Eastern region

Eastern region

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Targeted programme of improvements

A6 Clapham Bypass Will provide a safer and healthier environment in Clapham by removing 80% of traffic.

A10 Wadesmill Bypass Will eliminate a bottleneck and provide a safer and healthier environment for Wadesmill, High Cross and Colliers End by removing nearly 90% of traffic

A11 Roudham Heath to Attleborough Will improve safety and accessibility to remoter areas of East Anglia thereby assisting development and regeneration.

A14 Rookery Crossroads Will improve safety by provision of two-level junction, carriageway realignment and closure of central reserve gaps.

A120 Stansted Braintree Will give greater accessibility required by local plans for expansion of Stansted Airport and improve environment of local communities by removing upwards of 65% of traffic from existing route.

A421 Great Barford Bypass Will provide a safer and healthier environment for Great Barford by removing 75% of traffic and eliminate a bottleneck on core route from Milton Keynes to Cambridge.

In addition, preparatory work will continue to progress the following schemes for dualling the remainder of the A11 to Norwich enabling them to be taken forward without delay, subject to full appraisal and the views of the regional planning conference:

• A11 Fiveways to Thetford
• A11 Attleborough Bypass

Schemes associated with development

The following development driven schemes will be taken forward subject to agreements with the developers concerned:

• A6 Bedford Western Bypass A428-A421 Link
• A13 M25 Lakeside Widening
• A120 M11 Stansted Slip Roads
• A428 Caxton Common Hardwick

Proposed studies

Subject to consultation with the regional planning conference it is proposed to undertake the studies detailed below. The outcome of these studies will inform consideration of transport infrastructure requirements in preparing Regional Planning Guidance, including the need for improvements to the trunk road network.

London to South Midlands Study to consider congestion problems in the area based on M1, A1(M)/A1 and M11 corridors. Particular issues to be addressed will be development pressures, access to major urban areas, and the scope for modal shift.

London Orbital Study covering M25 and adjacent radial routes to develop management strategy for M25.

Cambridge to Huntingdon Study to consider solutions to congestion and safety problems in this corridor with substantial development pressures, including the Cambridge Northern Fringe.

A47 Norwich to Great Yarmouth Study to consider solutions to congestion and safety problems on single carriageway sections of route.

Smaller scale measures

The following safety schemes will be carried forward:

• A1 Tempsford Junction Improvements
• A12 Hatfield Peverel Witham
• A14 Thrapston to Brampton Junction Improvements

In addition, the Highways Agency, as part of its ongoing management responsibility, will continue to examine the case for Local Network Management Schemes and use of toolkit measures to improve operation of the regions trunk road network.

Transport system

The Eastern Region includes the six counties of Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. The southern parts of Essex and Hertfordshire are urban in character with travel and transport patterns heavily dominated by the pull of London. On the other hand Norfolk and Suffolk are mainly rural, their main centres of population being Norwich and Ipswich respectively, supported by market and coastal towns. The rest of the region can be described as an urban/rural mix with Bedford, Cambridge, Luton and Peterborough being key centres.

The main trunk road routes radiating through the region are the M1, A1(M)/A1, M11/A11 and A12, while the M25, A14 and A47 provide the main east-west routes. The main rail routes radiating from London are the West Coast Main Line, Midland Main Line, East Coast Main Line, Cambridge/Kings Lynn, Ipswich/Norwich and Essex Coast Lines. All are electrified. The Region is less well served by east-west rail connections, the main routes being those around north London and from Ipswich and Norwich to Ely and onward to Peterborough. London Luton and London Stansted Airports are now expanding rapidly and the range of services is increasing, particularly with low cost operators. There are also regional airports at Southend, Norwich and Cambridge. Felixstowe, Harwich and Tilbury are major ports which are very important for the countrys international trade and dependent on good road and rail communications with the rest of the country. Other important ports are Ipswich, Lowestoft, Great Yarmouth, Kings Lynn and Wisbech.

Pressure points on eastern regions trunk roads

Following publication of What role for trunk roads in England? two consultative meetings were held with representatives of local authorities, business and environmental interest groups to consider problems on the regions trunk road network and priorities for action. These meetings served to inform the regions integrated transport seminar. In addition over 500 written representations were received.

The main areas for action identified as a result of the regional consultation were:

• Improvement of access to more remote areas of region, in particular completion of dualling of the A11 to Norwich;
• Dealing with serious congestion problems on main routes including the M1, M25, A12 in Essex and the A14 in Cambridgeshire;
• Removing trunk road traffic from communities to improve the environment and safety for residents;
• Improving the A47 as an east-west route in the north of the region;
• Addressing safety problems on single carriageway trunk roads;
• Need to consider development pressures, including infrastructure requirements, for expanding urban areas and major developments such as Stansted Airport;
• Transfer of some trunk roads of lesser importance to local highway authorities so they can be more effectively managed as part of the local road network.

Other decisions

The following scheme is to be replaced by a scaled down solution:

• A47 Hardwick Roundabout Flyover

The following schemes are to be the subject of further studies and/or consideration by the regional planning conference:

• M1 J6A-10 Widening
• M11 J14 Improvement
• A1(M) J6-8 Widening
• A5 Dunstable Eastern Bypass
• A14 M11 J14 to M1/A1 Link Improvement
• A47 Thorney Bypass

The following schemes are being withdrawn from the national trunk road programme:

• M1 J10-14 Widening
• M11 J5 North Facing Slip Roads
• M11 J8-9 Widening
• M25 J16-19 Widening
• A43/A16 Stamford Relief Road
• A428 Norse Road Link

Proposals for detrunking

Routes wholly or partly within the Eastern Region proposed for transfer to local highway authority management are:

• A6 Luton to Leicester
• A10 M25 (J25) to Cambridge and Kings Lynn
• A12 Ipswich to Lowestoft
• A17 Kings Lynn to Newark
• A134 Kings Lynn to Thetford
• A140 Needham Market to Norwich
• A428 Bedford to Northampton