A working group is to be set up looking at ways of easing the traffic chaos coming on and off the Shotley peninsula and other areas around Ipswich.

The task force, led by Suffolk County Council's cabinet, will be tasked with looking at the Bourne Bridge roundabout, linking the B1456 and A137, and junction 56 on the A14 at Wherstead, other key junctions.

It will also explore a range of other travel options including public transport, walking and cycling, which affect the peninsula.

The move comes in the wake of the county council's decision not to press ahead with a Northern Bypass, which would have relieved the chaos cased every time the Orwell Bridge is forced to close, either through high winds or accidents.

Suffolk County Council leader Matthew Hicks, who is also a member of Mid-Suffolk District Council, which is against a northern bypass as it goes through much of its area, confirmed last month the county council was scrapping the scheme.

A report looking at the future of the project concluded a further £3m would be needed to pursue a full business case, and it was not clear there was the political will and ability to support the project.

A public consultation and study found there was a strong economic case to be made for pursuing a bypass, but more than two thirds of consultation respondents said they did not want to see a road built.

The report said: "The cabinet is asked to continue to support ongoing work to secure improvements to the A14, its junctions and the Orwell Bridge by Highways England; to identify improvements to support economic growth in Suffolk, and to bid for funding; to set up a task force to build on existing initiatives to optimise existing road capacity and promote modal shift in Ipswich and the wider area to reduce congestion and support growth."

However, not everyone has given up on a northern bypass, including some Babergh councillors on the Shotley peninsula.

Brantham ward member Alastair McCraw, an Independent, said: "The problem has always been the same West Ipswich choke points are serving traffic, to and from, the south, west and even north of Ipswich. This makes even getting to the A137, the A12, or into Ipswich, almost impossible at times. 

"Central government's insistence that the Northern Bypass be primarily funded by building massive numbers of houses would only be self-defeating, adding even more road use. The environmental impacts likewise become much greater.

"The Northern Bypass, if it is to happen, needs to be centrally funded and a great deal more sensitive in its planning."

An opposition group, led by non-Conservatives at the county council, want a long-term solution and not just a piece-meal approach.

Group leader Sarah Adams said: "Giving up on the Ipswich northern bypass is simply not an option. Tinkering around the edges of Ipswich's traffic problems is just not going to cut it."