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How would you improve the congestion? Whatever you think about travel, traffic and transport, let us know here.

Working locally I am effected by the jams on the A14 regularly. Because the company I work for operates a ' just in time policy' for components I am frequently sent home when trucks are held up in jams around our area. Drivers often run out of legal driving hours, particularly if they have travelled from the north of England. Because of the selfishness of local road users we are unable to get the supplies we need at the start of the day.
David Worthington, Cambridge

I have recently moved to Ely and I am appalled to see the queues on the A10, both in the morning and evening between Ely & Cambridge. I admit I am one of the people causing the problem living in one of the many thousand new houses that have recently been built in Ely, but did the council not realise that all these people will probably work in Cambridge? I have also heard recently (and I hope it isn't true) that they have recently downgraded the A10 as they don't think it is that busy anymore! Who are they kidding? A 13 mile journey now takes 85 minutes in the evening! Should the developers who are making huge profits on theses housing developments put a % of their profits into dualling parts of the A10 or paying for a station carpark that people can actually park in after 7:30 in the morning? Does anyone else share the same views?
Paul, Ely

As several people have mentioned, lorries often block an outside lane for minutes at a time while passing each other at a 0.1mph speed difference. No-one seems to have mentioned the reason this happens, which is the compulsory speed limiters that lorries have to have these days. The overtaking lorry is physically unable to pass any faster. It's sheer bloodymindedness that makes them do it. What we need is a law (enforced!) against an overtaking manouvre taking more than a set time. Or a law preventing lorries from overtaking each other when the overtaken one is travelling at more than 45 mph, perhaps.
Steve, Cambridge

hgv s should not be allowed to race each other. the A14 should be hgv free in the fast lane. there is already a sign in use banning hgv overtaking.
gerry tyler, stamford. lincs

The bulk of the users of the A14 will not be heard on local radio. The moaners and groaners will however take the time to continue their hobby. The road is for everyone, not just for tesco shoppers and commuters. We need the merchandise imported via Felixstowe and Harwich to sell in our shops. Work and prosperity come at a price. What we want is freedom on our roads for all, knowing full well this will never be. It traffic was graded according to its importance many of the journeys made today would not take place. Priority must always be given to essential services and the haulage industry is one of them
Jane Holland, Cambridge

Safety Cameras: I believe we should have more in the Peterborough area. I travel along the Whittlesey road seven days a week, this road has many accidents on it and I think one or two cameras along this road would help keep the accident rate down Regards Pat Friskey
Patrick Friskey, Peterborough

Ban all lorries from the outside lane of the A14 between Huntingdon and Cambridge. Simple, but effective.
bryan Palmby, Peterborough

Travelling the A14 regularly is a real eye opener - the behaviour of some of the professional lorry drivers is appalling, they either speed, leaving no gap knowing the safety cameras won't catch them as they are set for the car speed limit, or they decide to pull out with no warning and overtake - well attempt to overtake with a speed differential of 1mph - perhaps taking 5 miles to pass. Failing this - these drivers then undertake and cut out - why are these drivers not prosecuted by the police or reported by the other professional and courteous lorry drivers! I am with the other user – let’s change the law and bring it line with Europe on this road.
John Gooch, Cambridge

Michael Pavey, Cambridge asks if I know the city at all. Well having lived and worked here for very many years I think the answer must be 'yes'. and having been, at various times, a pedestrian, cyclist and motorist can also claim to know the road system well. The system he laughingly refers to as an 'inner ring road' is nothing of the sort. It's a series of under capacity, shared use two lane roads controlled by out of synch traffic lights! Now he may not think that local traffic is being forced out onto the M11/A14 but it is nonetheless.
Ivor Gripe, Cambs. UK

Some of the problems are due to appalling signage. I write this as I sit looking at the chaos on Spittals caused by the overturned tanker. If you approach the roundabout from the west, the first sign tells you that the A14 is straight over. The road markings tell you it's right. Anybody who is unused to the roundabout can be forgiven for driving as if they are going to go straight over but at the last minute realising that they have to go right. A tweak on the steering wheel, and presto, another lorry on it's side! Luckily this time it didn't land on another vehicle and kill somebody like at least one occasion last year. It is only a matter of time until it happens again. PLEASE GET THE ROAD SIGNAGE CONSISTENT!
Chris Cowdery, Huntingdon, Cambs

