Preferred Route For A428 Upgrade Revealed

Highways England announce preferred route for new road that should ease delays for drivers on A1, A428 and A421

Highways England says tens of thousands of drivers who use the A1, A421 and the A428 could benefit from the new 10-mile dual carriageway that will stretch from the Black Cat junction to the Caxton Gibbet roundabout.

The current A428 is set to become a local road which will serve the communities between St Neots and Caxton Gibbet.

Options for the new scheme were put to the public in 2017, and the route being announced today (Monday) combines what Highways England says is a “mix of benefits” and the “most popular options at consultation”. 

Highways England project lead, Lee Galloway, said: “This major new dual carriageway between St Neots and Cambridge and upgrade for the Black Cat junction will mean quicker and safer journeys for people and will also boost the economy and unlock housing. As well as significant improvements locally, the project will be a vital component in improving the regional and national road network. The improvements will complement our £1.5bn A14 upgrade and form part of a wider transformation of road links between Cambridge, Milton Keynes and Oxford.

“Well over 4,000 people took part in our consultation last year, with more than 2,000 people attending one of our public events, and it is great to see that our proposals have such strong backing. I would like to thank everyone who took part for their contribution in helping to shape this vital upgrade for the area’s road network. With the options now chosen, we can push ahead with a more detailed design, which we will put to people for their input again later this year.”

Currently, the A428 between the A1 at Black Cat and the A1198 at Caxton Gibbet is a single carriageway with a series of roundabouts and give-way junctions. It experiences severe congestion and delays during peak periods or if there is an incident in the wider South Cambridgeshire area. The improvements will cut the average peak time journeys between the Black Cat and Caxton Gibbet junctions by more than a third – around a 10 minute saving on every trip.

The improvements will tackle these delays by creating a new dual carriageway, with junctions served by slip roads, and bridges to carry local roads over it. The new dual carriageway will lead directly to the Black Cat junction which is itself being upgraded to allow smoother, safer access between the A1, the A421 and the A428. The A428 currently joins the A1 at Wyboston 1.5 miles to the north.

The scheme is valued between £810m and £1.4bn, and is being funded by the Government’s £15bn Road Investment Strategy, the biggest investment in road infrastructure since the 1970s.