In a press release today (Wednesday 20/10) the Department for Transport has announced that the A14 widening project, which would have widened the road to three lanes each way past Milton and effectively to five lanes each way further west has been “withdrawn”.

Tucked away in Annex B of the document it states:

The roads programme includes one individual scheme which is estimated to cost over £1 billion to build – the A14 Ellington to Fen Ditton scheme. We recognise that this corridor faces severe congestion, and that mobility along the route is critical for economic success and growth. However, the current scheme is simply unaffordable under any reasonable future funding scenario. The Department is therefore withdrawing the current scheme. We will undertake a study to identify cost effective and practical proposals which bring benefits and relieve congestion – looking across modes to ensure we develop sustainable proposals. This approach will also provide an opportunity for the private sector to play its part in developing schemes to tackle existing problems in the corridor.