Government Scraps A14 Toll Plans

Busy motorway at twilightThe government has abandoned the idea of introducing tolls on a proposed section of the A14, south of Huntingdon.

As I reported in September, the idea was that tolls would be used to help pay for the Huntingdon Southern Bypass, a new section of the A14 which is due to begin construction sometime in 2016. This idea has now been scrapped, and the new road will be fully-funded by the government.

Here’s an overview of the plans from my original post:

  • A new Huntingdon Southern Bypass, with junctions at Ellington, at Brampton (where the A14 would meet the A1), at Godmanchester, and on the existing A14 at Swavesey. (This is the section where tolls were being considered, this idea has now been abandoned.)
  • The A14 through Huntingdon would be de-trunked. The A14 viaduct over the mainline railway in Huntingdon would be demolished, enabling the existing A14 to be tied into local roads, greatly improving traffic flows in the town and accessing sites for possible new development.
  • The A14 will be widened from Swavesey to Milton (the section between Girton Interchange and Histon will be widened earlier as part of a separate improvement scheme. Work is due to start in early 2014).
  • A new single carriageway access road will be built alongside the improved A14 between Fen Drayton and Girton and is intended for local use.
  • Girton and Milton junctions will be upgraded to improve traffic flow and to add more capacity, with improvements to other junctions along the route.
  • Two new junctions will be constructed at Bar Hill and Swavesey to maintain existing access to the trunk road and to connect with the new local road network
  • The A1 will be widened between Brampton and Alconbury in order to provide the additional capacity needed to cope with traffic linking to the A1 from the new Huntingdon Southern Bypass.

Unsurprisingly, the Road Haulage Association was one of the biggest opponents of the toll, which it believed would have made it harder for East Anglian hauliers and the Port of Felixstowe to remain competitive. John Howells, RHA Southern and Eastern Regional Director, had this to say following today’s news:

“We have been against the suggestion since it was first raised nearly two years ago. It would have meant a tax on the economy of East Anglia and Suffolk as hauliers would have had to pass on the additional costs. In addition, it would have greatly undermined the competitiveness of the Port of Felixstowe and other ports in the region by adding to the cost base of haulage to and from the port.

Personally, I think that random and uncoordinated tolling isn’t the solution — where a toll system is put in place, it needs to be centrally planned so that it generates enough revenue to justify its existence, and the burden of paying the tolls is spread evenly across road users so that the competitive landscape remains unchanged.

Most European motorway tolls are operated on this basis, giving all hauliers have the choice of paying equal toll costs or travelling more slowly and cheaply on non-toll roads. Simply tolling random stretches of road to lower the cost of their construction isn’t a solution to 21st century traffic management problems.

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