| A14 road | |
|---|---|
| Route information | |
| Part of E30 E24 | |
| Length: | 127 mi (204 km) |
| Major junctions | |
| From: | Catthorpe |
| To: | Felixstowe |
| Location | |
| Primary destinations: |
Rugby Kettering Huntingdon Cambridge Newmarket Bury St Edmunds Ipswich |
| Road network | |
The A14 is a major road in England, running 127 miles (204 km) from the Port of Felixstowe to the Catthorpe Interchange, the junction of the M1 and M6 motorways near Rugby. The road forms part of the unsigned Euroroutes E24 and E30.
Prior to the completion of the M6 motorway in 1971 and the opening of the A1-M1 Link road in 1994 traffic would have used the A45 road. Until 1994 the A14 designation was used for a section of the Ermine Street between the A10 at Royston on the A10 and the A1 at Alconbury, most of which is now the A1198 road.
From the Port of Felixstowe the road heads west, bypassing Ipswich to the south using the Orwell Bridge and on to Stowmarket, Bury St Edmunds, Newmarket and Cambridge where it meets the M11. From Cambridge there is a very busy section past St Ives, Huntingdon and the junction with the A1. From there through Kettering ending at the M1.
The entire road is a dual carriageway except for a dual three-lane section on the Newmarket bypass (between Junctions 36 and 38) where this road runs concurrent with the A11 and a short stretch between the Girton Interchange and Bar Hill is also dual three-lane. The road is heavily used by trucks carrying freight from the Port of Felixstowe (Britain's busiest container port) and the Midlands, North West and Ireland.
There are three at-grade junctions along the road: with the B663 at Bythorn in Cambridgeshire (junction 15); at the Leighton Bromswold turn a few miles to the east (junction 17); and at the Dockspur Roundabout at the edge of Felixstowe (junction 60).
Prior to the construction of the current A14 road the main route from the Birmingham to the Haven ports followed the old A45 road route via Coventry, Rugby, Northampton, St Neots, Cambridge and then through all the towns on the current route A14 from there to Felixstowe. Prior to its use for the current route the A14 designation had been used for a section of road between the A10 at Royston and the A1 at Alconbury following part of the route of Ermine Street which is now most designated as the A1198 road.
The M45 motorway was constructed in 1959 parallel to part of the old A45 route in the Midlands and opened on the same day as the M1 motorway and was soon one of the busiest sections of motorway. The M6 opened in the late 1960s and early 1970s after which more traffic to the ports used a route from junction 2 of the M6 via the A427 road to Market Harborough followed by a short section of the A6 road to Kettering and then the A604 to Cambridge before joining the old A45 to the ports as above.[1] The M45 now carries little traffic.
The sections from Huntingdon east to the ports were upgraded first, starting with the Huntingdon bypass in 1973, followed by the Girton to Bar Hill section in 1975/76 and the Cambridge northern bypass and Cambridge/Newmarket section in 1976/77.[2] The Bar Hill to Huntington section opened in 1979 prior to the M11 which was fully opened in 1980.[3] The Ipswich southern bypass including the Orwell Bridge opened in 1982.[4]
The 'M1-A1 Link Road' which was to complete the current route was constructed between 1989 and 1991 following a lengthy period of consultation. The first inquiry was in 1974 and then a series of inquiries for sections of the preferred route from September 1984 until June 1985 during which objections came from some 1,130 sources. Subsequent public inquiries were help regarding Supplementary orders. The route of the road close to the site of the Battle of Naseby was particularly difficult and was taken to the High Court.[5]
The final section of the modern A14 (the A1-M1 link) was opened by John MacGregor, Transport Secretary on 15 July 1994.[6]
Work to create a compact grade-separated junction (Junction 45/Rougham) and to re-align a 2-mile (3.2 km) stretch of carriageway was competed in 2006.[7]
Vehicles over 7.5 tonnes traveling east were banned from using the outside lane on a 2-mile (3.2 km) steep climb to Welford summit on a dual 2-lane section close to Junction 1 (A5199) from spring 2007; a similar scheme covered 2 miles (3.2 km) of the westbound carriageway from Junction 2 including a particularly steep climb to Naseby summit. The bans are active between 6am and 8pm and are intended to reduce delays to other traffic from lorries attempt to pass on these climbs.[8]