Stupid lorry drivers? Why not look at what's done on the continent? One example being - lorries allowed to use only the nearside lane during peak hours, unless speed drops below 30mph, thus stopping lane-hopping - and if they get caught overtaking, massive on-the-spot fines! Most of the freight drivers on the M11/A14 are well aware of this system operating on Belgian, Dutch, German and French roads, so what's the problem? In my experience, on even more crowded roads in central Germany, this system frees the traffic up a lot, and also diverts freight from the road onto rail, or overnight travel. All it takes is some yellow and white paint, and a police force and county council who can think outside the shores of this little island!
Jamie, Cambridge

In response to 'Ivor Gripe's claim that the Cambridge city centre traffic calming measures are responsible for much of the Cambridge-area problems on the A14: does he actually know Cambridge at all? It's only the core historic city centre that has these measures, no more than a mile's radius outside is an inner ring road with no traffic calming measures at all. Even if traffic was allowed to drive freely through the centre at will (causing havoc and a very unpleasant centre), the roads are so small that capacity would barely be increased. And alas, cyclists' needs are still very under-represented even in Cambridge -- there's a long way to go yet. The balance is still much in favour of the motorist; anti-cyclist rants like this one do little to encourage harmony in the community, and less still to actually improve journeys for everyone.
Michael Pavey, Cambridge

You think the A14 is bad... I agree! But surely te UK's Biggest free NCP Carpark is the M25
C, St. Netos

Our lives are in the fate of the makers, every time we drive on this road from hell.
Voice Of Fate

could anyone tell me what the speed cameras with the double yellow front and rear panels with 2 lenses are capturing on the A14, are they to catch oncoming traffic or the opposite carriageway. Intersted to know if they read the rear or front of the car
j, huntington

My name is Robert Phillips and i am a student at Ernulf Community School Barford Road, St.Neots. I travel every day from Willingham near Cambridge to St.Neots to get to school. The last few weeks there have only been a few days which i have not been in a traffic jam on the A14. I think there could be something done about it. Thanks for reading this. Robert Phillips Age 12 Willingham
Robert Phillips,

The nearest free car park to Cambridge is the A14. Enough said.
Vishwan Candi, Oxford

The main problem with the A14, and other roads, is the standard of driving. If people would use indicators before changing lane and not tail gate other drivers, not to mention keep aware as to what is happening around them we would all get to our destination quicker and less stressed.
Graeme, St. Neots

I have lived and worked in Cambridge since 1999. I am currently considering continuing to work in Cambridge, but commuting in from a house I bought with my partner some 36 miles down the A14 (we can afford it there, and she works in Northampton). However, the idea of being stuck more than once per week on the A14 fills me with dread. I regularly drive from and to Cambridge. Each time there are "light" delays on the A14 (by which I mean the traffic flow suddenly slows from 70mph, to 50mph) it is caused by lorries overtaking lorries with a speed difference of 1mph. i.e. the outer lorry spends several minutes creeping past, casuing traffic queues to form behind. Combine this with drivers driving too close to each other, and you get heavy braking. This further slows everything down. This is a particular problem during the heaviest traffic times, and as a result I would propose that lorries are to be forced to use the inside lane of the Cambridge/Huntingdon stretch during morning and evening rush hour. And why not? This would almost certainly increase the overall average flow speed of the road, getting all the lorry drivers to their destinations sooner anyway. Maybe I'll just buy a helicopter?
Andrew Harmsworth, Cambridge

Baning lorries, tractors, caravans etc between 0800 and 0900, and 1700 to 1800 - or at least banning them from the overtaking lane between Huntingdon and Quy; this would make a huge difference to daily problems.
Paul M, Hardwick, Cambridge, UK

