may also stand a better chance.

Yet these will be the main projects that local councils, MPs and business and transport groups will be working on and lobbying the government for over the next few years.

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said projects that would help generate economic growth and open up land for housing will be at the forefront for consideration.

Which road schemes were not approved?

The transport secretary has decided not to fund widening works to the A12 in Essex, between Chelmsford and Marks Tey, telling MPs that the £1.2bn project was too expensive.

"Only projects that are fully costed, affordable and deliver a return on taxpayers' money will be given the green light under my watch," she told MPs.

She also dropped a proposed upgrade of the A47 at Wansford near Peterborough.

She said: "We are already investing over £500m on improvements to the A47 corridor [in Norfolk].

"It is just not feasible to support further investment at this time."

Both decisions have been criticised by local business groups and the Suffolk Chamber of Commerce accused Alexander of "a significant strategic blunder".

Neither scheme has made it onto the department's "under consideration" list.

MPs have pointed out that the East of England has recently received money for Sizewell C, the Lower Thames Crossing and East West Rail.

The new list suggests that there could be other big road projects in the east in line for funding if the region can make the case for them.

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