Most of you will by now know that the Government has proposed an upgrade to the A428. This project is for a new dual carriageway running from the Black Cat roundabout on the A1 to the Caxton Gibbet roundabout. It is understood that this will be an “Expressway” or in other words a “smart” road with computer controlled speed limits, gantries and so forth; in effect a motorway in all but name, which will run without interruption between the two points.
Highways England have put forward three options for the route for the new road; the orange route, which runs largely just north of the existing road with a junction allowing access to the east of St Neots, and the purple and pink routes, both of which run well south of the existing road. One, the purple, goes north of Abbotsley, between the golf club and Eynesbury before looping round and crossing the B1040 south of Eltisley and joining the existing A428 somewhere between Eltisley and the Gibbet roundabout. The pink route is even worse from a Waresley perspective as it goes south of Abbotsley cutting through part of the Tetworth Estate, then crossing the back road between Waresley and St Neots in the dip beyond the junction with the Green Lane/Byway. This route then crosses the B1040 just to the north of Collings Bros before linking up with the purple route
It is clear that the only route which makes any real sense for the inhabitants of Waresley, and indeed everyone else, is the orange one. Not only does it run north of the existing A428 thus inconveniencing the minimum number of people, but it is the only one which has an access to the east side of St Neots. Given the substantial housing development planned for this area it makes no sense to have roads being built which do not take account of this, which do not allow access to and from St Neots and the new developments.
The initial Highways England consultation on this is now closed and the preferred route will be announced in the summer of 2017. This will be followed by a further consultation prior to a final decision being made.
For further and more up to date information go to:
http://roads.highways.gov.uk/projects/a428-black-cat-to-caxton-gibbet/
AWM