Councillors have called for the “negative legacies” of the A14 project to be addressed as they said problems are still being uncovered four years on.

Issues such as sinking bridges, damaged roads, missing pathways and road signs were raised by councillors at a Cambridgeshire County Council meeting on October 22.

However, the concerns raised were described as just being the “tip of the iceberg”.

The National Highways project to build the new A14 road between Cambridge and Huntingdon cost £1.5billion.

It opened in 2020 and was described as a project that “pushed boundaries” and would offer “benefits for many years to come”.

While councillors recognised there had been benefits from the scheme, including some areas seeing reduced traffic after the rerouting, concerns were shared about “the problems left behind”.

Councillor Edna Murphy (Liberal Democrat) said despite the project being declared a success by National Highways, she said it “directly caused damage and created problems which persist today”.

She presented a motion calling for the county council to put together a report highlighting all the outstanding issues so that they could be documented.

Cllr Murphy also called for MPs, the new minister for transport, and National Highways to be “more responsive” to problems from the A14 project being raised by people and to look at how they can be addressed.

Cllr Murphy said: “The negative legacies of the project are very diverse and broadly include things that were done that need to be fixed, things that were lost which need to be reinstated, as well as things that were promised but not delivered.

“There are defective constructions and damaged roads, which default to the council to fix and maintain, but we do not have adequate funding for that.

“Some amenities have simply been lost, from public rights of way, to even pedestrian crossings.

“There were promises made which were not honoured, for example residents in many villages were promised NMU cycle paths. National Highways funded a first round in January 2021, but there was never a second round.

“Officers are working hard to find other sources of income for these schemes, but residents remain angry they do not have these amenities and are also deeply upset that they were effectively misled.”

Cllr Murphy went on to say that more information was needed around other promises made, including for the thousands of new trees.

She said many of these trees had died and a replanting programme was undertaken, but said there had been “radio silence” on how this was going. She said people were “extremely concerned” and wanted more information.

Cllr Murphy also highlighted the commitment that there would be biodiversity net gain of 11.5 per cent. She said it was a “specific benefit” of the project, but said the website now only mentioned “environmental improvements” with “no information to back it up”.

She said it was “vital” to learn from the experience of going through this project.

Cllr Murphy said she hoped the county council could be active in trying to help get organisations to solve these issues.

Councillor Graham Wilson (Liberal Democrat) said people living in his area had benefited from the rerouting of the A14, including seeing “significantly reduced traffic in Godmanchester”.

However, he said there was “still lots to do on the old road”, responsibility for which he said had now passed to the county council.

Cllr Wilson said there are still speed restrictions in place on the A1307 while safety barriers are replaced and flooding issues looked at. He said it is “time that these issues are sorted out quickly”.

Councillor Firouz Thompson (Liberal Democrat) said four years since the new A14 opened they were still “uncovering critical gaps”, which she said was “unacceptable”.

Cllr Thompson gave examples of problems, such as missing footpaths and road signs, ‘defective’ structures, and said the bridge at Bar Hill was “sinking”.

Councillor Stephen Ferguson (Independent) said the pathway along the River Great Ouse was also impacted by the A14 development and said it was at risk of being cut in two due to part of the riverbank failing.

He said it was “disappointing” that the “historic and well loved walkway” was at risk of being “destroyed” due to a “lack of consideration” from those who worked on the A14 project.

Cllr Murphy said the concerns raised by councillors were just the “tip of the iceberg”.

She said she hoped a full report to the highways and transport committee would pick up the issues.

Cllr Murphy added that the county council needed to “stick up for residents” and try to get the problems addressed.

She said she wanted the authority to start a process of engagement with government and other organisations to start to “broker solutions for the problems we know about”.

Councillors gave unanimous support to Cllr Murphy’s motion.