Road plans do not go far enough

Dec 1 2008 by William Green, The Journal

MINISTERS have admitted upgrades to the region’s transport network are critical for Britain – but excluded the A1 through Northumberland.

The Department for Transport (DfT) has included the congested A1 Western Bypass and East Coast main rail line in one of 14 strategic national corridors and will lead work on how they can be improved to boost economic growth and fight climate change.

Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon said the Government was committed to “serious” long-term planning despite the economic downturn, warning congestion and rail crowding will become a brake on economic growth and jobs.

Ministers are now looking at increasing road capacity and high-speed rail links, with Transport Minister Lord Adonis leading a major study.

But in a move branded as “ludicrous” by business chiefs, the DfT has excluded the A1 north of Newcastle, despite concluding the link between Newcastle and Scotland is crucial.

Ministers have repeatedly refused to declare the A1 as of strategic national importance, leaving more than 40 miles of single carriageway.

Details of the changing policy are contained in DfT report, Delivering a Sustainable Transport System, slipped out this week alongside a consultation looking at planning for 2014 and beyond.

The report reads: “It is likely that all transport corridors will need some action to improve delivery against the transport goals, even where it is only a matter of considering lengthening trains and addressing localised road congestion and safety issues. There will need to be a mechanism for looking across different packages to understand their cumulative impacts and ensure that environmental limits and our climate change goal are respected.

“But it is sensible to prioritise our efforts by looking first at those transport corridors where the challenges are greatest and the solutions are least clear-cut.”

Blaydon Labour MP Dave Anderson said: “It is fine they have recognised what we have said for a long time on the A1 around Newcastle and Gateshead. But the truth is that unless they do any work further north, we are only getting half the benefit.”

Ross Smith, head of policy at the North East Chamber of Commerce, said: “It is frankly ludicrous that it is nationally important to get to Seaton Burn, but not Edinburgh.

“But if the Government is recognising a strategic transport corridor through the North East then that is welcome and we hope in future the investment will match that.”

Anne-Marie Trevelyan, founder of the A1 campaign group, said: “It is always good to know that the regional voice is being heard in part. But they are failing to see the bigger picture.”

A DfT spokeswoman said the A1 included in the strategic corridor went up to the junction with the A19 north of Newcastle along with East Coast intercity rail services.