County council steps up bid to acquire bypass land

Ely Bypass. A new walkway and pedestrian route (Image: Archant)

The authority has issued a compulsory purchase order which will give it the right to buy up land around the River Great Ouse and Angel Drove, clearing the way for the new bridge, road and entry and exit points.

In the order, the council said: “We are about to submit this order to the Secretary of State for Transport for confirmation, and, if confirmed, the order will authorise the council to purchase compulsorily the land and new rights for the purpose of the construction and maintenance of a highway.”

A spokesman for the county council said the compulsory purchase order was a routine legal practice and said that negotiations with landowners had already been taking place and would continue to do so.

Construction of the bypass will see a link created from the A142, in Angel Drove, through to the A142, in Stuntney Causeway, taking heavy goods vehicles away from the centre of the city and alleviating traffic problems at the city’s railway crossing.

By the end of the decade, studies have predicted that the railway crossing could be closed for up to 45 minutes in every hour, creating lengthy traffic tailbacks on the busy A142.

The county council is hoping to have contractors begin work on the bypass next year, with the road open to vehicles by the end of 2017.

Anyone objecting to the compulsory purchase order has until June 26 to do so. Representations should be made to the Secretary of State for Transport, Tyneside House, Gallowgate, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 4TD.