Bridge, bypass and congestion still an election issue

Plans for a northern bypass around Ipswich and new waterfront crossing in the town may have been shelved, but the ongoing problem of traffic chaos when the Orwell Bridge closes is still a local elections issue.

The bridge connects the Port of Felixstowe with the rest of the UK's road network and was built so that traffic goes south of Ipswich, rather than through the town.

However, if it is shut due to an accident, maintenance or winds above 60mph, it can cause massive congestion in Ipswich, as there is no major alternative route for container lorries and other vehicles.

The debate over what solution should be put in place — another crossing, a bypass to the north of Ipswich or even a tunnel under the River Orwell — is decades old.

Some businesses and voters say it should not be ignored ahead of the vote on Thursday, 7 May.

The Orwell Bridge opened in 1982 and is maintained by National Highways, but transport strategy and planning is the remit of Suffolk County Council.

This means looking at easing congestion in Ipswich and finding a solution for when the Orwell Bridge closes is up to the authority, where all 70 seats are up for grabs at the Conservative-run authority.

Plans for an Upper Orwell crossing over Ipswich's waterfront were scrapped in 2019, despite having government funding, and plans for a northern bypass around Ipswich were abandoned in 2020 due to a lack of political support for more housing to make the business case viable.

A series of roadworks and lane closures last year on the bridge brought the debate back into focus.

Tremayne Johnson is a director at Bartrums hauliers, based in Eye. It employs 300 people and he sees the Port of Felixstowe as a "vital driver of wealth and prosperity" in Suffolk.

"People underestimate just how much actually comes through Felixstowe and, of the ports that do exist in the UK, Felixstowe is the one that is most subject to being affected by wind," he said.

"I pity the poor residents of Ipswich. Suddenly their town is just snarled up with traffic because a key piece of the infrastructure, the bridge, is shut."

For Johnson, doing nothing is not a solution and he would like to see plans for a northern bypass for Ipswich revived.

"Although that's going to impact some of the people that live in the north of Ipswich, for me it's do-able and I think it would have such a significant benefit to everybody," he said.

However, he is open to other solutions.

"We should revisit the options that are on the table and work out which has the least costs and least amount of impact. I have a feeling the northern bypass might make most sense, but if on inspection a second bridge is a cheaper solution then, for sure, we should do that," he said.

Nick Green is a financier who lives in Hasketon near Woodbridge. He was the leader of the Stop the Northern Bypass campaign and then became one of the leaders of the Start Moving Ipswich campaign.

Hasketon was within the scope of the most northerly of the three proposed routes for a northern bypass.

Green said there were two reasons why he had campaigned against the bypass:

• The first was environmental as he didn't want to see "18km of Suffolk countryside concreted over"
• Secondly, he believed a bypass would just encourage more traffic in the long term, as there would be "more housing, cars and commercial sites" along the route

Working in Ipswich encouraged Green to want to be part of the campaign to deal with the town's congestion issues.

He said: "The very first thing we should be trying to do is get the freight off the roads and on to trains.

"We've got to look at solutions which have a chance of government actually paying attention and are affordable.

"The Upper Orwell Crossing is definitely one of them."

Businesses in Ipswich were very vocal last year when roadworks on the bridge caused long queues.

The Suffolk Chamber, which represents businesses, said: "Issues surrounding the capacity of the A14 and the surrounding roads system can only be addressed by taking a pragmatic approach that both goes beyond simple binary choices and simplistic rhetoric and which builds a consensus among key stakeholders that all potential solutions should be brought forward for serious investigations as soon as possible."

Siobhan Cairns has to drive over the bridge to get to work.

"If there's something that happens on the A14, it's almost impossible to get through Ipswich. There's no two ways about that," she said.

However, she is not sure a bypass is the solution.

"In terms of congestion in central Ipswich, that isn't going to be cured by a bypass as long as everybody keeps coming in, one person in a car," she said.

Another user, Isobel Cooper, said congestion in the town and finding a solution was an election issue.

"A crossing [such as the abandoned Upper Orwell one] may help but with all the housing development going on around Martlesham and north Ipswich, a bypass definitely needs further investigation."

Margaret Hancock, 75, has lived in Ipswich all her life. She says the idea of a bypass came up 40 years ago and she believes "traffic wouldn't be a problem if not everybody jumped in their car to drive two miles".

"I'm a cyclist and a walker and a public transport user. It will probably turn into an election issue," she said.

"We've been left behind by the government really in terms of our trunk road network. We're Suffolk and everybody thinks we're sleepy and don't do anything and don't go anywhere."

The Conservatives in Suffolk said they were committed to a study of all the available options to relieve congestion in and around Ipswich, in particular when the Orwell Bridge is closed. This includes a northern bypass route or another crossing.

The Green party said it did not want to see a new road built and thought supporters of the bypass needed to be honest and acknowledge "the only way it can be funded is by allowing private developers to build thousands of private for-profit houses".

Labour said a northern bypass around Ipswich was the only viable solution. This would be part of a wider strategy to move more freight onto the railway. It would be important to hold a full public consultation about the proposed route.

The Liberal Democrats have said: "A northern bypass is not a magic bullet to deliver a gridlock-free Ipswich". They added they would "invest in providing alternative solutions to urban car travel, bus routes, safe cycling and rail options".

Reform UK Suffolk said it is clear that "the current situation around the Orwell Bridge is unsustainable" and they are "committed to finding a long term solution to congestion. That means keeping all options on the table".

A full list of candidates can be found here.

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