Brooks calls for A12 answers

Brooks Newmark today called for the Government to give some answers to local residents concerned by the safety of the A12. Brooks Newmark today called for the Government to give some answers to local residents concerned by the safety of the A12.

In a letter to the new Secretary of State for Transport, the Rt. Hon. Douglas Alexander MP, Brooks said, "This is an issue which has been ongoing for quite some time and I hope that it will now begin to be given sufficient priority by the Highways Agency and the Department for Transport."

Brooks is pushing for prompt action by the Highways Agency after meeting with a number of Parish Councils which raised the poor safety record of the A12.

The Agency has confirmed in a press release and leaflet to residents that it has carried out consultation on widening the existing carriageway to three lanes between Witham and Hatfield Peverel, upgrading the junction slip roads, and the closure or improvement of some of the direct accesses on to the A12.

However, work will only commence in 2008/9 and only then "subject to funding being confirmed."

To highlight residents' safety concerns Brooks has also asked two Parliamentary Questions to identify the worst accident black-spots on the A12 and to establish the number of those killed or seriously injured on the A12 in each of the last 5 years.

Brooks said, "The Government must prove that it is not putting local residents at risk by withholding crucial investment in our road network."

It is not just transport issues like the Cressing Loop and the A120 which affect our communities. So many residents continue to have concerns about accident black-spots on the A12 that the Government must now sit up and listen.

Motorists and residents have waited for years for the Highways Agency to take action to alleviate pressure on some of the worst affected stretches. They should not have to wait any longer.