£260 million bid for A10 dualling submitted

New bids for a multi-million funding package to secure major upgrade to one of the key roads in and out of West Norfolk have been launched.

Government ministers are being urged to back a plan to dual the A10 between Ely and Cambridge, on which a decision could be made within weeks.

Leaders of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority are hoping to secure more than £260 million of funding for full dualling of the route.

A smaller bid, for around £38 million, has also been lodged for junction upgrades on the route.

The applications follow on from renewed pressure on the government to commit to full dualling of the A47 between Peterborough and Yarmouth – a scheme the combined authority also supports.

It has already committed to developing a business case for dualling the A10.

And officials insist that work will continue, regardless of whether the new bids succeed or not.

The region’s mayor, James Palmer said: “We know that for the A10, dualling has been long on the local wish list, with journey times and congestion already causing frustrating delays and holding back our economy.

“With future predicted housing and business growth, the need for this upgrade couldn’t be clearer.

“My job now is to ensure that the new ministers at the Department for Transport are quite clear as to the importance of these schemes.

“I will be lobbying hard ahead of an anticipated funding decision this autumn.”

If the larger bid is approved, it is thought work on dualling the route could begin in 2024 and be completed two years later.

Work on the junction upgrades could start two years earlier if that proposal is backed.