Shovels have broken ground on the A14 improvement in Cambridgeshire. The £1.5Bn project to upgrade 33km of the strategic route to three lanes in each direction aims to cut journey times by 20 minutes and provide a boost to the economy.

Work will see the existing A14 widened between Swavesey and Milton, a new bypass for Huntingdon, widening of the A1 between Brampton and Alconbury and improvement of five junctions.

Traffic will begin to use the upgraded route by the end of 2020.

The A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon improvement scheme will be delivered on behalf of Highways England by a delivery team of four contractors (Balfour Beatty, Carillion, Costain and Skanska) and two design consultants: (Atkins and CH2M).

Last month a new highway academy opened to train apprentices who will go on to work on the project. A community fund set up by the project team has already agreed funding in principle for four local community projects, with several funding rounds left to run.

The A14 scheme will also include improvements in Huntingdon town centre, including the demolition of the A14 viaduct and new local access roads.

Highways England chief executive Jim O’Sullivan said: “I want the A14 to redefine what a road scheme can achieve and, in addition to a significantly upgraded road, I am determined that our work here will leave behind a positive legacy for people living along the A14.”

Greater Cambridge Greater Peterborough Local Enterprise Partnership chief executive Neil Darwin said: “The upgrade of the A14 is critical to the continued success of our local economy and will have a far wider positive economic impact across the East and beyond. We look forward to the completion of this project in a timely manner.”

Cambridgeshire County Council leader Steve Count added: “Anybody who has been stuck in a queue on the A14 knows how vital it is for these improvements to be delivered. We have campaigned long and hard for this. This arterial road is not only vital for the local economy but is also a lifeline for the UK and needs delivering as early as possible.”

(Photo: Highways England)