PRESSURE is growing today for major safety improvements to take place at Felixstowe's deathtrap dock spur junction – before the town's port is allowed to expand any further.

PRESSURE is growing today for major safety improvements to take place at Felixstowe's deathtrap dock spur junction – before the town's port is allowed to expand any further.

Villagers in Trimley St Martin have now joined their counterparts in Trimley St Mary in calling for action to deal with traffic danger, pollution and noise which the multi-million development of the container port's south terminal will create.

They say a flyover must be built at the dock spur – which will eventually have one million more lorries using it every year – to separate port and town traffic.

The roundabout has seen more than a dozen trucks roll over in the past few years, including one fatality when a lorry flipped over onto a car.

But councillors believe that action to make the junction safer should be taken now in readiness for the extra traffic which will be generated.

Trimley St Martin Parish Council said the effect of the extra lorries using the dock spur roundabout would be "phenomenal".

"It is envisaged that up to a million more lorries will travel along the A14, which is situated along the full length of the village, and the impact of this in terms of noise and air pollution can not be underestimated," said the council in its comments to Suffolk Coastal on the port planning application.

"Residents already suffer from not being able to open windows during hot summer months or use their gardens to the full effect as even current levels of traffic do not allow the basic rights of people to enjoy their own homes.

"The effects on the dock spur roundabout will be phenomenal. Nothing less than full lane separation will be required to minimise the possibility of container lorries from falling on to other smaller vehicles travelling along side."

The parish council has proposed a flyover for traffic travelling to and from Felixstowe, with all dock-based traffic using the existing route.

"We feel that if the expansion were to go ahead, then this should be on the basis that the port works in tandem with the Highways Agency to improve the dock spur roundabout in order that it may adequately handle the increased amounts of traffic that will surely come with the expansion to the port," it said.

Trimley St Mary councillors have also called for safety work at the junction, and also acoustic barriers to cut traffic noise, more effective pollution monitoring, improved public transport, and double-tracking of the railway line to get more containers off the roads.

Redevelopment of the Landguard terminal will create almost 1,500 jobs and double the terminal's capacity to 5.2million standard-sized containers.

n What do you think – can the A14 cope with a million more lorries a year? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN, or e-mail EveningStarLetters@eveningstar.co.uk