Jim has long maintained that Ely needs a southern bypass in order to address the substantial problems caused by the level crossing on the A142.

15,000 vehicles per day use the route including 1200 HCVs which cannot use the underpass and need to wait use the level crossing. The crossing is currently closed for an average of 35 minutes every hour and this is expected to rise to at least 40 minutes per hour following Network Rail’s proposals for further freight trains on the line through Ely. Residents will be aware of the congestion caused when even just a few HCVs need to wait at the level crossing and block the entrance to the underpass for other vehicles.

Over the last few months Jim has organised joint meetings with Councillors and Council Officials to hammer out possible ways forward in order to make a bypass a reality within the next few years and this cumulated in a public seminar hosted by Ely City Council today.  At the seminar there were presentations by the District and County Councils, National Express East Anglia and Cambridgeshire Horizons as well as workshop time in groups to discuss possible options.

Jim said, “The mood of the room today was that we need a solution as soon as possible and I couldn’t agree more. For too long this problem has simply been on the back burner getting worse, but now I am confident that there is the energy to drive forward to a solution including securing the necessary funding. Whilst some short term proposals might seem quicker they would not permanently resolve the problem and would put the bypass back several years. These projects don’t happen overnight, but I can assure my constituents that we are moving forward steadily and I am confident that this dream will become a reality.”

Show your support for the need for a southern bypass for Ely by signing the petition available at the following link: http://www.petitionbuzz.com/petitions/elybypassnow.