Why it matters: The snub leaves Suffolk's crucial ports, logistics and haulage sectors without vital road and rail improvements that could have moved container traffic off failing roads onto the rail network, and provides no light at the end of the tunnel for local businesses and residents who continue to pay the price for underinvestment in our county's transport infrastructure.
The blow is particularly damaging given that the Ely/Haughley junction improvements were given full lobbying support at the expense of other key infrastructure projects, such as an Ipswich Northern Bypass, partly on the basis that they were more likely to be funded.
The bigger picture: Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander announced funding for schemes including the Norwich Western Link project, but made no reference to Suffolk's long-awaited Ely/Haughley rail junction improvements.
The Ely/Haughley project promised significant returns, with the Chamber estimating "a return of £5 for every £1 invested" and extensive business support across the East, Midlands and North.
The outline business case for the projects was released in 2022, but the Chamber warned this preparatory work "risks becoming obsolete" without progress over the next couple of years.
Yes, but: The county did secure "continued funding" for A12 improvements east of Ipswich, spanning from Bucklesham to Melton, with upgrades to seven of eight roundabouts between the A14 Seven Hills junction and A1152 Woods Lane.
The A12 scheme, previously estimated at £63.6 million with £54 million government funding pledged in October 2023, was designed to improve traffic flow serving Sizewell C. The Department for Transport refused to provide an updated cost figure but confirmed the scheme would "continue to be funded to reduce congestion and speed up journey times".
It is unclear what, if any, of the £92 billion committed today is incremental to the £54 million committed more than 20 months ago by the previous government.
What they're saying: Suffolk Chamber of Commerce delivered a scathing response, with business leaders feeling "extremely perplexed" by the announcement.
"Her claim that this is a once in a generation opportunity to get Britain moving seems inexplicably to exclude moving significant volumes of container traffic off our hard-pressed and failing strategic road system and onto the rail network," the Chamber said.
The organisation accused the government of delivering a "funding punishment beating for the East of England", particularly given the cancellation of strategic road projects in Essex and Cambridgeshire.
What's next: The Chamber is now looking to the government's Infrastructure Pipeline, due later this month, which will set out longer-term aims beyond the current Spending Review period.
The organisation, working with campaigning partners, will continue pushing for the project's inclusion in future funding rounds.
The bottom line: While the government celebrates its biggest transport investment in a generation, Suffolk is – yet again – mostly left behind, with business leaders calling the exclusion of Ely/Haughley a "significant strategic blunder" that ignores the county's economic potential.
