HIGHWAYS chiefs are being urged to come clean over just how much disruption will be caused by a major project to improve the notorious dock spur roundabout on the edge of Felixstowe.

HIGHWAYS chiefs are being urged to come clean over just how much disruption will be caused by a major project to improve the notorious dock spur roundabout on the edge of Felixstowe.

Parish councillors have been told the work could mean on four nights all traffic - cars, vans, and lorries heading for Britain's biggest port - could be taken off the A14 and sent through the twin Trimley villages.

But there are rumours that the situation could be much worse - with some suggestions that the roundabout could be closed for a year with 10,000 extra cars and trucks every day hurtling along what is already one of the county's busiest village roads.

Highways chiefs say they do not yet know the exact arrangements but one officer said closing the A14 for a year would be “inconceivable”.

Bryan Frost, chairman of Trimley St Mary Parish Council, said it had been proving very difficult to get the true information from the Highways Agency as the council is not an official consultee.

“At the moment we just cannot get to the bottom of it - we have had a very unsatisfactory reply from the agency and no-one seems to want to tell us what is happening at all,” he said.

“It could affect the village in a big way. It may be just four nights over a weekend or it could be weekdays which would be worse. It may just be cars or lorries, too.

“It could be anything or nothing or something in between and we are seeking further details urgently.”

A Highways Agency spokeswoman said: “The publication of the notice is part of a statutory legal process which gives us the powers to impose temporary traffic restrictions.

“All of the powers granted in the temporary order are not always actually used during the works.

“A contractor has not yet been appointed for the scheme and so therefore, we do not have a programme of works nor details of diversions or carriageway closures.

“However, it is likely that overnight lane closures will be needed during the works.”

What would you like to see done at the dock spur roundabout? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN, or e-mail EveningStarLetters@eveningstar.co.uk

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WORK at the dock spur junction will involve putting in a third lane coming towards Felixstowe.

The scheme - to be paid for by the Port of Felixstowe - is needed because the container terminal will generate an extra 2,700 trucks a day - a million more a year - on top of the 4,000-plus already using the junction when its latest expansion is fully operational.