Hello and welcome to our final newsletter of 2023, we would like to wish you a happy and peaceful festive season.
We are now in full swing preparing for construction of the works that will be beginning over the next few weeks and early 2024. We look forward to continuing to update you throughout the scheme.
Christmas period 2023
Between 22 December 2023 and 2 January 2024, the works taking place at the following locations will be temporarily paused:
- Black Cat compound
- A421 central reservation
- Barford Road
Works will start again from 3 January 2024.
Here’s what’s coming up:
Newly reconstructed A421 central reservation
From 15 January, A421 eastbound traffic will move onto the reconstructed central reservation area on the approach to the Black Cat roundabout. A421 westbound traffic will be restricted to one lane from the Black Cat to the end of our works (approximately 1,200 meters).
The new alignment means we can build the new slip roads and new Roxton Road overbridge, with minimal disruption. There’ll be advanced signage to tell wide loads to use the A1 southbound to J23 of the M25.
Upcoming full road closure
In order to enable the transition of traffic to the alignment, we’ll close the A421 westbound and eastbound between Renhold and Black Cat roundabout from 9pm Friday 12 January to 5am Monday 15 January 2024.
We’re trying to minimise road closures and keep traffic flowing as much as possible while the improvements are carried out. We will remind you in advance of the road closure in the new year and keep you informed of any changes.
Advance notice of 40mph speed restriction & narrow lanes on the A1
You will see changes on the A1 northbound near the Black Cat roundabout. We’ll put up roadworks signs, safety barriers, narrow lanes, speed cameras and CCTV to keep an eye on things. That’s because we are building the new A421-A1 northbound slip road and the new link road and overbridge that connect to Roxton Road. We’ll also lower the speed limit to 40mph for your safety.
These activities at times may be noisy, and we would like to apologise in advance for any disturbance caused.
40 mph speed restriction on…
Chawston Lane, we’ll be working to connect the new link road to Chawston Lane. To keep everyone safe, we’re lowering the speed limit to 40mph near the A1 junction. We’ll also have temporary traffic lights to help our machines cross the road.
Bedford Road, we’ll install 40mph speed reduction and narrow lanes on Bedford Road, between the Roxton Garden Centre and the Black Cat roundabout.
Roxton Road bridge will also have a 40mph speed reduction to keep everyone safe. Just north of the Roxton Road bridge we will have a plant crossing to enable us to move materials and machines between the land to the east and west of the bridge. This crossing will be controlled by temporary traffic lights, as with other plant crossings we put in elsewhere across our works. In this area we’ll also be building the new roundabout to tie in the new link road.
Access will be kept for the Roxton Garden Centre and businesses throughout the construction period.
Restrictions, closures & diversions
The Black Cat roundabout will remain open throughout construction, with some disruption. Any road closures will take place for limited periods.
We’ll be working closely with the local authority and other services to coordinate our planned works to make full use of closure periods and minimise impacts.
Full road closures are unavoidable for certain works like carriageway tie-ins, bridge beam lifts and utility diversions. We will schedule full closures over weekends and not sequential weekends. The closures will be implemented after 9pm when traffic is lighter.
Diversion routes will keep traffic on the strategic road network.
Where possible lane closures will be implemented rather than a full road, carriageway, or junction closures.
All planned closures will be advertised and communicated widely to road users, businesses, the local communities and the wider strategic road network.
We will have information boards informing drivers of current journey times through the roadworks, and of future events which may add to disruption or delay.
We apologise in advance for any inconvenience you may experience during the upcoming roadworks. The whole team will make every effort to manage noise levels carefully and minimise disruption to the local area.
What should motorists do?
We expect our upcoming changes to cause slight delays so recommend motorists travelling along the A1 and A421 to plan additional time for their journeys.
The narrow lanes and speed limit will remain in place until spring 2027 providing a safer passage for road users.
We will also provide a free 24hr recovery service to take you and your vehicle to a place of safety in case of a breakdown within our works.
Other works
In the new year we will be starting construction work across the whole scheme. You will see works starting in the areas around Cambridge Road St Neots, Eltisley junction and Caxton Gibbet roundabout. None of these works will initially affect the adjacent road network.
Come chat with us in the new year!
Over the coming months, the team will be out and about attending local events in the area. Our public information events are an opportunity for you to come and meet us and find out a bit more about what we are up to.
Our next event is at Tesco Extra in St Neots on Wednesday 17 January from 10am – 2pm. We’ll be back with more events in the new year. For the latest information on our events please click here.
