Fenland pensioner is renewing his one-man campaign for Wisbech northern relief road

A Fenland pensioner is renewing his campaign for a northern relief road for his home town with public sessions to garner more support.

Mick Howard, of Osborne Road, has been fighting to get a relief road for Wisbech since 1996 but has so far met with little success.

However, he has decided to once again have another push at building support and is planning to be at the Wisbech Sports and Community Centre on Saturdays and Sundays from noon – starting this weekend.

He said is unsure how long he will be at the centre, or over how many weekends he will be there, that he said will depend on the response he gets.

What he would like to see is a northern relief road taking traffic away from the town centre linking the A1101 to the A47 without drivers having to cut through Wisbech.

He also points out the road could solve problems when the A47 from Guyhirn to Wisbech is blocked and would give an alternative to the 50mile detour he says drivers face when such an occurrence happens.

Part of his renewed push has been the increased traffic that is being seen along Osborne Road.

He said there are more and more lorries using the road as well as increase in cars thanks to new homes that have been built in the area.

Mick said the road has become increasingly dangerous and he fears that a life will be lost if action is not taken.

He said he has had a narrow escape himself when a speeding vehicle dragged one of his dogs into the road through the down draft. Mick managed to save his pet but was nearly seriously injured as he found himself bouncing off the car.

“It is so busy down here now. The scrap yard has increased in size, we have new houses that have been built, we have big tractors coming down here and more lorries. Many of the vehicles are driving like a bat out of hell and I really fear there will be a fatality,” he said.

Adding: “It gives me goose pimples to walk down the road, especially at night.”

Mick has in the past written to former Prime Minister David Cameron enclosing a whole dossier of material including letters of support for his proposal.

“I got a nice letter back from his assistant, but basically that was it. I suspect all the stuff I sent is sitting on a shelf in some bunker some where,” he said.

He is hoping by taking the campaign back out to the public it will gather more momentum and that the powers that will be will finally get behind his call.

Mick concluded: “I started this campaign in 1996, before the Thorney by-pass was built and I thought it would have been good to have done the two roads at the same time. That did not happen, but it definitely is time.”