A47 improvements criticised by Mayor Palmer for falling short - the road ‘needs to be fully dualled between Peterborough and Wisbech’

Guyhirn on the A47 Picture by Rob Howarth/Stella Pictures Ltd 07768 285551 20/02/2017 ©Stella Pictures Limited www.stellapictures.co.uk +447813 022858

Mayor James Palmer James Palmer has criticised the £16 million roundabout improvements at Guyhirn for “falling short” of what’s needed to improve congestion on the A47.

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And he says he’s baffled by the time scale suggested by the Highways Agency to get the work done.

“I have no doubt that the plans for the Guyhirn junction will make a positive difference to a particularly congested section of the road,” he said.

“However, I can’t help but feel disappointed by the published proposals overall. They fall far short of what I believe is needed to tackle congestion along this key corridor.

“I personally find it baffling that according to the timescales published by Highways England it’s likely to take just short of three years to go from where we are today to the roundabout at Guyhirn being enlarged. Without doubt greater urgency needs to be injected into the proposals.”

Mayor Palmer said: “What we are talking about here is a crucial transport corridor linking Norwich to Peterborough and via the A1 the rest of the country.

“It needs to be fully dualled between Peterborough and Wisbech. I see it as part of my role as mayor to inject the kind of urgency behind these proposals that the people in the north of the area I represent expect.

“They use the A47 on a daily basis and know better than anyone the clear need for it to be significantly upgraded sooner rather than later.”

The mayor said Highways England were now embarking on more consultations on the preferred options for upgrades along the A47 and with other delays it is likely no work on any of the improvements will start before 2020.

In June the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority voted to develop a business case for dualling the A47 between the A16 east of Peterborough and Walton Highways east of Wisbech.

Mayor Palmer added: “What we are talking about here is a crucial transport corridor linking Norwich to Peterborough and via the A1 the rest of the country.

“It needs to be fully dualled between Peterborough and Wisbech. I see it as part of my role as mayor to inject the kind of urgency behind these proposals that the people in the north of the area I represent expect.

“They use the A47 on a daily basis and know better than anyone the clear need for it to be significantly upgraded sooner rather than later.”