Between 2007 and 2008 a new section of two-lane dual carriageway was constructed at the Haughley Bends, one of Suffolk's most notorious accident blackspots,[9] to rationalise access using a new grade-separated junction.[10] The road opened in the summer of 2008[10] with some associated local works being completed early in 2009.[11]
Variable Message Signs (VMS), traffic queue detection loops and closed circuit TV (CCTV) are being installed on the A14. Work started on 13 July 2009 and is being carried out in three phases[12] at a cost of 58m euros: [13] Sections of the A14 in Suffolk were closed overnight during September 2010 to install the signs.[14]
Work to refurbish both carriageways between Junction 52 (Claydon) and Junction 55 (Copdock) started in January 2010 and is expected to be completed by 'early summer' 2010 at a cost of £9million. Work is being carried out a year earlier than scheduled as part of a UK government’s fiscal stimulus package.[15]
A14 Ellington to Fen Ditton |
|
| Location | Cambridgeshire |
|---|---|
| Proposer | Highways Agency |
| cost estimate | £1.3b |
| completion date | 2016 |
The scheme would include a widening of the section from Fen Ditton to Fen Drayton broadly on the existing alignment and then on a new route from Fen Drayton running to the south of the current road to the Brampton Interchange before tracking the A1 north to Ellington. The project would include the demolition of the Huntingdon viaduct and construction of a new junction with Brampton Road for local Huntingdon traffic.[16]
The Highways Agency unveiled its plans in March 2005.[17] Details of the preferred route for the Fen Drayton to Fen Ditton section were published in March 2007
The contract for the scheme was awarded to Costain Skanska Joint Venture on 28 January 2008[16] who worked on detailed plans and the Highways Agency before publishing a draft order. Depending on the number of objections received, a Public Inquiry (PI) may be needed to examine the objections. The Secretary of State for Transport and the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government would then made a decision based on the advice of the public inquiry inspector.[16] The scheme is expected to open in stages between 2015 and 2016.
The Highways Agency has estimated that the Ellington-Fen Ditton widening would cost between £690 million and £1.2 billion, making it the most expensive scheme in their roads programme.[18] In October 2009 the cost estimate had risen to £1.3b with work starting in 2012 and being completed in winter 2015/2016.[19]
The Campaign for Better Transport is opposed to the plans, listing their reasons for objection as the carbon emissions the road would induce, the cost of the scheme as well as its negative impact on non-car travel in the area.[20]
The coalition government suspended the scheme when they came into power, with Philip Hammond, the Secretary of State for Transport suggested that the scheme would be 'axed' on Monday, suggesting that the only way it would get built was as a toll road.[21] That government money would not pay for the scheme was confirmed at the end of October, when Roads Minister Mike Penning said that the scheme was unaffordable and no longer offered acceptable value for money.[22] In response to this news local MPs have said they will involve the private sector in some form to aid with development.
Junction 55 (the Copdock interchange) is a busy grade-separated roundabout junction with the A12 to the south of Ipswich and traffic is expected to increase. Changes to add capacity at this junctions have been approved which include full signalisation of the roundabout, extending the off-slip to the A14 from the A1214 and moving Ipswich bound traffic into the outside lane on the A12 approach.[23]
Traffic on this function is expected to increase further due to a number of nearby developments.
The local Liberal Democrat councilor believes that these changes will not be effective and will further tailbacks on the A12 approaching Ipswich and additional rat-running through local villages.[23] The planned changes to the interchange were delayed in August 2009.[23]
Plans for a major upgrade to the overloaded junction with the M1 motorway and M6 motorway at the A14's western end were 'shelved' in late 2010 followed the comprehensive spending review.[28]
Developing proposals to widen the section from junction 7 to 9 to three lanes in both directions[29] and an estimated completion in 2013 and a cost of £82m to £136m.[30]
The following developments will have an impact on traffic levels on the A14 corridor.
