A421 road

Last updated

UK road A421.svg
A421
The A421 - geograph.org.uk - 337990.jpg
The A421 looking towards Buckingham from Maywynn Farm.
Route information
Length44.4 mi (71.5 km)
Major junctions
East end A1 Black Cat Roundabout near St Neots
Major intersectionsUK road A1.svg A1

UK road A6.svg A6
UK-Motorway-M1.svg M1 Junction 13.svg
UK road A4146.svg A4146
UK road A5.svg A5

UK road A43.svg A43
West end A43 near Brackley
Location
Country United Kingdom
Primary
destinations
Bedford
Milton Keynes
Road network
UK road A420.svg A420 UK road A422.svg A422

The A421 is an important road for east/west journeys across south central England. Together with the A428, the A43 and A34, it forms the route from Cambridge through Milton Keynes to Oxford. The section between the A1 (near St Neots) and the A5 (in Milton Keynes) is a national primary route.

Contents

Route

The road begins at the A1, just south of St Neots (and the junction with the A428 from Cambridge), at the Black Cat Roundabout. The road bypasses both Great Barford [1] and Bedford to the south to reach the M1 at junction 13. From there, it swings up through the southern part of Milton Keynes, doubling as the local grid road H8 Standing Way. During this time it crosses the A5 (and connects to it via a short spur which is part of the V6 Grafton Street).

Continuing westwards, as the route approaches Buckingham the road passes close by to the 14th century Thornborough Bridge, the only surviving mediaeval bridge in Buckinghamshire which was bypassed by the new bridge in 1974. Close to here, it then forms the Buckingham by-pass before joining the A43 (Northampton M40 junction 10) near Brackley. (On crossing the A43, the route due westward becomes the B4031 through Croughton, Aynho and Deddington to join the A361 to Chipping Norton).

The section from the A1 to the M1 is dual carriageway and fully grade-separated, with the section between Bedford and the M1 completed in December 2010, [2] winning the British Construction Industry Award in 2011. [3]

As of October 2020, the section from junction 13 of the M1 to the south-western flank of Milton Keynes is a dual carriageway. Upon leaving Milton Keynes, the section of road to the A43 is a single carriageway, with the exception of the bypass around Tingewick.

Developments

M1 Junction 13 to Milton Keynes

In conjunction with the M1 widening schemes and dualling of the A421 between M1 Junction 13 and the A1 near St Neots (see above), proposals were made to widen the A421 between the M1 junction 13 in Bedfordshire and the Kingston roundabout in Milton Keynes. [4] Exhibitions were held in June 2005 which rejected proposals to re-route the road in favour of widening the current road. In 2005 the project was given an estimated total cost of £33 million. [5]

Funding of £23.5 million was confirmed by the government for these works, as part of the South East Midlands Local Enterprise Partnership "Local Growth Deal". [6] As part of the government's pinch point reduction programme, in 2014 work commenced on the A421 in Milton Keynes to improve the Kingston roundabout, and dual the section from it to (near) the Bedfordshire border, with the construction of two new roundabouts on the route. The road corridor includes a separate cycleway. [7]

The upgrade work for this final phase of the plan, the section running from junction 13 to Eagle Farm roundabout, started in September 2018 and was completed in December 2020. [7]

In the "Road investment strategy" announced to Parliament by the Department for Transport and Secretary of State for Transport on 1 December 2014, planning would begin to dual the section between the A1 and the A1198 at Caxton Gibbet. [8] The link is to provide an uninterrupted dual carriageway route between the M1 (at Junction 13) and the M11/A14 (at Junction 14 and 31) near Cambridge. [8]

In September 2021, National Highways announced that this new section of dual carriageway will be designated A421. [9] The announcement does not say whether the section between the A1198 and the A14/M11 junction will also be renumbered, which would create a single designation for the entire route between the two motorways.

In December 2023, work began on the new alignment, which replaces the roundabout with a three-level grade-separated junction. [10]

Oxford to Cambridge Expressway

The Oxford to Cambridge Expressway was a proposed grade-separated dual carriageway between the A34 near Oxford and the A14 near Cambridge, via (or near) Milton Keynes. The proposal aimed to establish this route by linking existing roads and building new ones. The case for its creation was examined in a Strategic Study for the Cambridge – Milton Keynes – Oxford corridor, published by National Infrastructure Commission in November 2016. [11] The NIC saw the road as being of national strategic importance by providing an outer orbital route around London, linking Southampton, the M3, M4, M40, M1, A1, A14/M11 and Felixstowe. Had this plan been realised, it would have replaced the current congested single carriageway road between West Bletchley and the A43.

