Cambridgeshire CC is set to make a bid to the Government’s Transport Innovation Fund (TIF).

A report to cabinet will recommend the council makes a two-step bid for £500m to introduce a package of measures, on the condition that no congestion charge will be introduced any sooner than 2017.

The first-stage of the bid will ask for early confirmation of government funding for a new station in Chesterton to be built in 2012 – three years ahead of schedule.

The second-stage would include a trigger point for the congestion charge to be agreed between the Government, partners and public.

The recommendations going to cabinet echo the findings of the independent Cambridgeshire Transport Commission, which stated that the council should reach an agreement with the Government that charging could only be introduced when congestion reached a certain level (Surveyor, 23 July 2009).

Roy Pegram, Cambridgeshire’s cabinet member for growth, infrastructure and strategic planning, said the TIF money could transform the county’s network, but a deal would not be made ‘at any cost’.

‘While I do not welcome the prospect of a charge, the alternative is that at some stage, the city will be gridlocked without it. It is vital that Cambridgeshire communities, councils and organisations set the point with the Government when enough is enough, and congestion charging must be brought in. Congestion will not go away, but neither should we bring in a congestion charge without first revolutionising transport choice.’

Should the cabinet approve the bid on 29 September, it will go to a full council vote on 13 October.