CALLS have been made today for lorries to be banned from overtaking each other on the A14 on the Felixstowe peninsula to stop them clogging up the dual carriageway.

CALLS have been made today for lorries to be banned from overtaking each other on the A14 on the Felixstowe peninsula to stop them clogging up the dual carriageway.

It can take several minutes for trucks to overtake each other - causing long tailbacks behind.

Most modern articulated lorries have limiters to keep them to the speed limit, but this means they do not have enough extra acceleration to overtake other HGVs very quickly.

Motorists have been left frustrated as trucks try to pass one other at 50mph on the approaches to the port to try and ensure they get ahead of each other in the queues onto the container terminals.

Felixstowe town councillors have suggested trucks stick to the inside lane on the dual carriageway on the peninsula to try to ease congestion problems, which it is feared will get worse as the port expands, putting another one million lorries on the roads in the next 15 years.

Councillor Mike Stokell said: “Lorries overtaking each other can be a real problem both on the A14 and as they leave the port.

“If you get stuck behind a lorry overtaking a lorry all you can do is sit and wait, but that can be quite frustrating for some drivers because it can take a long time.

“I know it happens on all of the A14 but it is particularly a problem on the Felixstowe peninsula close to the port, and I think we should restrict lorries to the inside lane.”

Town clerk Susan Robinson said lorry overtaking was causing difficulties for people wanting to use sliproads to turn off the A14 - such as the Trimley interchange and Seven Hills because you could get stuck in the outside lane.

“It is quite common for European ports to have no overtaking for miles as you approach them,” she said.

The idea is to be put forward as part of a response to a long list of potential solutions to growing congestion and capacity problems on the A14 and in Ipswich drawn up by consultants Atkins.

The company is consulting county, district, town and parish councils on a range of ideas, including tolls on the Orwell Bridge, widening the bridge, road pricing in Ipswich and a northern bypass. It has stressed all options are being kept open to ensure all ideas are given fair consideration.

What do you think is the answer to the traffic problems in Ipswich and on the A14? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN, or e-mail EveningStarLetters@eveningstar.co.uk