Suffolk County Council has announced that the option of building a bypass will not be taken forward.  The cost – at between £50million and £70million – is seen to be “prohibitively high resulting in a low benefit cost ratio”.

The County Council said it will now consider a multi-million pound programme to upgrade busy road junctions in Sudbury to ease traffic congestion in the town following advice from independent experts WSP. 

The campaign for a bypass in Sudbury was launched last year and divided opinion in the community, with many including the CSCA concerned over its environmental impact on the historic and beautiful water meadows.

Those in favour of the bypass hoped it would relieve traffic congestion and reduce the number of HGVs driving through the town centre.

Robert Lindsay, Green Party county councillor, who spearheaded the Save Our Water Meadows campaign, is thrilled, however he is clear about what needs to be done.  “There are not enough buses linking Cornard with Sudbury, there is virtually no bus service to the health centre built on the north side of town, and there are not enough buses linking towns people with the main employment centre on the east of town. A huge proportion of people driving to Sudbury are driving less than one mile distance. We could draw up a plan to make the town a beacon for walking and cycling and public transport. We should prioritise road space for bus lanes, cycle lanes and pedestrians, encouraging more people to leave their cars at home…”