A14 road
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The A14 is a major road in England, running 204 kilometres 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.
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[edit] Route
From the seaport of Felixstowe, the road heads West, bypassing Ipswich, Stowmarket, Bury St Edmunds, Newmarket, Cambridge, St Ives, Huntingdon and Kettering. The entire road is a dual carriageway, particularly busy around Cambridge and Kettering, and heavily used by trucks carrying freight from Felixstowe (Britain's busiest container port) to the Midlands, North West and Ireland.
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 classified as the A604 and 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 built at the time of the road's reclassification in 1995. The Highways Agency is planning a major upgrade (for construction 2007-2010) to the overloaded A14-M1-M6 interchange at the A14's western end.[1] At this congested intersection two miles of stationary traffic is the norm on the westbound carriageway, as it is for traffic leaving the M6 to join A14. The latest situation (Feb 2007) is that in March 2005 the Contract was awarded to Skanska/Jacobs Babtie for the planning, design, management and construction of the scheme through the Statutory Procedures from preparation of draft Orders to completion of construction. Currently the Highways Agency is working with its Contractor, Skanska, to bring forward a robust, cost effective and affordable scheme that can be taken through the statutory processes of Public Inquiry.
There are four at-grade junctions along the road: with the B663 at Bythorn in Cambridgeshire (junction 15); at the Leighton Bromswold turn a few kilometres to the east (junction 17); at the Haughley Bends West of Stowmarket in Suffolk (junction 48); and at the Dockspur Roundabout at the edge of Felixstowe (junction 60). 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 stretch to the east of Bury St Edmunds.
There are plans to improve the Haughley Bends, which is the only accident reduction zone, with a speed limit below the national speed limit, and replace this with a grade-separated junction. As of October 2007 work has commenced on building 1.5 miles of new two-lane dual carriageway to bypass this area, which is due for opening in July 2008, while associated works downgrading the previous alignment alongside the scheme will be finished by December 2008[2][3].
The road known as the A14 until the mid-90's 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.
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. The A14 also runs concurrent with the A12 road from the Copdock Interchange over the Orwell Bridge to the Seven Hills Interchange, which forms the Ipswich Southern bypass. A short stretch north of the Girton Interchange as far as Bar Hill is also six-lane. There are plans to widen the heavily used section at Kettering to six lanes, due to unprecedented expansion of the North Northamptonshire area.
The section between Cambridge and Huntingdon (between junctions with the M11 and A1 respectively) is badly congested, with a daily traffic flow of 87,000 vehicles according to 2000 estimates[4]. In 2000 this section was the subject of a government study called CHUMMS (Cambridge to HUntingdon Multi-Modal Study), which recommended a partial diversion, and widening of the whole section to three lanes[5]. The high level of congestion and numerous accidents on this section have led to it being nicknamed the 'Road to Hell' by the Cambridge Evening News, which has been campaigning for improvements to this road for several years. This also led Richard Bagnall to set up an ePetition on the 10 Downing Street web site to campaign for improvements to the A14 to be expedited [1].
The preferred route between Ellington and Fen Drayton was published by the Highways Agency on 24 October 2007[6]. 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 new bypass would open in stages between 2012 and 2014.
From the M1/M6 junction to A12 west of Ipswich, A14 is part of (but not signed as) the E-road E24. The remainder from Ipswich to Felixstowe is part of E30.
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.
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 6.5 tonnes from the outside lane between 6am and 6pm over the 2-mile steep climb to Welford summit. A similar scheme covers 2 miles 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[7].
