Press release

Planned roadworks in the East of England: weekly summary for Monday 9 to Sunday 15 January 2017

Summary of work being carried out this coming week.

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The following information summarises the work being carried out this coming week. It is correct as of the above date but could be subject to change due to weather conditions or unforeseen circumstances. All our improvement work is carried out with the aim of causing as little disruption as possible.

New work

A47 King’s Lynn and Swaffham: resurfacing

Highways England is repairing the road surface of the A47 at Tilney All Saints, Narborough and Swaffham. This work will take place between Monday 9 and Tuesday 24 January, between 8pm and 6am on weeknights only with the A47 closed while we are working.

Tilney All Saints

The A47 will be closed between the A17 Pullover Roundabout at King’s Lynn and the Shoreboat Roundabout at Tilney All Saints on Monday 9 January. Drivers heading westbound will exit at the Hardwick Roundabout, take the A10 to Downham Market, then the A1122 towards Wisbech then the A1101 to re-join the A47. Drivers heading eastbound will take the A1101 through Wisbech to Long Sutton, then the A17 to re-join the A47.

Drivers who miss the initial diversion sign will have to head back to follow the diversion from the beginning.

Narborough

The A47 will be closed between the junctions with Swaffham Road, Narborough, and the A1122 roundabout, Swaffham, on Tuesday 10 January. Drivers heading westbound will take the A1122 towards Downham Market then the A10 towards King’s Lynn to re-join the A47. Drivers heading eastbound will take the A10 towards Downham Market, then the A134 towards Thetford, then the A1122 towards Swaffham to re-join the A47.

Drivers who miss the initial diversion sign will have to head back to follow the diversion from the beginning.

Swaffham

The A47 will be closed between the Lynn Road slip road and Norwich Road Roundabout in both directions from Wednesday 11 to Saturday 14 January. Drivers heading westbound will exit the A47 at the A11 Thickthorn Interchange, taking the A11 to Thetford, the A134 towards King’s Lynn, the A1122 towards Downham Market, and finally the A10 to re-join the A47. Drivers heading eastbound will follow this diversion in reverse. Access into and out of Swaffham will be maintained via the A1065, Norwich Road and Lynn Road.

M1: technology repairs

Highways England will be working to repair and replace faulty power cables for signage technology on the motorway, including overhead sign lighting, on the M1 between junctions 8 (Hemel Hempstead) and 9 (A5 – Markyate) between 9pm and 6am.They will be working on weekdays and, if required, Saturday 14 January. The hard shoulder will be closed while we are working during the day, with lanes closure in place overnight. As part of these scheme works it will be necessary for the southbound entry slip road of junction 9 be closed overnight on specific dates. Where slip roads are closed, drivers will be diverted to continue on the M1 to the next junction, exit and return to leave the junction from the opposite direction.

Ongoing work

Various roads: routine inspections for street lighting

Highways England is carrying out a programme of routine inspections of electrical and structural equipment across the region, which is planned for completion in spring 2017. Work will include inspecting equipment on:

  • the A5 with no impact on road users
  • the A12 between Ipswich and the M25 with no impact on road users
  • the A120 between Marks Tey and Stansted with no impact on road users

Various roads: barrier repairs

Highways England will continue repairs to barriers throughout the week, using lane closures to keep road users at a safe distance from the work. The work will take place at various locations, between 8pm and 5am. This week we are repairing barriers on the M11 in both directions from Monday 9 to Friday 13 January overnight, using lane closures while we are working between junctions 6 (M25) and 9 (A11). We are also repairing barriers on the A120 in both directions, between junction 8 with the M11 and Braintree (Marks Farm).

Various roads: litter picking and sweeping

Highways England will continue litter picking throughout the week on the M11. This will be done using a mobile slow-moving hard shoulder or lane closure. Work will also include sweeping the hard shoulder of the M11 during the day while we litter pick between junctions 6 (M25) and 9 (A11).

M11 and A120: structures maintenance

Highways England are carrying out routine maintenance work on bridges crossing the M11 between junctions 6 (M25) and 9 (A11) in both directions. They will also be doing similar work on the A120, between junction 8 with the M11 and Braintree (Marks Farm). These will be done during the day, with the hard shoulder closed while we are working.

