The start point for the best source of fleet information |
A14 toll road plans cancelled
Date: 04 December 2013 | Author: Will Stretton
Plans to introduce a toll road on the A14 have been scrapped.
Improvements to the major dual carriageway, which runs between the port of Felixstowe in East Anglia and the Midlands, will now be funded by general taxation.
A 25-mile stretch of the road north west of Cambridge will be widened as part of the plans.
The decision follows strong opposition towards additional road charging schemes.
Chief policy director at the Confederation of British Industry, Katja Hall, said: "The news that a decision has finally been made on funding for the A14 means this essential upgrade will get off the ground sooner."
John Howells, regional director at the Road Haulage Association said toll roads "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."
Speaking to the BBC in September, prime minister David Cameron said of the tolls: "I think there is a strong case for saying when you're putting in new capacity, when you're dealing with congestion, that some of the people who are going to benefit from that, should pay something towards it."
However, at his weekly Commons session last week, he said: "I am well aware of the strong feelings. about this issue and I have been approached about it by many Members of Parliament.
"I believe that road tolls can play an important part in providing new road capacity and it is important that we find ways to pay for road capacity, but I also understand the concerns about this individual case."
