The A428 Black Cat to Caxton Gibbett Dual Carriageway has been granted development consent by the Secretary of State. This is a long overdue project that will make a difference to many people both inside and outside South Cambs area.
The decision by the Secretary of State was announced late yesterday afternoon and I received an email from the National Highways A428 project at 18:22hrs. Then it was on the late national news!!
Those of us that use that section of road between Black Cat, St Neots and Caxton Gibbett have wasted many hours on that short stretch of road that we will never get back. So it is an understatement to say this project is way overdue in the light of current traffic levels, and increased levels expected with the new developments being built along the A428 corridor such as Wintringham, Cambourne West, Bourn Airfield.
I shared this piece of news yesterday evening with residents in the villages in my Ward, and no surprise the response is positive so far. The questions coming in are about the configurations of the junctions at Caxton Gibbett and Eltisley that local to us.
National Highways will be constructing a brand new 10-mile dual carriageway, linking the Black Cat roundabout in Bedfordshire to the Caxton Gibbet roundabout in Cambridgeshire. Both existing roundabouts will be upgraded to modern, free-flowing junctions with a new junction at Cambridge Road, improving access to St Neots town centre and train station.
The new road will fill in the missing link of dual carriageway on the strategic road network between Milton Keynes and Cambridge, helping drivers save up to an hour-and-a-half on their journeys every week.
National Highways indicate there is a process to follow over the next few months and construction is due to start at the end of this year, with the road opening in 2026. Over the last few months they’ve been carrying out surveys and investigations, ahead of the decision, to help prepare for construction. I commend them on this pro-active step which will continue until the end of the year before construction begins.
The other piece of good news is that National Highways are planning some online Q&A sessions and face-to-face public information events later this year. There will be visits to venues around the local area and the team will be out and about with a mobile visitor centre. These events will provide information about the improvements and allow give opportunities for communities to ask questions and get answers.
This is welcome news and we look forward to this new road upgrade completing on time – or earlier if possible.
The DCO decision documentation package is at https://bit.ly/A428-BC2CG.
You can read the 55-page Decision Letter at https://bit.ly/A428-BCCG-Decision