A majority of MPs have backed a motion to scrap controversial plans to expand part of the A27 motorway near Utrecht from 10 to 14 lanes, broadcaster NOS reported on Wednesday.

Plans to widen the road have been slammed by environmental campaigners because hundreds of trees in the Amelisweerd nature reserve, which borders the route, will have to be cut down. The stretch of road is a major traffic black spot and plans to expand it were first launched in 2020.

The motion, submitted by GroenLinks-PvdA MPs Habtuma de Hoop, Sandra Beckerman and Ines Kostic (SP), made no mention of the environmental aspects of the plan. Instead, it states that there is a shortage of investment on the roads and railways and that the A12/A27 expansion plan should be withdrawn.

The motion, supported by the CDA and D66 from the pending new coalition, also called on the government to work on an alternative plan for the motorway which makes better use of the existing space.

Environmental organisation Natuur & Milieu said it was “unbelievably happy” with the decision to implement the alternative plan, which it said “is broadly supported” and a good example for other big infrastructure projects.

Other organisations, including action group Amelisweerd said the decision was “a validation of the years of protests by the locals”.

In the 1970s and 1980s, the original construction of the A27 which cuts through the east side of the reserve, was the subject of fierce protests, resulting in the “battle for Amelisweerd”.