THE British government says a mix of public and private money coming to GBP1.5 billion (US$2.3 billion) will be spent to upgrade the A14 trunk road stretch that serves the Port of Felixstowe, owned by Hong Kong's Hutchison Port Holdings.

The public, private partnership (PPP) scheme expects to recover costs through the collection of road tolls, reports London's International Freighting Weekly. Such a scheme would create the country's second toll road of the M6 Toll that bypasses Birmingham and costs truckers GBP11 per trip.



There is speculation that the Port of Felixstowe's owner, Hutchison Ports UK, would form part of the private component of an investment consortium, but the company declined comment.



Said a company spokesman: "Across its entire length the A14 is actually quite a good road but there is a bottleneck where it meets the M11 and A1 near Cambridge. This is the main route out of the country for UK exports so this upgrade is very important to the economy."



The plans include a new bypass to replace the existing road around Huntingdon and upgrades along the A14 as far east as Milton. Two new roads would be built in parallel to the current A14 immediately north of Cambridge for local use. The existing A14 carriageway will be upgraded through the removal of accesses and junctions, and improvements to junctions at the northern and southern ends.



Transport Secretary Justine Greening said: "The A14 is a crucial strategic route for the east of England, vital not only for international road traffic using the Port of Felixstowe but everyone who relies on it daily.



"This is why my department has been working hard to generate innovative and imaginative solutions to tackling long-term congestion and I am pleased to be able to unveil what we believe to be the best option for people living locally as well as those who see it as a lifeline to international markets."



The government has also recently announced a GBP200 million rail investment package that includes major improvements at Ely, Peterborough and Leicester, which will enable more freight to be carried by rail between Felixstowe and Nuneaton.