UK Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander has scrapped a £1 billion commitment to upgrade what has been described as “the worst A-road in the country.”
The 16-mile stretch of the A12 between Chelmsford and Colchester is notorious among drivers, prompting 9,000 road users to voice their dissatisfaction in a Transport Focus survey.
Announcing the upgrade project’s cancellation at parliament, Heidi shared (per ITV): “It falls to this Government to make the difficult but necessary choices about future transport projects, to level with the British public to provide much-needed certainty and to govern with integrity.
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“Only those projects that are fully costed, affordable and will deliver a return on taxpayers’ money will be given the green light under my watch. That means no more black holes and no more busted budgets, no more promising the moon on a stick – those days are over. I have therefore taken the difficult decision on the strategic road network not to progress the A12 widening scheme.
“We have also decided not to progress the A47 Wansford to Sutton scheme,” she added. “We are already investing over £500 million on improvements to the A47 corridor, with work to dual sections in Norfolk already under way, but it’s just not feasible to support further investment at this time.”
Louise McKinlay, deputy leader of Essex Country Council, was rather disgusted by this turn of events.
“It is frankly essential that improvements to this vitally important corridor are made,” she argued.
“I will be seeking an urgent meeting with Government ministers to discuss how the opportunity presented by the widening project, which has been many years in the making, is not lost.”
MP Priti Patel concurred with the councillor’s remonstrations, calling the government’s change of heart “disgraceful”.
“They have just undermined billions of pounds of investment in the Essex economy, damaging growth and new housing plans,” said Priti.
“Families, businesses and landowners who have made plans based on this scheme going ahead now face uncertainty and distress. By scrapping this scheme Labour are going to be responsible for more congestion and accidents on our roads.”