East of England

Let's play Transport Trumps in the East of England.

Problem 1: There’s too much traffic in Norwich

Northern Distributor Road

Road solution: Norfolk County Council wants to spend £116.5 million to build a dual-carriageway across the northern fringe of Norwich – that’s £16.6 million a mile. The new road would encourage car-based development on greenfield sites, increasing CO2 and traffic. The road also threatens the Wensum Valley SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest).

Better public transport

Public transport solution: Local people and the Norwich Green Party are pushing for greater investment in and development of public transport, walking and cycling as well as measures to discourage car use. Their proposals would reduce pollution and congestion and create a more livable city.
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**Result: Public transport solution trumps road solution!**

Problem 2: The A14 is filling up

A14

Road solution: The Highways Agency wants to spent £1.2 billion – equal to £150 million a mile – to build a dual carriageway to the south of Huntingdon between Ellington and Fen Drayton, widen parts of the exiting A14 to at least three lanes in each direction and create major interchanges with the A1. The scheme would increase lorry trips on the nearby A road, encourage more car-based development and increase CO2 emissions by 83,000 tonnes a year.

Rail freight improvements

Rail freight solution: Local people are campaigning to have a rail freight line extended from Felixstowe-Harwich to the East Midlands distribution depot. This proposal could remove most of the freight lorries on the A14 (which make up to 25% of the traffic), making a new road unnecessary.
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**Result: Rail freight solution trumps road solution!**

Problem 3: Parts of the A11 get congested

A11 Fiveways to Thetford

Road solution: The Highways Agency, along with regional and county governments, wants to spend up to £157 million to dual nine miles of the A11 between Fiveways and Thetford - that's over £17 million a mile and five times the price the project was first estimated to cost a few years ago. Widening this stretch of the A11 corridor would greatly harm The Brecks, an area of considerable ecological, archaeological and landscape value. The widening is projected to save about 10 minutes' journey time (PDF, 5MB).

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Problem 4: The A120 is filling up with vehicles

A120 Braintree to Marks Tey

Road solution: The Highways Agency wants to spend £444 million to build a dual carriageway between the Braintree bypass and the A12 near Feering - that’s £38.2 million a mile. The proposed route would scar the currently peaceful river valley, ruin the setting of many ancient buildings and carve through what are currently quiet rural lanes.

Rail extensions

Reader's suggestion: Ben Hughes (one of our web visitors) proposes rail track extensions and improvements to help move lorry trips on to rail, since the Braintree branch line runs parallel to the route of the proposed dual-carriageway, and to run passenger services to Stansted Airport from all towns on the A120 corridor. This would involve reopening the Braintree to Great Dunmow line and extending it to Stansted. His proposal would reduce traffic and air pollution on the A120. It would cost about half that of the proposed road scheme.
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**Result: Rail solution trumps road solution!**

Do you know of other proposed road schemes in the East of England that could be trumped? If so, we want to hear about them!

In the real world of Transport Trumps, transport schemes are assessed through a cost-benefit analysis. We think the analysis is flawed because roads always come out as Top Trumps.

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