THOUSANDS of drivers faced delays and diversions today after a lorry crashed into the central reservation of the A14 in Cambridge.The 36-ton Volvo articulated lorry damaged around 300 metres of the central reservation during the crash at Stow cum Quy, which happened at 5.
THOUSANDS of drivers faced delays and diversions today after a lorry crashed into the central reservation of the A14 in Cambridge.
The 36-ton Volvo articulated lorry damaged around 300 metres of the central reservation during the crash at Stow cum Quy, which happened at 5.34 this morning.
The lorry was transporting tins of baked beans and tomatoes and the driver escaped unhurt.
Following the crash and during the height of today's rush hour the Huntingdon-bound carriageway was closed and one lane of the Ipswich-bound carriageway was also closed.
Work to repair the central reservation was expected to begin at just after 8am this morning, once the lorry had been recovered, and a police spokeswoman said this work would take around 3 hours to complete.
Both lanes of the A14 would be closed while the work was completed and diversions put in place but large delays were expected.
Today's crash is just one of many incidents to blight the A14 every year.
The Evening Star has worked to highlight the dangers of this over-used dual carriageway which sees car drivers and motorcyclists run the gauntlet of driving amongst tractors, bikes and thousands of lorries every day.
Early last month we launched a campaign to highlight the dangers of the A12 and A14 and to call for new safety measures to help drivers.
We want to see agricultural vehicles and cyclists use alternative routes – taking these slow and potentially hazardous vehicles away from a fast moving and increasingly busy road.
The A12 and A14 are major transport routes used by lorries travelling to and from the ports of Felixstowe and Harwich.
The amount of lorries using the A14 is set to increase drastically when plans to expand the Port of Felixstowe go ahead.
It is expected that by 2020 an extra million lorries will be travelling through the port.
Were you caught up the Cambridge traffic today? What needs to be done to make these roads safer? Write in to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk
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