The Cambridgeshire Guided Busway is a 40-kilometre long bus network to connect the population centres of Cambridge, Huntingdon and St Ives, the northern section of which will run parallel to the A14 road. The scheme is predicted to cause a direct reduction in traffic on the busy parallel A14 road of 5.6% (rising to 11.1% with the new Park & Ride sites), although as other traffic re-routes to the freed-up road space from other parts of the local road network, the actual net reduction on the A14 is predicted to be 2.3%. The scheme "will be complementary to the planned road improvements on the A14".[31]
The Felixstowe and Nuneaton freight capacity scheme is designed to take more lorry traffic off the A14 between the Port and the Midlands by increasing capacity and allowing the carriage of larger 'Hi-cube' shipping containers by widening to the W10 loading gauge .[32]
The East West Rail Link is a proposed new rail route to provide a fast outer orbital railway to the north of London linking Great Western Main Line, Oxford, Bicester, Milton Keynes, Bedford, Cambridge, Ipswich and Norwich for both passenger traffic and freight[33] which would relieve some pressure on the A14.
The Highways Agency has plans to increasing capacity from Junctions 3 to 10 near Kettering 'in the longer term'[29] and also to widen the road throughout Northamptonshire to "help cut the number of accidents and cope with the likely growth in traffic".[34]
The A14 is currently used by only one coach service, the National Express Coach route 350 (Clacton to Liverpool) between Copdock (J53) and Huntingdon (J26); National Express 305 (Liverpool to Southend-on-sea) and 314 (Southport to Cambridge) services follows the old A45 route between Cambridge and Birmingham.
On 17 November 1998 a lorry collided with the petrol station between Bar Hill and Lolworth. The incident happened shortly after 11AM and killed 1 person, with many others injured. The road was closed and there were huge tailbacks.[35]
On the 26 July 2006 the A14 was closed for 24 hours near Newmarket when a van carrying acetylene gas canisters caught fire and the rescue services were advised by British Oxygen that they could remain unstable and needed 24 hours to cool. Bomb disposal officers were called in and the Red Cross set up a centre in Newmarket for those who were stranded.[36]
From the A12 west of Ipswich to the M1/M6 junction, the A14 is part of (but not signed as) the E-road E 24. The remainder from Ipswich to Felixstowe is part of E 30. The numbering of the A14 is inconsistent with the national road numbering scheme, as it begins in zone 5 and crosses through zone 6 on the way to zone 1 east of Huntingdon to Felixstowe. The road is concurrent with the A12 road from the Seven Hills Interchange to the Copdock Interchange which forms the Ipswich Southern bypass and with the A11 road between junctions 36 and 38.
The final 1.2 mile section of the A14 'spur' from the junction with the B1043 near Huntingdon to the A1(M) at Alconbury has many inconsistent designations. It is the only section of the original A14 (A1198 road) road that still bears that A14 designation; it was however renumbered as the A604 for a period of time prior to the construction of the current A14. The scheme page on the Highways Agency website for the 'A1(M) Alconbury to Peterborough' scheme carried out in 1996-1998 refers to it as the A14(M)[37] however the map page linked from that page marks the same section of road as the A604(M).[38] The statutory instrument for the construction of the road in 1993 also refers to it as the A604(M).[39] Neither the A14(M) nor the A604(M) designation is used on the ground however; when heading north onto the A1(M) heading north there a bare 'motorway' sign just past the B1043 exit without any number of on (see photo in the top right of this page)[40] however when heading south along the A1 it is signed as 'A14'.[41] Online mapping is also inconsistent - the Highway Agency mapping (which uses Navteq data) refers to it as the 'A14(M)',[42] Bing maps (which also uses Navteq mapping) shows it as motorway without any designation[43] and Yahoo maps (which uses Navteq data) shows it as motorway and as the A1(M). Google maps (which uses TeleAtlas data) shows it as a trunk road called A14.[44]
East of the Girton Interchange with the M11 at Cambridge, the A14 used to be known as the A45, and much of the long-distance traffic further west had previously used the A45 route. The section between Cambridge and Kettering used to be the A604 apart from a short section near Kettering that used to be part of the A6. The road which was known as the A14 until the late 1980s is now the A1198 between Royston, Hertfordshire and Godmanchester but, confusingly, retains its A14 designation north of Godmanchester until it meets the A1 road near Alconbury; thus forming a 'spur' off the main A14.
Media related to [//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:A14_road_(England) A14 road (England)] at Wikimedia Commons
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