Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the effect on the local economy of congestion on the A47; and if he will make a statement.

The Department undertook a comprehensive study into the A47 in 2014, which utilised the route strategies work carried out by the Highways Agency (now Highways England).

This identified congestion on the A47 as one of the reasons constraining economic growth, as well as causing unreliable journeys for road users.

Six locations were identified as requiring investment and the details of the proposed schemes were published in the Road Investment Strategy in December 2014.The estimated value of the six schemes is over £300m.

Highways England will progress these schemes, as detailed in their Delivery Plan 2015-2020 published in March 2015. They will also update their assessment of congestion on the A47 as they refresh their route strategies in the next few years.

Approximately £0.68m has already been recently invested on the A47 in the Peterborough area to deal with congestion through two pinchpoint schemes – improvements at the A1/A47 Wansford Junction and on the A1/A47 Wansford southbound slip road.