Liberal Democrats Oppose A14 upgrade

Liberal Democrats Oppose A14 upgrade

When I heard that the City Lib Dems were opposing the A14 upgrade, I thought someone had got the wrong end of the stick. I thought nobody could really be against upgrading this road. However, I was wrong, because City Lib Dems are against the A14 upgrade. There have been many places they have said they are opposed to the upgrade, here's one of them http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Home/Transport-bosses-back-A14-upgrade.htm

As I have been out meeting people around East Chesterton, it has become increasingly clear to me that the only people who think abandoning this upgrade are the Villages affected by the upgrade and the Lib Dems. Apparently the Lib Dems have some magical way of relieving the pressure on this road and saving lives.

The delays to the upgrade has resulted in more and more misery and have cost the local area millions in wasted time etc. and yes the delays have also caused the estimated cost of the project to sky rocket to an enormous £1.3 Billion. Now in anybody's terms that's a lot of money. I understand the Government (which of course contains Lib Dems these days) saying we need to look at these big ticket items to see that we are going to get enough benefit to justify the cost. However, I am absolutely sure that when they have looked at it, they will see the huge benefits that would come from upgrading this road.

One of the reasons for this unfathomable stance on the A14, is the Lib Dems believe it will add to the congestion in Cambridge. Somehow they think the majority of the vehicles are sitting on the A14 trying to get into Cambridge, and it is better that they sit out in other areas, like the car park called the A14. I have no wish to make Cambridge any more congested than it already is, quite the opposite in fact. But I cannot agree that Cambridge will suddenly come to a grinding halt (more than it already does) because we have a better functioning trunk road running past it. The fact remains that it is a trunk road, and a major one at that. It is probably the most important link road in East Anglia, and carries hundreds of thousands of vehicles through Cambridgeshire on a daily basis.

I fought hard to get Chesterton the railway station and I do believe the rail freight is going to be more and more necessary of the next few decades. Huge investment is needed to ensure we can reduce the volume of lorries trundling around our road network. But that does not mean we shouldn't invest in the road network too.

You just have to talk to people that use the road to know that this upgrade was overdue 10 years ago, never mind now. From speaking to hundreds of East Chesteron residents, and people from all over the County, Cambridgeshire needs this upgrade and it needs it now. Further delays are only going to cause more misery and tragedy. So I would ask the Lib Dems to think about this ridiculous stance they have taken and start thinking about Cambridgeshire and the people who live and drive in it.