M11 and A120 Stansted Airport: pothole filling

Highways England will be filling in potholes on the M11 between junctions 8 (Stansted Airport – Bishop’s Stortford) and 9 (A11) in both directions, and on the A120 between Braintree and junction 8 of the M11. This will be done using lane and hard shoulder closures while we are working, between 8.30pm and 6am, from Monday 2 to Friday 6 January.

M11: routine maintenance

Highways England will be doing routine maintenance of structures and technology boxes along the M11 during the day. These will be done with a hard shoulder closure, taking place between junctions 6 (M25) and 9 (A11).

A1 Buckden: road surface repairs

Highways England are repairing the A1 between Buckden/B661 roundabout and the and the Brampton Hut junction 21 of the A14. They will complete this work overnight, between Buckden and Brampton on the A1 northbound in early January, working between 8pm and 6am on weeknights only. To keep road users at a safe distance from the works, we will close the A1 between the two junctions while we are working. There will also be a 40mph speed limit in place 24/7 throughout the works.

This week we are working on the A1.

The A1 will be closed southbound on Monday 9 January overnight. There will be a clearly signed diversion route in place, whereby drivers will be diverted to:

Exit A14 eastbound to junction 23( Brampton Hut), then take the A14 south and then east to junction 32 (Histon), then take the A14westbound to the A428, continuing westbound, and finally re-join the A1 at the Wyboston Lakes junction.

We will be working on the A1 northbound from Tuesday 10 to Friday 13 January. There will be a clearly signed diversion route in place, whereby drivers will be diverted to:

Exit A1 at Wyboston Lakes to take, the A428 eastbound onto the A14 to exit at junction 32 and travel back west to junction 31a and the A14 northbound to junction 23 Spittals interchange and left onto A14 junction 21/A1 at Brampton Hut.

Highways England is building a new 2.9-mile, two-lane dual carriageway running from north of Dunstable and joining the M1 at a new junction 11a, south of Chalton. Main construction started in March 2015. Work is progressing well. The traffic management, including hard shoulder closures, safety barriers, signs, CCTV and average speed cameras, will stay in place throughout the construction work, which will be carried out in phases and should be finished in spring 2017.

Work on the M1

This week there will be M1 lane closures between junctions 10 and 13 from 10pm to 6am for overhead gantry works.

There will be overnight M1 road closures between Junction 11 and 12 for new sign gantry works as follows:

  • Wednesday 11 January, M1 closed southbound from 10pm to 6am
  • Thursday 12 January, M1 closed northbound from 10pm to 6am

During the closures, drivers will be directed to travel as follows:

M1 southbound Junction 12 to 11

The M1 southbound will be closed at J12. Diverted traffic to exit at J12 and turn right onto the A5120 through Toddington to Houghton Regis, turn left onto High Street and continue to the roundabout with The Green & Park Rd north, taking the 3rd exit onto Park Rd north to the roundabout with Poynters Rd, take the 3rd exit onto Poynters Road and follow to the roundabout with Poynters Rd & A505 Dunstable Rd. Take the 1st exit onto A505 and continue along the A505 to junction 11 of the M1 and re-join southbound M1.

M1 northbound Junction 11 to 12

M1 northbound traffic to exit at Jct 11 & turn left onto A505 Dunstable Rd, at the roundabout at A505 & Poynters Road take the 3rd exit onto Poynters and continue to the roundabout with Poynters Rd and Park Road North, take the 2nd exit and continue on Park Rd North to the next roundabout and take the 1st exit onto The Green. Continue along to the High St to the roundabout with Bedford Rd (A5120), turn right onto Bedford Road and follow the A5120 via Toddington to M1 J12 and re-join the M1.

Work on the A5 and local roads

This week there will be traffic lights overnight on the A5-A505 between 8pm and 6am for safety barrier installation and construction of a new footpath works. There will be off-peak temporary traffic lights on local roads and A5 between 9.30am and 3.30pm for verge and safety barrier work.

