The Parish Council thanks Suffolk County Council for the efforts it is making to engage with the local community regarding this scheme and, having viewed the consultation materials, would comment as follows.

The overall view from Council is one of being supportive of the scheme in principle given the significant potential benefits outlined below. Alongside this, there remain a number of questions and concerns that we believe are in need of addressing by the next design iteration and these are similarly outlined below.

Potential benefits.

1. IMPROVING SAFETY AND ENCOURAGING ACTIVE TRAVEL. Having a 50mph dual carriageway running through the village has created significant safety issues, with two fatalities being experienced in its relatively recent history. The danger presented by this road has been a major concern of most village residents for many years and, by improving safety, this scheme will encourage residents to undertake more journeys either on foot or bicycle both within the village and beyond.

2. EASIER/SAFER VILLAGE HALL / CRICKET/ BOWLS/ TENNIS CLUB ACCESS. This site is a thriving hub of the community and is extremely busy with a wide variety of social and sporting activities (see separate response from site users). The site has long suffered from being disconnected from the main village residential areas and can currently be accessed on foot/bicycle only by crossing a 50mph dual carriageway with sub optimal visibility. A traffic light controlled pedestrian / cycle crossing will not only create a much safer environment but, by encouraging more site users to arrive on foot or bicycle, will also reduce vehicle traffic along the route.

3. REDUCING SPEED. The high speed of dual carriageway traffic is of constant concern to the community and, apart from obvious safety concerns (see above), also encourages anti-social behaviour / reckless joy riding in the Whights Corner area especially. The removal of an outdated and unnecessary dual carriageway will help address this (but see “Concerns / Design Considerations” below).

4. ENHANCING VILLAGE ENVIRONMENT / SENSE OF PLACE. Removal of the old dual carriageway and the visual impact of the proposed design will help create a much calmer and aesthetically pleasing environment for the residents who live along the OLR as well as discouraging A12 users from using the road as an Ipswich / A14 rat run.

Concerns / Design Considerations.

1. VILLAGE HALL / CRICKET/ BOWLS/ TENNIS CLUB ACCESS. Given how busy the site is (see separate response from site users), the removal of the dual carriageway and the existing poor visibility of the junction generally dictates that ingress/egress needs more careful design with consideration given to a run in / run off lane.

2. PEDESTRIAN CROSSING VH /CC SITE. The current planned crossing location should be more directly opposite the entrance to the site rather than further north where no footpath to the site currently exists.

3. SPEED. Given the centrality of speed amongst the concerns of the community, an independent Stage 1 road safety audit is recommended. This may reveal the need for greater design consideration to be given to traffic calming measures which discourage the type of speed that can easily occur through motorists encountering long straight stretches of carriageway. Alongside this, Council believes a reduction in the current 50mph speed limit is essential.

4. VOLUME. It is recommended that a traffic impact assessment be completed to ensure that traffic volumes align with proposed carriageway changes. Data from a Suffolk Police “Black Box” recording mechanism along the OLR in April 2024 recorded a total volume of 52,104 vehicles over a 7 day period. This represented a 70% increase over the same period in April 2022 and highlights the extent of the OLR as a favourite rat run into Ipswich which avoids the A12 and the Copdock Interchange.

5. END POINT / WHIGHTS CORNER. There appears to be some ambiguity regarding the end point of the route. A fundamental goal of the scheme should be linking Capel to the P&R terminus and cycle lane into Ipswich which is situated north of the A14 underpass. Council feels it is essential that the route continues in exactly the same design to this point rather than finishing at Whights Corner. The remaining stretch is poorly lit and currently represents an extremely unattractive prospect for both pedestrians and cyclists. The project should also be aware that SCC are currently seeking a developer to build out 20+ homes off the current Marvens development for which permission was granted in 2022 together with some necessary highway changes.

6. HOMEOWNER ACCESS. Given the significant number of properties that line the OLR towards its southern end, more design consideration needs to be given as to how to allow individual homeowner access to the remaining vehicle carriageway in a way that is both practical and consistent with improving pedestrian/cyclist safety.