Ely and Haughley Junctions to get upgrade and A10 to be improved …

The Government has announced major transport upgrades in Cambridgeshire – after a leg of HS2 was scrapped. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced a stretch of high speed railway between Birmingham and Manchester will no longer go ahead on Wednesday (October 4).

Mr Sunak pledged to “reinvest every single penny, £36 billion, in hundreds of new transport projects in the North and the Midlands, across the country”. This is set to include the remodelling of Ely Junction. as part of £9.6billion being spent in the East of England.

A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “One of the schemes to benefit will be the remodelling of the Ely^[1] North and Haughley Junctions, a vital part of East Anglia’s rail network where five busy rail lines converge. An enhanced spine route for rail freight will be delivered, allowing an extra 6 freight trains per day to run to and from the Port of Felixstowe – the equivalent of 98,000 lorry journeys off the road each year, including across the Midlands and the North.

• “The scheme will see the equivalent of 450 lorries removed from East Anglia’s roads every day, while passenger services will double on the Ely to King’s Lynn and Ipswich to Peterborough^[4] routes.”

  Around £610million has been earmarked for road schemes. This includes improvements to the A10 between Ely and Cambridge.

  A Cambridgeshire^[5] and Peterborough Combined Authority spokesperson said: “Further to today’s announcement that Government will progress upgrades to Ely Junction, it is also welcome that improvements to the A10 between Cambridge and Ely will be included within a £610million package for road schemes.

  “We will continue to work closely with partners to establish what that actually means for the current work ongoing to improve the A10, and ultimately the lives of residents.”

  Cllr Matthew Hicks, Chair of the East of England Local Government Association said: “Regarding the Ely and Haughley junctions in particular, EELGA has been working closely with colleagues throughout the region, including the Subnational Transport Bodies and the East of England All Party Parliamentary Group, to promote this project.

  “The benefits are set to far outweigh its costs, and it is predicted that this development will not only level up the East of England but will serve to improve access to the international gateways in the East of England, boosting growth in all other regions of the UK as well.”

References

1. ^{^} Ely (www.cambridge-news.co.uk)
2. ^{^} Cambs police officer used ‘racist’ language and ‘tried to get into nightclub’ using warrant card (www.cambridge-news.co.uk)
3. ^{^} ‘Unseasonably warm’ weekend with highs of 25C forecast for Cambridge, Peterborough and Ely (www.cambridge-news.co.uk)
4. ^{^} Peterborough (www.cambridge-news.co.uk)
5. ^{^} Cambridgeshire (www.cambridge-news.co.uk)