Brooks pushes for A120 answers
Brooks Newmark has tackled the Transport Minister, Dr. Stephen Ladyman, on the lack of progress on the scheme to upgrade the A120 between Braintree and Marks Tey. Brooks Newmark has tackled the Transport Minister, Dr. Stephen Ladyman, on the lack of progress on the scheme to upgrade the A120 between Braintree and Marks Tey.
During Transport questions in the House of Commons Brooks said, "Consultation on the extension of the A120 between Braintree and Marks Tey was completed about 20 months ago. My constituents were promised a preferred route proposal, and we are still waiting for that proposal. Can the Government tell us when we will get it, and if, when it is proposed, there will be enough money left in the pot to complete it?"
The Highways Agency has yet to finish its assessment of responses received during the public consultation on the scheme. Once the assessment is complete the Secretary of State must make a preferred route announcement for the scheme, which may pave the way to a full public inquiry if there was sufficient objection to the proposal.
Dr. Ladyman replied that, "The information on the preferred route will be made available as soon as is practicable, but whether the money is available for the scheme will depend upon the regional funding allocation process. We will take the advice of the local region and local people as to what their priorities are."
Funding of the proposed scheme has been remitted to the East of England Regional Assembly. In a letter sent to the EERA in July, the Secretary of State for Transport noted that the A120 scheme has not yet been accepted into the Targeted Programme of Improvements and that the provisional window for construction is in the years from 2009/10 to 2015/16.
Brooks said, "I am concerned that the Secretary of State's letter admits that 'we cannot commit to precise start dates, given uncertainties about future scheme costs and progress.' We must have some greater certainty about the progress of a scheme that is vital to our region, particularly if we are to benefit fully from the 2012 Olympic Games."
Brooks is also concerned about the complexity of the system for deciding regional priorities and funding. He said, "the Secretary of State may well say that 'the structuring of the prioritisation model drawn from best practice provided a methodology that was transparent' but even his language isn't transparent."
"The decision making process for this road scheme seems to be as congested as the roads themselves and it is absurd that the planned improvements to the A120 may well sit behind a 10 year funding tailback.
