Why grand plan for public works means digging up the A11

Plans to boost the struggling economy by bringing forward much-needed work on Britain's transport infrastructure are foundering, causing a rift between No 10 and the Department of Transport.

Alistair Darling and Gordon Brown have continued to talk up their desire to fast-forward building projects – part of a technique to revive an ailing economy through creating jobs – with both citing transport as key to the plan.

But the Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon's attempt at an economy-boosting public works scheme has so far only resulted in bringing forward one project – the widening of a stretch of the A11 to Norwich. However any acceleration in the project is a moot point – the plan was proposed by Edward Heath 37 years ago.

The Prime Minister has asked Mr Hoon to step up his efforts to push through building projects. Officials at the transport ministry have been frantically sifting through proposed schemes so that some accelerated road-building projects can be included in Monday's pre-Budget report.

Lengthy planning and consultation procedures make the speeding up of projects difficult and many in the planning field doubt that major building schemes will be able to play a substantial role in boosting the economy.

Improvements to the A11 between Fiveways in Suffolk and Thetford in Norfolk have been brought forward by 18 months but work will not start until 2010 and will add only £147m to the economy at most. Regional assemblies have been asked to give the Government a list of schemes that they would like to see start sooner.

The new rail minister, Lord Adonis, is trying to accelerate electrification of the network. He sees this as a way of aiding the economy – as the US did by building the Hoover Dam in the 1930s – and helping Britain meet its carbon emissions targets. Lord Adonis also hopes that the £16bn Crossrail scheme will continue despite a need for private-sector investment.

Difficulties have come as no surprise to planning experts, who point to examples such as the painfully slow process of approving Heathrow's fifth terminal as evidence of the snail's pace under which infrastructure projects move. Fierce opposition held up development of the new terminal for five years.

Plans to boost infrastructure spending in other departments have proved more fruitful. Lord Mandelson, the Business Secretary, has been holding a series of meetings over the past month with representatives from the building industry to hammer out a way of speeding up infrastructure spending.

Progress has been made in speeding through work on the Government's £45bn Building Schools for the Future initiative and some smaller spending schemes from the health department.

Business leaders are anticipating an announcement in the pre-Budget report on Monday.

"We are expecting a package of infrastructure spending," said one business figure who has met with the Government over the issue.

"The hope is that some smaller businesses with cash flow problems will be helped out as well as the construction industry."

Analysts believe that as many as one in five construction workers will be out of work by the end of 2010 as a result of the recession.