Speed Cameras Cause Accidents? This morning, 5 Feb 2003, I was caught for a while in the rubber-necking eastbound delay caused by an accident westbound (8 miles W of M11). Just a little earlier, I had to avoid someone swerving in front of me as he/she braked heavily on arriving at one of the speed camera sites. When I reached the accident site mentioned, I was interested to note that it had occurred on a dual carriageway precisely at a speed camera site. Is this a coincidence? The resulting tailback westbound involved 8 miles of double queued traffic back to the M11 interchange.
Tim Knights, Norwich

I left work at 8:10 this morning, heading for Fulbourn. I spent 15 minutes trying to get to the A14 through Fordham towards Newmarket. Once on the A14, the traffic was flowing fine, if a little on the heavy side. I tried to get onto the A11 but couldn't because of the dancing HGV's who couldn't make up their mind which lane to get into (which isn't the first time). And so my journey continued down the A14 - next stop Quy. I'm in the left hand lane, about to turn, when the traffic in the other lane comes to an abrupt halt, catching many unaware. This is due to congestion at Milton (!). The problem then is that those stuck turn off for Quy, one of them pulling out infront of me without looking, forcing me to brake severely, just avoiding a serious smash. The lorry behind me just manages to stop without hitting me. Once past this, I then have to queue for 10mins past the roundabout, before getting to Fulbourn at 8:55. ! This is a good day, but I've seen worse than this. Many don't even make it to work. Is this the way we have to live our lives, in fear of driving to work?
Jamie, Ely

Two lanes of very heavy traffic and no hard shoulder its a recipe for disaster. I fortunately avoided by fractions of a second being involved in this mornings major pile up at Hemingford Grey - the car in front didn't . Now I hear that they will be building even more homes on the M11 corridor - absolute madness.
Cheryl, essex

A lot of local Cambridge traffic, attempting short journeys to go North/South or East/West, are forced on to the A14/M11 because the centre of town has been traffic calmed, and blocked by rising bollards, to ridiculous extents. This extra traffic, forcing its way onto already congested 2 lane roads, causes tailbacks and HGV's to switch lanes. Cambridge 'traffic planners' are mostly cycle-riding motorist haters!
Ivor Gripe, Cambs.

I've been forced to travel on the A14 for two years now, its a very dangerous and busy road but by far the main cause of delays and accidents is the "professional" drivers who use it. It's time they were got off the roads and the freight put on to the rail network which, after all, is not fit for human transportation.
keith, Stamford

I concider myself very fortunate that I don't have to travel Looney Ally-- the A14 Huntingdon/Cambridge--very often. If ever there was a gross underestimation of traffic conditions it has to be this stretch of road. No point in bitching, it was built for the wagons going to & from Felixstowe & Harwich to the midlands & the north. The local population were obviously not concidered at all. The M11 should be extended to the A1M and the A14 should have been made a motorway in the first instance. Why wasn't it you ask. I hear the usual cry from government-- it cost to much. WHAT PRICE SAFETY. Irrespective of who blames who, shear volume of traffic is the major cause. "You can't get a quart into a pint pot". There is an accident every day on this terrible piece of road which is why my family & I try to avoid it like the plague.
Roger Davies, March, England

The fact of the matter is that the road system is so archaic and run down in this country (perhaps the worst in Europe, and I have lived in seven "first world" countries") still, we are slightly ahead of Greece and Portugal so let us be grateful for small mercies. the banning of lorries is no solution, in fact some of the most skilled drivers are lorry drivers. Let us just stop whingeing, accept that we are a somewhat under-developed nation in terms of infrastructure, and let us try to get on par with some of the more advanced African nations, at least we do not have dirt tracks (excluding the Fens)
Les knezevich, Suffolk

1. Open Alconbury airport - less traffic to Stansted 2. Fix A1/A14 and spittals roundabouts - reduce local queuing 3. Variable speed limits - constant 30 mph better than stop/ start/ crash. 4. Park and Ride combined with old train line. 5. INTEGRATION ! Look outside the immediate problems at the wider county picture. Have out of town car parks with conections to tram/ guided bus running in a continuous loop,delivering people to town centre bus hubs - short waits - high capacity - LOW COST
Ian, Huntingdon

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