In March 2021, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps cancelled the plan, citing analysis that showed that its costs would exceed its benefits. [12]

Notable events

Speeding

The A421 Tingewick bypass has a minor claim to fame as the location of the then fastest speeding incident ever recorded by British police, in March 2003. [13] Andrew Osborne, 31, of Leamington Spa, was filmed by a mobile speed camera while travelling at 157 miles per hour (253 km/h) on a motorcycle. His friend Neil Bolger, 30, of Gaydon, was clocked at 148 miles per hour (238 km/h). Both were convicted of dangerous driving, imprisoned for 28 days and banned from driving for two years (with a compulsory re-test). [13]

Blind driver

Blind Martine Brooks drove along the newly constructed A421 Great Barford Bypass (From the A1 Black Cat Roundabout to Bedford) and back to raise money for charity. [14] The drive took place two days before the official road opening, and she was accompanied by Frank Branston (mayor of Bedford), Steve Clarke (teacher and navigator), and Denise Hubbard (driving instructor and car owner).

She reached a speed of 65 mph (105 km/h) before doing a flawless three point turn, and returning to the A1.

Related Research Articles

St Neots is a town and civil parish in the Huntingdonshire district of Cambridgeshire, England. It is 18 miles (29 km) west of Cambridge. The areas of Eynesbury, Eaton Ford and Eaton Socon form part of the town.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">M1 motorway</span> First inter-urban motorway in the UK

The M1 motorway connects London to Leeds, where it joins the A1(M) near Aberford, to connect to Newcastle. It was the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the UK; the first motorway in the country was the Preston Bypass, which later became part of the M6.

The A1, also known as the Great North Road, is the longest numbered road in the United Kingdom, at 410 miles (660 km). It connects London, the capital of England, with Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. The numbering system for A-roads, devised in the early 1920s, was based around patterns of roads radiating from two hubs at London and Edinburgh. The first number in the system, A1, was given to the most important part of that system: the road from London to Edinburgh, joining the two central points of the system and linking the UK's (then) two mainland capital cities. It passes through or near north London, Hatfield, Welwyn Garden City, Stevenage, Baldock, Letchworth Garden City, Biggleswade, Eaton Socon, Buckden, Peterborough, Stamford, Grantham, Newark-on-Trent, Retford, Doncaster, Pontefract, York, Wetherby, Ripon, Darlington, Durham, Gateshead, Newcastle upon Tyne, Morpeth, Alnwick and Berwick-upon-Tweed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A14 road (England)</span> Major road in England

The A14 is a major trunk road in England, running 127 miles (204 km) from Catthorpe Interchange, a major intersection at the southern end of the M6 and junction 19 of the M1 in Leicestershire to the Port of Felixstowe, Suffolk. The road forms part of the unsigned Euroroutes E24 and E30. It is the busiest shipping lane in East Anglia carrying anything from cars to large amounts of cargo between the UK and Mainland Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A45 road</span> Major road in England

The A45 is a major road in England. It runs east from Birmingham past the National Exhibition Centre and the M42, then bypasses Coventry and Rugby, where it briefly merges with the M45 until it continues to Daventry. It then heads to Northampton and Wellingborough before running north of Rushden and Higham Ferrers and terminating at its junction with the A14 in Thrapston.

The Oxford–Cambridge Arc is a notional arc of agricultural and urban land at about 80 kilometres radius of London, in south central England. It runs between the British university cities of Oxford and Cambridge via Milton Keynes and other settlements in Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire at the northern rim of the London commuter belt. It is significant only in economic geography, with little physical geography in common.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A43 road</span> Road in England

The A43 is a primary route in the English Midlands and northern South East England, that runs from the M40 motorway near Ardley in Oxfordshire to Stamford in Lincolnshire. Through Northamptonshire it bypasses the towns of Northampton, Kettering and Corby which are the three principal destinations on the A43 route. The A43 also links to the M1 motorway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A428 road</span> Road in England

The A428 road is a major road in central and eastern England. It runs between the cities of Coventry and Cambridge by way of the county towns of Northampton and Bedford. Together with the A421,, the eastern section of the A428 forms the route between Cambridge and Oxford. The A428 was formerly part of the main route from Birmingham to Felixstowe before the A14 was fully opened in 1993.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A509 road</span> Road in England

The A509 is a short A-class road for north–south journeys in south central England, forming the route from Kettering in Northamptonshire to the A5 in Milton Keynes, via M1 junction 14.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A422 road</span> Road in England

The A422 is an "A" road for east–west journeys in south central England, connecting the county towns of Bedford and Worcester by way of Milton Keynes, Buckingham, Banbury and Stratford-upon-Avon. For most of its length, it is a narrow single carriageway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A505 road</span> Road in southern England

