Asked by: Jo Churchill (Conservative - Bury St Edmunds)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to improve facilities for HGV drivers on the A14 in Suffolk.
Answered by Karl McCartney
The Government recognises the need to ensure hauliers have access to appropriate services and facilities.
We will be investing £52.5 million in roadside facilities for HGV drivers on the road. The funding will go towards supporting operators to make improvements such as improving security and eating facilities as well as possibly increasing spaces for lorry drivers.
We have commissioned a ‘National Lorry Parking Survey’ which commenced in January 2022 and will be used as our primary evidence base to understand what improvements are most needed and where they are needed. The A14 in Suffolk is included in this survey and its output will be used, both to set criteria for government funding and will be available to support planning applications for new lorry parking.
The Department continues to engage with key stakeholders to encourage the development of more safe, secure, and high-quality lorry parking to improve driver welfare.
Asked by: Jo Churchill (Conservative - Bury St Edmunds)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to help ensure that National Highways is delivering on its duty to clear litter on the A14.
Answered by Karl McCartney
The responsibility for clearing highway litter and sweeping carriageways is governed by the Environmental Protection Act (1990). National Highways’ responsibility for clearing litter is limited to motorways, with a small number of exceptions. Litter picking on most trunk roads, including the A14, lies with the relevant local authority.
National Highways has committed to keep the Strategic Road Network predominantly free from litter, without compromising safety and delivered in an affordable way. To continuously improve collaboration with local authorities and partnership working, National Highways shares forward maintenance and traffic management plans with local authorities to allow for litter collection to be carried out safely and simultaneously to maintenance.
Asked by: Jo Churchill (Conservative - Bury St Edmunds)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to improve resilience and reliability at Haughley Junction.
Answered by Wendy Morton - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Department is considering proposals for performance enhancements at Haughley Junction. While I cannot discuss individual projects at present, I remain committed to providing clarity in the upcoming update to the Rail Network Enhancement Portfolio (RNEP).
Asked by: Jo Churchill (Conservative - Bury St Edmunds)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps are being taken to improve the A14 from junction 42 (Westley) to junction 51 (Beacon Hill).
Answered by John Hayes
Highways England has no plans to improve this section of the A14 in Suffolk within the current Roads Investment Strategy (2015-2020). However, Highways England’s largest construction project has just commenced on the A14 between Huntington and Cambridge.
There are now updating its East of England route strategy in preparation for the second Roads Investment Strategy (2020-2025) and options for improving the A14 further will be considered.
Asked by: Jo Churchill (Conservative - Bury St Edmunds)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what change there has been in passenger numbers on trains in Suffolk since 2010.
Answered by Paul Maynard
The number of journeys made by rail in Suffolk during 2014-15 has increased by 23% since 2009-10, in line with the strong growth nationally in rail journeys. The number of journeys since 2009-10 is shown below.
Year | Number of journeys in Suffolk | Percentage change from the previous year |
2014-15 | 6,121,321 | -0.1% |
2013-14 | 6,129,781 | 1.0% |
2012-13 | 6,068,473 | 6.7% |
2011-12 | 5,688,434 | 4.9% |
2010-11 | 5,423,631 | 9.1% |
2009-10 | 4,971,597 | - |
Source: The Office of Rail and Road
Asked by: Jo Churchill (Conservative - Bury St Edmunds)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much his Department spent on transport infrastructure projects in (a) Bury St Edmunds constituency and (b) Suffolk in each year from 2010-11 to 2015-16.
Answered by Andrew Jones
Details on spend for transport infrastructure projects are not available at constituency level nor is there an annual breakdown at county level. However, Suffolk has benefitted from significant Government investment in transport projects over the period 2010-11 to 2015-16.
The Ipswich Chord is a £59m rail link connecting the Port of Felixstowe to the Great Eastern Main Line. The project was completed in 2014. A further £24m has been invested in improvements at Ipswich freight yard, which were completed in 2015. This forms part of a wider portfolio of improvements to rail freight services between the Port of Felixstowe and the West Coast Main Line which will help reduce congestion on the A14.
The A11 widening scheme is a £105m improvement to the A11 between Thetford and Fiveways roundabout, which opened in December 2014. Suffolk CC received a £18.3m Government contribution towards their £21.6m Travel Ipswich scheme in September 2015, an integrated package of sustainable transport measures. In 2011 Suffolk CC also received £5m of Local Sustainable Transport Funding (LSTF) for the Lowestoft Local Links project that will deliver a range of sustainable transport benefits in the town, including cycling & walking and in 2013/14 Suffolk CC was awarded £1.5m via the Cycle Safety Fund.
As part of the July 2014 Local Growth Fund allocation, the New Anglia LEP secured Government funding of £5.7m for the Bury St. Edmunds Eastern Relief Road and £2m for the Beccles Southern Relief Road in Suffolk. In addition, Government provided £4.6m towards the £6.6m Lowestoft Northern Spine Road, completed in March 2015.
Looking to the future, this Government continues to invest in transport infrastructure in Suffolk - at Budget 2016, a £73.4m Government contribution was announced towards the Lowestoft Third Crossing plus £77.5m for the Ipswich Wet Dock Crossing.
Asked by: Jo Churchill (Conservative - Bury St Edmunds)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many traffic surveys and counts his Department has conducted in Bury St Edmunds constituency since 2010.
Answered by Andrew Jones
The Department for Transport (DfT) has conducted the following numbers of manual traffic counts within the area covered by Bury St Edmunds constituency in each year since 2010.
2010 17 counts
2011 16 counts
2012 16 counts
2013 16 counts
2014 16 counts
2015 13 counts
These counts are carried out for the purpose of producing DfT’s statistics on traffic. They are conducted by observing traffic unobtrusively at designated locations and consequently have no impact on the traffic flows.