A14 improvements have been given a fresh push following a summit.
The major road that links the key port of Felixstowe with the rest of the UK sees many crashes and a lot of congestion, both of which are having a significant impact on businesses.
On Friday, June 19, Suffolk Chamber of Commerce hosted a summit bringing together MPs, council leaders and transport experts to ask for a more united approach to securing Government funding to find solutions for the ongoing issues.
It was revealed that Suffolk Chamber has written to the Secretary of State for Transport backing a number of short-term policies to help reduce accidents.
These include extending the 60mph limit from the A14/A140 Junction to the Seven Hills Junction and improving clearing-up times through National Highways and Suffolk Constabulary.
This was the second A14/Orwell Bridge summit convened by Suffolk Chamber.
The first was held in October 2025 and identified a range of prospective short, medium and long-term solutions in response to the business organisation’s Broken Down report. This highlighted the negative impacts of delays and closures on business operations and investment decisions.
James Cartlidge MP, Jenny Riddell-Carpenter MP, and Suffolk’s Police and Crime Commissioner Tim Passmore were among those in attendance, along with leaders and senior representatives from Suffolk County Council, Babergh, East Suffolk, Ipswich and Mid Suffolk.
As part of the summit, it was decided that National Highways will study congestion impacts around Felixstowe, Ipswich, Orwell Bridge and Copdock Interchange.
The Copdock Interchange upgrade plans will also be revisited under the Roads Investment Strategy.
Paul Simon, Suffolk Chamber’s head of public affairs, said: "Whilst there is clearly not one single solution available that will solve the capacity issues on the A14 and the economically damaging congestion and delays, it is heartening that many of the part-solutions do have widespread support from across the Suffolk system.
"We believe that all possible solutions, no matter how great or small, should be brought forward for investigation – at least to an outline business case stage or equivalent – as quickly as possible.
"We plead for pragmatism and collaboration as the default setting as we work together in this endeavour."
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