Work to move the southern section of the 12,000t viaduct away from the railway line will take two weekends, followed by seven weeks of carefully lowering it to ground level before the structure is demolished. The process will be repeated on the northern side of the structure at the end of November.

“Once the final sections of the viaduct have been removed, we can begin work on improvements to the railway station car park and surrounding areas,” explains National Highways’ project manager Laura Hampshire.

The plan is to transform Huntingdon station into a new transport hub for the town with better facilities for bus users, cyclists and pedestrians.

Improvements to the station car park follow on from the opening of a new link road connecting the A1307 at Views Common with Hinchingbrooke Park Road last month, designed to reduce congestion in Huntingdon town centre and on the ring road.

Demolition of Huntingdon viaduct and the railway station enhancements represent the final pieces of work associated with the A14 upgrade, which is said to have reduced journey times by around 20 minutes for 85,000 daily drivers.

The 33km highway improvement includes a 19km bypass to the south of Huntingdon between Ellington and Swavesey. Upgrade of the rest of the route to three lanes towards Cambridge was completed in May.

(Photograph: National Highways)