£40m Sudbury relief road could cut number of HGVs in town by 60%
An end to Sudbury’s ongoing traffic problems could be in sight after the business case for the long-awaited western relief road concluded that the benefits would far outweigh the costs, the EADT can reveal.
The report, commissioned by the county council, states that Sudbury and the surrounding area are facing major transport problems which are in turn “stifling growth” and restricting connectivity.
The campaign for a bypass, which began more than 20 years ago, has recently stepped up a gear due to heavy congestion caused by the high volume of HGVs using the main A131 from Essex and cutting through the town’s narrow historic streets.
According to the new study by WSP Parsons Brinckerhoff the relief road would cost around £40million but would cut the number of HGVs in the town by 60%. It would also result in 600 fewer vehicles per hour travelling though the town centre.
The proposed route would be 3.5km of single carriageway which would run through to the west of Sudbury and to the east of Bulmer and Borley. Previous attempts to get a bypass were dropped due to the potential harm it could cause to the environment.
It is likely that the relief road would intersect the Railway Walks local nature reserve with direct loss of some wildlife habitat, but the Sudbury Common Lands is “unlikely to be directly affected” according to the report.
South Suffok James Cartlidge who has been campaigning for the relief road said: “Sudbury is a great town with a genuine community and strong sense of civic pride, but nothing tests that pride more than the regular pounding of HGVs past its priceless historic heritage.
“For all the technical arguments in this report, and which will inevitably follow its publication, the bottom line is that the people of Sudbury want their town back – back from the HGVs, back from the congestion.”
He added: “This report shows that we now have the credible prospect not only of slashing traffic and lorry volumes through our town, but also of delivering serious economic benefit. Indeed, when you consider the context in the coming years of the multi-million pound revamp planned for Gainsborough’s House and state of the art rolling stock coming to Sudbury railway station, the relief road could complete a new economic dawn for the local area.”
• New business case shows the Sudbury relief road would see a benefit to cost ratio of approximately three, meaning that every £1 invested in the new road would see around £3 of transport benefits.
James Finch, Suffolk County Council’s cabinet member for highways said it showed how big the benefits could be for motorists, business owners and residents.
“This is the first step in a long process and we are aware there are still issues that need to be addressed, but this outline case shows a relief road would cut the environmental issues in the town, particularly the volume of traffic,” Mr Finch said.
“I look forward to working with all our partners to pursue further funding from the New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership and the Department for Transport to work on a more developed business case, which will hopefully enable us to receive Government funding to make this road a reality.”
Chris Starkie, managing director of New Anglia LEP, said: “Projects like this play a vital role in opening up our region, helping attracting inward investment and retain local talent, as we grow our dynamic economy.
“This study has shown the importance to Sudbury of relieving congestion which costs our local business time, money and customers.”
Published by The East Anglian Daily Times.