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  Trust others got this response from No 10 ??
  
  It is the Government's policy to give regional bodies a greater role in advising on priorities for transport improvements of regional importance within their region. To support this policy the strategic road network managed by the Highways Agency has been divided into routes predominantly of national importance, on which major improvements are funded from a central budget, and routes predominantly of regional importance on which major improvements are funded, alongside transport schemes promoted by local authorities, from Regional Funding Allocations the Government provides to each region. The purpose of this policy is to ensure that resources for transport schemes of regional importance are allocated in a way which best reflects each region's priorities.
  
  The A2 is classified as a route of regional importance and it is therefore for the South East Regional Transport Board to advise Ministers on the priority that should be given to any proposals for upgrading the A2 between Lydden and Dover. Under the Regional Funding Allocation process the Government is providing the South East region with £1.5 bn for major transport schemes in the ten-year period to 2015/16.
  
  Dover District Council have linked the dualling to proposals to make greater use of the A2/M2 corridor by the freight traffic passing through the Port of Dover but it is not clear whether they consider the A2 upgrade as a means of facilitating the re-routing of the freight traffic to reduce the impact on Dover Town Centre or whether they perceive the re-routing of the freight traffic as a means to justify the dualling.
  
  Dover DC have also submitted a bid for growth point status with proposals to deliver up to 14000 new homes. Many of these would fall on the A2 corridor with substantial growth proposed at Whitfield immediately to the north of Dover town. The Agency has been working with Dover DC and other stakeholders on a traffic model to inform their local development framework (LDF) and this work has reached the stage of converting the model outputs into a transport strategy for the town.
  
  The model has considered four growth options and identified transport improvements needed to support each of them with a step change in infrastructure being required when moving from 10000 dwellings to 14000 (option 3 to option 4)
  
  At the moment the transport strategy is based on option 4 and includes a major diversion of the A2 to the north of Whitfield. This is primarily to provide better connectivity between Whitfield and Dover town as Whitfield would be the preferred location for most of the additional housing that would be delivered if one moved from option 3 to option 4. The Agency (and, we believe, KCC) are far from convinced that the traffic model supports this approach. We also believe that the Consultants working on the project have significantly underestimated the cost of the scheme. Officials are advising the District Council on the work that will be needed to be done to develop a robust case for the scheme.

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