The A505 is a road in the East of England. It follows part of the route of the Icknield Way and the corresponding Icknield Way Path and runs from Leighton Buzzard in Bedfordshire to the A11 Abington Interchange North in Cambridgeshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black Cat Roundabout</span> Road junction

Black Cat Roundabout is on the junction between the A1 and A421 just south of St Neots. It has been reconstructed twice since 2000 and, as of 2024, a third reconstruction is underway to completely replace it with a free-flowing junction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Milton Keynes grid road system</span> Top layer of street hierarchy

The Milton Keynes grid road system is a network of predominantly national speed limit, fully landscaped routes that form the top layer of the street hierarchy for both private and public transport in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire. The system is unique in the United Kingdom for its innovative use of street hierarchy principles: the grid roads run in between districts rather than through them. This arrangement permits higher speed limits due to the absence of buildings close to the roads – although more recently some have been limited in part to 40 mph (64 km/h). The grid road system also serves an important purpose of discouraging through-traffic from travelling through neighbourhoods and thus reduces traffic noise and pollution in pedestrian areas. Motor traffic is segregated from pedestrian and leisure cycling traffic, which uses the alternative Milton Keynes redway system. Almost all grid junctions are roundabouts, and the absence of traffic lights enables free and efficient movement of traffic.

National Cycle Route 51 is an English long distance cycle route running broadly east-west connecting Colchester and the port of Harwich to Oxford via Ipswich, Bury St Edmunds, Cambridge, Bedford, Milton Keynes, Bicester, and Kidlington.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transport in Buckinghamshire</span>

Transport in Buckinghamshire has been shaped by its position within the United Kingdom. Most routes between the UK's two largest cities, London and Birmingham, pass through this county. The county's growing industry first brought canals to the area, then railways and then motorways.

Roxton is a small village and civil parish in the Borough of Bedford, Bedfordshire, England about 7 miles (11 km) north-east of the county town of Bedford.

Transport in Bedford provides links between the town and other parts of England. Road access to and from the town is provided by the A6 and A421 roads; the former connects the town with Kettering to the north-west, and Luton to the south, whilst the latter connects the town with Milton Keynes and the M1 to the west, and the A1 to the east via a bypass, with both being around 10 miles (16 km) away. Other roads that serve or skirt the town include the A422, which runs westwards into Milton Keynes, and the A428, which runs between Coventry and Cambridge.

The Oxford to Cambridge Expressway was a proposed grade-separated dual carriageway between the A34 near Oxford and the A14 near Cambridge, via Milton Keynes. The road would have provided an outer orbital route around London, as well as connecting major growth areas in the region.

References

  1. The Great Barford bypass opened on 24 August 2006.
  2. "A421 Bedford to M1 Junction 13". highways.gov.uk. 2011. Archived from the original on 15 December 2013. Retrieved 14 December 2013.
  3. "Winners 2011". bciawards.org.uk. 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2013.
  4. "A421 Miton Keynes to M1" (PDF). South East England Regional Assembly. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 July 2010. Retrieved 22 July 2009.
  5. "Bedfordshire Local Transport Plan 2006/07 – 2010/11 – Major projects". Bedfordshire County Council. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 9 December 2008.
  6. "£23.5million project unveiled to upgrade A421 to dual carriageway". Milton Keynes Citizen. 7 July 2014. Retrieved 27 January 2015.
  7. 1 2 Logan MacLeod (14 December 2020). "Multi-million pound project improving road link between Bedford and Milton Keynes complete". Milton Keynes Citizen . Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  8. 1 2 "The east of England gets a £1.5 billion investment in its roads as part of the new 'Road investment strategy'. 1 December 2014".
  9. Highways England (16 September 2021). "National Highways announces new road numbers for A428 Black Cat to Caxton Gibbet scheme" (Press release).
  10. Johnson, Thomas (13 December 2023). "Skanska begins work on £1bn 16km dual carriageway for A428 Black Cat to Caxton Gibbet". New Civil Engineer.
  11. "Oxford to Cambridge expressway strategic study: stage 3 report" (PDF). UK Department for Transport. 28 November 2016. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
  12. "Oxford to Cambridge expressway project cancelled as Transport Secretary looks to alternative plans for improving transport in the region". gov.uk. 18 March 2021. Archived from the original on 18 March 2021. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
  13. 1 2 "Thames Valley Police annual report 2003-04" (PDF). Thames Valley Police. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 October 2006. Retrieved 21 July 2006.
  14. "A421 Great Barford Bypass Third Newsletter – August 2006" (PDF). Highways Agency. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 29 December 2008.

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