[edit] Diagram
| A14 Road | ||
| Eastbound exits | Junction | Westbound exits |
| Leicestershire | ||
| Start of road | Terminus | Birmingham, Sheffield M1 M6 |
| Northamptonshire | ||
| A5199 | 1 | A5199 |
| A508 | 2 | A508 |
| A6 | 5 | A6 |
| No exit | 6 | B669 |
| A43 | 7 | A43 |
| A43 | 8 | A43 |
| A509 | 9 | A509 |
| A6, A6003 | 10 | A6, A6003 |
| A510 | 11 | A510 |
| A6116 | 12 | A6116 |
| A45, A605 | 13 | A45, A605 |
| 14 | ||
| Cambridgeshire | ||
| B663 | 15 | B663 |
| Kimbolton B660 | 16 | Kimbolton B660 |
| Leighton Bromswold | 17 | |
| Spaldwick, Barham | 18 | |
| Easton | 19 | |
| Ellington | 20 | |
| Stevenage/Peterborough A1 | 21 (Brampton Hut) | Stevenage/Peterborough A1 |
| Brampton | 22 | |
| A141, A1(M) | 23 (Spittals) | A141, A1(M) |
| A1198 | 24 | A1198 |
| Hemingford Abbots | 25 | Hemingford Abbots |
| A1096, B1040 | 26 | A1096, B1040 |
| Fenstanton, Fen Drayton | 27 | Fenstanton, Fen Drayton |
| Swavesey, Boxworth | 28 | Swavesey, Boxworth |
| No exit | 28a | Lolworth |
| Bar Hill B1050 | 29 | Bar Hill B1050 |
| Oakington, Dry Drayton | 30 | Oakington, Dry Drayton |
| London, Cambridge M11, A1307 | 31 (Girton) | London, Bedford M11, A428 |
| B1049 | 32 (Histon) | B1049 |
| A10, A1309 | 33 (Milton) | A10, A1309 |
| B1047 | 34 (Fen Ditton) | No exit |
| Cambridge, Newmarket, Burwell A1303, B1102 | 35 (Quy) | Cambridge, Burwell A1303, B1102 |
| No exit | 36 (Nine Mile Hill) | London A11 |
| Suffolk | ||
| Newmarket, Ely A142 | 37 | Newmarket, Ely A142 |
| Cambridgeshire | ||
| Norwich, Mildenhall A11 | 38 | No exit |
| Suffolk | ||
| No exit | 39 | Kentford for Newmarket |
| 40 | ||
| Saxham Business Park | 41 | |
| Bury St Edmunds (West) A1302, B1106 | 42 | Bury St Edmunds (West) A1302, B1106 |
| Diss A143, A134 | 43 (St. Saviours) | Diss A141, A134 |
| Bury St Edmunds (East) A143 | 44 (Moreton Hall) | Bury St Edmunds (East) A143 |
| Rougham / Rougham Industrial Estate | 45 | Rougham / Rougham Industrial Estate |
| 46 | ||
| Woolpit A1088 | 47 | Woolpit A1088 |
| 47a | ||
| 48 (Haughley Bends) | ||
| Stowmarket A1308 | 49 | No Exit |
| Stowmarket A1120 | 50 | Stowmarket A1120 |
| A140, Needham Market B1078 | 51 (Beacon Hill) | A140, Needham Market B1078 |
| Claydon B1113 | 52 | Claydon B1113 |
| Ipswich (North) A1156 | 53 (White House) | Ipswich (North) A1156 |
| Sproughton | 54 (Sproughton) | Sproughton |
| London, Ipswich A12, A1214 | 55 (A12 J33 - Copdock) | London, Ipswich A12, A1214 |
| A137 | 56 (Wherstead) | A137 |
| A1189 | 57 (Nacton) | A1189 |
| Lowestoft A12, A1156 | 58 (Seven Hills) | Lowestoft A12 , A1156 |
| C375 Croft Lane[8] | Un-numbered | |
| Trimley St. Martin, Trimley St. Mary | 59 | Trimley St. Martin, Trimley St. Mary |
| Felixstowe A154 | 60 (Dockspur Roundabout) | Felixstowe A154 |
| Felixstowe Dock Gate 2 A154 | 61 (Trinity Avenue) | No Exit |
| Felixstowe Dock Gate 1 A154 | 62 | Start of road |
[edit] External links
- GO East CHUMMS page containing links to the report documents
- Public consultation on Huntingdon Bypass (March 2007)
[edit] References
- ^ M1 J9 Improvements. Retrieved on 27 July, 2006.
- ^ Highways Agency. Stowmarket to Haughley New Street improvement works. Retrieved on 18 June, 2007.
- ^ stowmarket.angle. Haughley Bends Improvements. Retrieved on 27 July, 2006.
- ^ Cambridge to Huntingdon Multi-Modal Study. Chapter 2 - Problems and Issues. Retrieved on 28 July, 2006.
- ^ Cambridge to Huntingdon Multi-Modal Study. Preferred Plan - Summary. Retrieved on 14 January, 2007.
- ^ Highways Agency. A14 Ellington to Fen Ditton.
- ^ Highways Agency. A14 Journey Time Trial.
- ^ Highways Agency (2007-03-16). "East of England roadworks update: Monday 19 March to Sunday 25 March 2007". Press release. Retrieved on 2007-03-16.
A roads in Zone 1 of the Great Britain road numbering scheme |
|---|
| A1 • A10 • A11 • A12 • A13 • A14 • A15 • A16 • A17 • A18 • A19 • A100 • A101 • A102 • A103 • A104 • A105 • A106 • A107 • A109 • A110 • A118 • A120 • A124 • A127 • A129 |
| A130 • A135 • A140 • A143 • A146 • A148 • A149 • A151 • A153 • A156 • A157 • A158 • A159 • A160 • A165 • A167 • A170 • A171 • A172 • A173 • A174 • A177 • A179 |
| A180 • A182 • A183 • A189 • A194 • A1000 • A1018 • A1058 • A1066 • A1068 • A1073 • A1078 • A1079 |
| A1081 • A1082 • A1086 • A1101 • A1107 • A1151 • A1156 • A1198 • A1200 • A1202 • A1205 • A1231 • A1300 • A1303 • A1309 |
| List of A roads in Zone 1 |
