A key section of the UK’s important A14 upgrade project is opening to traffic ahead of schedule. Work to deliver the new stretch of dual carriageway for the A14 bypass is being completed a full 12 months early. The bypass section will open to drivers in December 2019, cutting congestion and journey times.
Work on the 19km bypass section commenced in October 2016 and forms part of a programme of 33.6km of road works in Cambridgeshire, costing £1.5 billion. The road building project has been carried out by the A14 Integrated Delivery Team, a joint venture between Balfour Beatty, Costain and Skanska, and design consultants Atkins and CH2M.
The project also won four awards at the 2019 British Construction Industry Awards. These were Digital Transformation Initiative of the Year, Productivity Initiative of the Year, Partnership Initiative of the Year and Initiative of the Year Award.
The new link will boost access between the region’s ports and the West Midlands – a key logistics hub. On completion, the road will open as an A road, instead of a motorway as originally planned. This will take advantage of wider lanes when joining the neighbouring M11 and A1(M).
The early delivery of the project will mean that work will commence sooner on the planned improvements to local roads in and around Huntingdon and the dismantling of the old viaduct over the train station.
