A14 in Suffolk identified as a potential expressway

Campaigners looking to secure government investment at seven pinch points along the A14 in Suffolk have welcomed the news that the road has been identified as a possible expressway in a report published this week.

Highways England, the government-owned company with responsibility for the operation, maintenance and improvement of the motorways and trunk roads in England, has issued its Strategic Road Network Initial Report.

This provides a long list of those roads projects that have met the basic criteria for further evaluation by the Department for Transport.

Under the heading ‘Developing the network for the future’, which shows the network classification over the medium term, the A14 in Suffolk is marked as a ‘current, planned and potential expressway’. The report outlines the phased process in upgrading a highway into an expressway, including improvements to junctions with other roads – the key demand of the current campaign.

Jo Churchill MP, chair of the Suffolk Chamber of Commerce-led No More A14 Delays in Suffolk Strategy Board, welcomed the A14’s inclusion in the report “this news is a huge motivator in our campaign to improve the A14 in Suffolk. Recognition of the need to upgrade the A14 to an expressway, is incredibly promising.”

Stephen Britt, chair of Suffolk Chamber of Commerce’s Transport & Infrastructure Board, added “the inclusion of the A14 in Suffolk as a potential expressway is great news for the county and a vindication of the No More A14 Delays in Suffolk campaign.

“Expressways are motorway-grade two-lane highways and their designation requires that all junctions off and onto them are enhanced – the whole point of our lobbying efforts to address the seven major pinch points along the A14 in Suffolk. We now look forward to the Department for Transport’s consultation into this report where we will continue to make the case for the A14 – and other Suffolk projects – being included in the final Roads Investment Strategy 2.”