UPDATE ON A14 ROADWORKS/DIVERSIONS

Following representations from many residents and the intervention of Haughley Parish Council, the following letter has been received from our MP with regard to the planned A14 roadworks in 2023 and the possibility of diversions through the Haughley villages and Wetherden.

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"Please find attached a response from National Highways to the issue I took up on your behalf which I hope provides you with some reassurance.

Thank you again for contacting me and do not hesitate to get in touch on this or any other matters you think I can help with. 
 

National Highways
Second Floor
Woodlands
Manton Lane
Bedford MK41 7LW
Tel: 07850 907501
2 August 2022
Dear Jo Churchill

Diversions from the A14 during unplanned events
Thank you for your email of 21 July sharing the experiences of your constituents about traffic being diverted off the A14.
There are two types of event which would see traffic being diverted off the A14. One would be an unplanned event or incident, such as a traffic collision, and the other would be a planned event such as roadworks.
Emergency incidents are usually managed by the police, often with support from us, National Highways, and they will put in place ad-hoc emergency diversion routes. Managing traffic during an unplanned incident can be very challenging as drivers will seek to find their own routes, often following sat-navs.

Unfortunately, there are not many suitable alternative routes along the A14 corridor. This means that options for diverting traffic are very limited. We’re currently reviewing emergency diversion routes and mitigation plans for lengthier unplanned incidents on the A14. We met with Suffolk County Council (SCC) on 22 July to begin discussing options for emergency diversion routes and the feedback we have received from residents. This work is ongoing, and we expect the review to be complete by the end of this year.
For planned events, such as resurfacing, we always look to carry out our work without having the close the main carriageway. Safety is our main priority. It is not always possible to carry out our work while keeping the main carriageway open and we then consider options for diversion routes. This is done on a case-by-case basis and is discussed and carefully planned with SCC colleagues.. We encounter similar difficulties as we do with emergency diversion routes in that there are not many suitable alternative routes.

We recognise the impact on our neighbours of overnight closures of the A14 and A12 and make every effort to minimise them. We’re starting to combine work streams so that we target one area or length of road and carry out several activities at once. Whilst this may cause significant disruption, it does mean we don’t need to come back to the same place several times which may be more disruptive.
Where we must divert traffic through neighbouring communities, we’re employing measures such as safety camera vans to monitor and help enforce local speed limits and extra signs to tell drivers they’re in residential areas and to turn off sat-navs and follow signs.

Several of your constituents who commented ahead of our meeting with SCC, raised concerns about our plans to rebuild the concrete section at Haughley next year. We have already listened. That work will be carried out under contraflow so that as much A14 traffic is kept on the A14 as possible. We will, however, need to close the A14 occasionally so that contraflow can be installed, change direction and taken off when finished. How we do the work is still being finalised and we will update you on our plans later this autumn. More information will be made available on our website here.
I hope you and your constituents find my reply encouraging. If they wish to make further comment or would like more information, they are welcome to contact our Head of Scheme Delivery, Simon Amor. Simon can be contacted by telephone on 07881 805234 or by email at simon.amor@nationalhighways.co.uk.

Yours sincerely
Martin Fellows
Regional Director
Operations (East)