Britain’s biggest road-building project is opening for traffic
eight months ahead of schedule, Highways England announced today
(Tuesday 5 May).
The upgraded road was originally planned to open to traffic by
December 2020, but now the last of the 24/7 roadworks have been
removed and the new lanes are available for traffic, eight months
ahead of schedule.
The £1.5 billion A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon scheme will
transform journeys on the A14 in Cambridgeshire, shaving up to 20
minutes off journeys and strengthen links between the Midlands
and the East of England - vastly improving access to and from the
UK’s largest container port at Felixstowe.
Highways England chief executive Jim O’Sullivan said:
“This upgrade is a key addition to our national infrastructure,
better linking the North of England and the Midlands to the East
of England and to the Haven ports. It also brings economic
benefits to the wider region and local towns and communities.
“Being able to open it more than six months early and on budget
shows what the UK construction industry can achieve with an
integrated client team, common goals and targets, and a shared
vision of success.
“I would like to thank everyone across Highways England and our
supply chain for their contribution to this project as well as
road users, residents and stakeholders for their patience and
support during the work.”
Roads Minister Baroness Vere said:
“Our roads are more important than ever as we work to keep
Britain moving, and I’m delighted that this key stretch of road
will benefit drivers even sooner than planned.
“The upgrade will deliver faster, easier journeys for those
travelling between Cambridge and Huntingdon, and will also
improve links to the UK’s largest container port at Felixstowe -
further bolstering our efforts to move goods around the UK at
this critical time.”
Today Highways England confirmed the work to upgrade the A14
between Cambridge and Huntingdon has largely been completed,
which means the permanent roadworks have been removed and the
national 70mph speed limit has been restored.
Further work in the road verges, including completing landscaping
as well as cycle, horse riding and pedestrian paths, will
continue. To carry out the remaining work safely, some temporary
overnight closures or off-peak daytime lane closures will be
needed.
Work to transform the old A14 for local journeys in and around
Huntingdon, including taking down the 45-year-old Huntingdon
viaduct, is also continuing as planned and should be completed by
2022. Work began to dismantle the 16,400 tonne A14 Huntingdon
Railway Viaduct following the opening of the Huntingdon southern
bypass, and more than half a mile of new link roads are being
built into the town.
A stretch of the 21-mile scheme – a new 12-mile bypass south of
Huntingdon - was opened in December 2019, a whole year early.
Already, the bypass has been used to make almost 12 million
journeys.
Essential work on the upgrade has continued throughout the
Coronavirus outbreak, with new sections of road opened as quickly
as possible, to ensure vital goods were able to travel through. A
number of measures were also put in place to ensure work was
completed safely and in line with Public Health England’s advice.
Government advice to only make essential journeys to prevent the
spread of Coronavirus remains in place.
Work on the project began in November 2016, and has employed over
14,000 people in total, with up to 2,500 working on site during
the project’s peak. Building the new road took 14 million
construction hours – the equivalent of almost 1,600 years.
Besides the Huntingdon southern bypass, the project includes an
upgrade to the A14 between Swavesey and Milton, and a new road
for local communities, the A1307, which runs parallel to it
between Cambridge and Godmanchester. Approximately 24 miles of
new routes for cyclists, walkers and horse riders are also
included in the scheme.
The A1307 east of Huntingdon and along the Alconbury spur, and
part of the A141 west of Huntingdon, both of which use the path
of the old A14, will be handed over to Cambridgeshire County
Council once the project is completed.
