Government plans introduction of A14 tolling to fund major investment

The plans include a new bypass to replace the existing road around Huntington, an upgraded carriageway and the addition of two new roads, on either side of the existing route, for local use. However, "more work" will need to be undertaken before the Department for Transport (DfT) can make a decision on the length of the tolled section of the road, how users would pay and what the tariff should be.

"The A14 is a crucial strategic route for the east of England, vital not only for international road traffic using the port of Felixtowe but everyone who relies on it daily," Transport Secretary Justine Greening said. "This is why my department has been working hard to generate innovative and imaginative solutions to tackling long term congestion."

The A14 links the ports in the south east of England with the Midlands. Construction work could begin by 2018, the Government said, subject to agreement with local authorities on a funding package and decisions at the next Spending Review.

Infrastructure law expert Jonathan Hart of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com, said that although the announcement "appeared to suggest movement in the right direction", the plans themselves were not much further developed than those in the project's first appearance, as part of the National Infrastructure Plan last November.

"This is another ostensibly positive announcement from the Government which is a long, long way from generating any income for construction companies in the short to medium term," he said. "The thing which will have caught the attention of the 'Top Gear' lobby is the stated intention to make part of the scheme subject to tolling, as this breaks cover from the Government's previous announcements that it would hold back from tolling and road charging in general during the lifetime of this Parliament."

He added that if the intention was to attract external project finance, the Government would have to be careful to avoid the "negativity" surrounding the M6 tolling scheme and some Irish road tolling public private partnership (PPP) projects when filling in the detail of its chosen model.

The plans are the result of work undertaken by the DfT, local authorities and businesses since the collapse of a previous road improvement scheme between Ellington and Fen Ditton in 2010 on affordability grounds. The Government also plans to support public transport improvements in the area, which could include new local and 'park and ride' bus services as well as commercial express bus service between Peterborough and Cambridge.

In a speech to the Institution of Civil Engineers in March, Prime Minister David Cameron said that the Government needed to be "more ambitious" in looking at "innovative approaches" to increase funding for the road network; however, he said at the time that the Government was only considering the introduction of tolls on "new, not existing" capacity. The Treasury and DfT are due to report in the autumn on the feasibility of "new ownership and financing models" for the national road system, such as through concession agreements or a regulated asset base (RAB) model like that in use in the water sector.

Edmund King, president of motoring group the AA, condemned the announcement, which he said "contradicted" previous Government policy on tolling.

"The coalition agreement was that there would be no tolls on existing road," he told the Telegraph. "The worry is that essential traffic will divert off the toll route and clog up local routes leading to more congestion, pollution and accidents."