A14 road

A14 road
Length (miles)	127
Length (km)	204
Direction	East / West
Start	Catthorpe
Primary destinations1	Rugby Kettering Huntingdon Cambridge Newmarket Bury St Edmunds Ipswich
End	Felixstowe
Roads joined	M1 motorway M6 motorway M11 motorway A1 road A6 road A10 road A11 road A12 road A43 road A45 road A134 road A140 road A142 road A143 road A508 road A509 road A605 road
Euroroute(s)	E 30 E 24
Notes Primary destinations as specified by the Department for Transport.

The A14 is a major road in England, running 127 miles (204 km) from the Port of Felixstowe to the junction of the M1 and M6 motorways near Rugby. The road forms part of the unsigned Euroroutes E24 and E30.

Route

Traffic congestion on the A14 near Needham Market.

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,and there is a six-lane stretch (three lanes each way) on the Newmarket bypass (between Junctions 36 and 38) where this road runs concurrent with the A11, carrying traffic from London to Norwich and a short stretch between the Girton Interchange and Bar Hill is also six-lane.

The road is concurrent with the A12 road from the Seven Hills Interchange to the Copdock Interchange which forms the Ipswich Southern bypass.

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).

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 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 and a number of schemes are at the planning stage to increase capacity on the most congested sections. It is particularly busy on the section from the junction with the M11 near Cambridge to the junction with the A1.

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.

History

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 remainder of the road between Kettering and Rugby was opened on 15 July 1994, when it became the A14.

John MacGregor, Transport Secretary at the time, officially opened the road. This section of the road cut through an area of land which had been the scene of the Battle of Naseby hundreds of years earlier, and campaigners had fought to prevent the road from being built on this site, but lost their campaign on 11 January 1989. ^{[1] [2]}

The route was first proposed in the early 1980s, and was completed by the end of the decade at its most eastern point in Suffolk, making use of some existing stretches of dual carriageway on the A45.

The road 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.

Work to improve the at-grade junction at Rougham (junction 45), east of Bury St Edmunds, to a compact grade-separated junction was completed in 2006, along with the realignment of carriageway over a two-mile (3 km) stretch to the east of Bury St Edmunds.

A congestion reduction scheme was introduced in Spring 2007 on the eastbound carriageway approaching Welford summit, just prior to the junction with the A5199 (Junction 1). The scheme bans vehicles over 7.5 tonnes from the outside lane between 6am and 6pm over the 2-mile (3.2 km) steep climb to Welford summit. A similar scheme covers 2 miles (3.2 km) of the westbound carriageway from Junction 2 including a particularly steep climb to Naseby summit. It intended that these schemes will reduce parallel running by lorries as they attempt to pass each other, which can hold up long queues of cars^[3].

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^[4], to rationalise access using a new grade-separated junction.^[5] The road opened in the summer of 2008^[5] with some associated local works being completed early in 2009^[6].

Proposed developments

A14-M1-M6 interchange

The Highways Agency is planning a major upgrade to the overloaded junction with the M1 motorway and M6 motorway at the A14's western end, by providing a direct link road between the M6 and the A14 at which there is frequently two miles (3 km) of stationary traffic on the westbound carriageway of the A14.^[7]

A14 Kettering Bypass Widening (J7-9)

Developing proposals to widen the section from junction 7 to 9 to three lanes in both directions^[8] and an estimated completion in 2013 and a cost of £82m to £136m.^[9]

A14 Ellington to Fen Ditton

A14 Ellington to Fen Ditton

A14 Ellington to Fen Ditton
Location	Cambridgeshire
Proposer	Highways Agency
cost estimate	£1.3b
completion date	2016

In March 2005 the Highways Agency unveiled its plans to upgrade the A14 between Ellington and Fen Ditton^[10]. Details of the preferred route for the Fen Drayton to Fen Ditton section were published in March 2007 which would broadly follow the current route^[11] and for the Ellington to Fen Drayton section in October 2007 which would take a new route further south to the Brampton Interchange before tracking the A1 north to Ellington^[11]. As well as the construction of a new road between Ellington and Fen Drayton, the new route would involve the demolition of the Huntingdon viaduct and construction of a new junction with Brampton Road for local Huntingdon traffic.

The contract for the scheme was awarded to Costain Skanska Joint Venture on 28 January 2008^[11] who will now work on detailed plans and the Highways Agency will then publish 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 will then made a decision based on the advice of the public inquiry inspector.^[11] 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.^[12] In October 2009 the cost estimate had risen to £1.3b with work starting in 2012 and being completed in winter 2015/2016^[13]

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.^[14]

Copdock interchange (J55)

new traffic generators in the vicinity of the Copdock roundabout

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.^[15]

Traffic on this function is expected to increase further due to a number of nearby developments.

• The Port of Felixstowe, which already handles 375,000 TEUs (20-foot containers) is being expanded with the Felixstowe South development, phase 1 of which is due to open in 2010 and phase 2 in 2013. These changes are expected to increase traffic on the A14 and the Copdock Interchange is being upgraded as part of this project.^[16] The original planning approval for this expansion was conditional on construction work not starting until all the associated rail upgrades had been completed, however due to delays in completing the rail upgrade and to what the Port calls "changing market conditions and the threat of expanding competing ports", Suffolk Coastal District Council have allowed work to start prior to the rail improvements being ready.^[17]
• The Swiss College which will cater for 2,000 pupils from the September 2010, which will also add to congestion at this junction.^[18]
• SnOasis (a major winter sports complex) which is expected to have 825,000 visitors each year when it opens in 2013, many of whom are expected to arrive by car^[19]
• The proposed Bathside Bay container terminal at Harwich International Port is also expected to increase traffic at the Copdock roundabout and the A14.^[16]

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.^[15] The planned changes to the interchange were delayed in August 2009.^[15]

Longer term plans

The highway Agency has plans to increasing capacity from Junctions 3 to 10 near Kettering 'in the longer term'^[8] and also to widen the road throughout Northamptonshire to "help cut the number of accidents and cope with the likely growth in traffic"^[20].

Notable Incidents

Lolworth Petrol Station

On 17th 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.^[21]

Newmarket Gas Van

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^[22].

Two Cambridge scientists die In A14 carnage

On the 27 March 2008 at 5.40pm, two people were killed on the westbound carriageway of the A14 between Girton and Histon. The accident involved two cars and two lorries - both car drivers died. The westbound section from Histon to Girton was closed until the following day. The victims were named as Dr Michael John Corkill, 53, of Walnut Tree Close, Bassingbourn; and Dr Jelena Obradovic, 38, of Stonefields, Bar Hill.^[23]

Diagram

External links

• GO East CHUMMS page containing links to the report documents
• Public consultation on Huntingdon Bypass (March 2007)

References

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