Chamber of Commerce: Government investment plans include A1307

The team behind the campaign to upgrade the A1307 between Haverhill and the junction with the A11, just outside of Cambridge, have welcomed news that the road has been included in a government report for potential investment.

The campaign to dual the A1307, which suffers delays and has numerous accident blackspots, has brought together a range of partner organisations across Cambridgeshire and Suffolk. The A1307 Strategy Board is chaired by the MP for West Suffolk, the Rt. Hon Matt Hancock MP, and is managed by Suffolk Chamber of Commerce.

After a number of years of evidence-gathering and lobbying, the campaign has persuaded the Department for Transport (DfT) to include the A1307 in its Major Roads Network (MRN).

The MRN is made up of a middle tier of the country’s busiest and most economically important local authority ‘A’ roads, sitting between the national Strategic Road Network and the rest of the local road network.

The Government has announced that approximately £3.5 billion will be spent on local roads between 2020-2025, with individual projects likely to receive between £20m and £50m each.

John Mayhew, chair of Suffolk Chamber in Haverhill & District, said: “It’s great news that the A1307 is on the MRN list and has made the grade in the government’s road investment plans. This key route for people and businesses is clearly not fit for present, leave alone future, purposes.

“However, being included in the DfT’s report is no guarantee that the A1307 will automatically attract the funding it needs to be upgraded. Our campaign must continue to build support from communities from across the three counties, including Essex, which it impacts upon.”

Rt. Hon Matt Hancock MP, added: “This is excellent news that the A1307 is being included in the Major Roads Network.  The upgrade in the status of the road is really important to our long term campaign to get the road improved. I’m so pleased with all the work being done by the A1307 Strategy Board and Suffolk Chamber of Commerce to get us to this point. 

“We need to keep up our campaign now to get the funding needed for improvements to the road to make it safer and with fewer traffic jams.”

For more information on the Suffolk Chamber of Commerce, please visit their website.