£1.5 Million For People Affected By A14 Upgrade

11 October 2014, 07:20 | Updated: 11 October 2014, 07:22

A fund of £1.5m is set to be agreed in principle by Cambridge City Council to pay for measures to reduce the impact on residents of the proposed A14 improvements.

In July the council expressed support for the A14 upgrade scheme but also raised concerns about the impact on residents.

The Highways Agency was asked to provide further detailed information on transport modelling, air quality, noise and vibration issues relating to the proposals.
 
The council is still waiting for some key traffic-related information to be provided by the Highways Agency. This is needed to make a better assessment of the impact on the city's residents.
 
The Highways Agency is set to submit feedback from its consultation on the scheme to the Planning Inspectorate in the coming weeks. This is a part of the process for getting planning permission for the scheme. Meanwhile, the government has asked the council to confirm its £1.5m fund.
 
Cllr Kevin Blencowe, Executive Councillor for Planning Policy and Transport, said: "We think the A14 upgrade is good news for the region but we expect that there will be implications for residents of Cambridge.
 
"We will need to take action to deal with the impact of additional traffic and this money will help us to do that.
 
"We need some firm data to allow us to assess the extent of that impact because this will help us to decide what mitigation measures to put in place. Identifying this fund now will enable us to plan in the context of the council's overall budget."
 
The £1.5m 'Keep Cambridge Moving Fund' would be spent over a period of 25 years and would need to be considered as part of the council's budget setting process before it is finally agreed.
 
Cllr Blencowe will decide on the recommendations in the report at Environment Scrutiny Committee on 17 October.

Work is expected to start on widening the A14 from Cambridge to Huntingdon, in 2016.