The A140 in Suffolk is one of the county's three main routes, the others being the A14 from Felixstowe past Ipswich and Bury St.Edmunds to Cambridge and the Midlands, and the A12 from Ipswich to Lowestoft. The 16-mile route from the Coddenham interchange with the A14 to the county boundary near Diss is all single carriageway apart from 2.5 kilometres at the southern end.
The A140 is the main (indeed, the only practical) route between East Anglia's two great centres in Ipswich and Norwich. It carries between 12,500 and 14,000 vehicles a day, of which some 15% are HGVs although it is a "Strategic Lorry Route". Traffic increased by 17% between 1992 and 2001, and continues to do so. It is designated as a route for the movement of abnormally high, wide or heavy loads. Locally it passes through the villages of Little Stonham, Thwaite, Brockford, Wickham Skeith, Stoke Ash, Thornham, Yaxley and Brome. It also serves Coddenham, Earl Stonham, Stonham Aspal, Mickfield, Mendlesham, Mendlesham Green, Park Green, Wetheringsett, Thorndon, Thrandeston, Palgrave, Stuston and the towns of Eye and Diss.
There are 33 road junctions and many private driveways, and the route is crossed by 37 footpaths and bridleways and 3 designated cycle routes.
The A140 is the subject of a major document, the "A140 Route Management Strategy", prepared for Suffolk County Council by contractors Mouchel Consulting Ltd. in 2003.
Despite long-term pressure from members of the public, the Suffolk Local Transport Plan 2001-2006 includes no proposals for either dualling or by-passing any sections of the A140. While the Suffolk Structure Plan 2001 included at least two major changes in land use (industrial, warehousing and distribution centres at Eye and Mendlesham) it did not include any major transport improvements on the A140 (information form the A140 Route Management Strategy document 2003).
Safety record
Despite being largely straight and with reasonable visibility, the A140 has a poor reputation locally for safety. As the following table shows, there has been a constant stream of fatal accidents for many years although it is to be hoped we will never again see the likes of the black years 1989 and 1996 (the latter a particularly bad year in Suffolk as a whole).
Figures reported by Suffolk County Council for the period 01/01/97 to 28/02/02 show a comparatively small number of accidents involving single vehicles (8%), head-on collisions (10%) and overtaking (12%), suggesting that outright speed is not a dominant factor in most incidents. On the other hand, accidents at junctions or private drives (72%) and rear-end shunts (43%) were common, indicating that the rural and local nature of what purports to be a major trunk road is catching drivers out.
Copyright © 2005 The A140 Campaign
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