Cycle improvements schemes in Suffolk, Essex, Norfolk and Bedfordshire

Work is substantially completed on the building or improving of cycle paths at 16 locations across the East of England including on the A12, A120, A47 and A5.

The work included the installation of new and upgraded shared-use foot/cycle ways and toucan crossing facilities. The new or improved paths will make it safer and easier to cycle on or around major A-roads and will improve connections with the local and national cycle network.

The project is part of a country-wide initiative which will see Highways England deliver 200 projects over the next five years after the government set up a £100 million dedicated fund for cycling in its Road Investment Strategy.

Ongoing work for this week

A12 Lowestoft – Station Road/Gunton St/Peters Avenue

There will be off peak three way lights along Station Road whilst UKPN to install connections to the new light columns.

A14 Bury St Edmunds: junction improvements

Improvement works are being carried out on the A14 Junction 45 Rookery Crossroads/Rougham. Works include construction of new eastbound slip roads, which are being funded by Suffolk County Council as part of the Bury St Edmunds Eastern Relief Road scheme. There is a 24 hour 40mph speed limit in place through the works for safety reasons, works are currently taking place overnight using lane closures in both directions. The works are due to take 5 months to complete.

A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire: major improvements

Early preparatory construction work on the A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon scheme has been underway for a number of months and main construction work is now underway.

We are carrying out a variety of tasks which will require us to close lanes / carriageway on the A1, A14 and some of the side roads. The work we will be doing will include:

  • creating strengthened crossing points for site vehicles on a number of the side roads -these are called plant crossings
  • installing access points to our construction compounds
  • taking core samples of the existing trunk roads to enable appropriate design and construction
  • clearing the site of vegetation which is adjacent to the live carriageway

Wherever possible, work will take place at night (usually between 8pm and 6am) to minimise disruption to traffic.

Lane or carriageway closures are currently planned for the following locations to enable site clearance to take place. All closures will take place between 8pm and 6 am.

Full closures from Monday 12 to Friday 16 January:

  • full Closure of the A1 Southbound between Alconbury to Brampton Hut
  • A1 Southbound Brampton Hut Exit slip Closed
  • A1 Southbound Alconbury Entry slip Closed

Lane closures on:

Monday 9 January:

  • A1 Southbound between Junction 15 to Junction 14
  • A14 Eastbound between Junction18 & Junction 20
  • A1 Southbound between Junction 15 & Junction 14
  • A1 Northbound between Little Paxton & Brampton
  • A14 Westbound Between Junction 32 & Junction 28

Tuesday 10 January:

  • A1 Southbound between Junction 15 to Junction 14
  • A14 EB between Junction 27 & Junction 30
  • M11 Northbound between Junction 12 & Junction 13
  • A14 Westbound between Junction 34 & Junction 33

Wednesday 11 January:

  • A1 Southbound between Junction 15 to Junction 14
  • A1 Southbound between Junction 15 & Junction 14
  • M11 Northbound between Junction 14 & A14 Junction 29
  • A14 Westbound Entry Slip Lane at junction 32

Thursday 12 January:

  • A1 Southbound between Junction 15 to Junction 14
  • A14 Eastbound between Junction18 & Junction 20
  • A14 Eastbound between Junction 27 & Junction 31

Friday 13 January:

  • A1 Southbound between Junction 15 to Junction 14
  • A14 Eastbound between Junction 18 & Junction 20
  • A1 Northbound between Little Paxton & Brampton
  • A1 Southbound between Junction15 & Junction 14
  • A14 Eastbound between Junction 27 & Junction 31

A14 Cambridgeshire: drainage repairs

Highways England is undertaking investigations and repairs to the drainage system of the A14 between junctions 32 (Girton – M11 interchange) and 35 (Stoke cum Quy). They will be working off the road during the day clearing vegetation and re-profiling drainage ditches. There will be lane closures and slip road closures between 8pm and 6am while we are working overnight, with all works on weekdays only.

This week we are working on the A14 in both directions with the inside lane closed between junctions 32 and 33.

A47 Dogsthorpe: junction improvements (Peterborough City Council)

Peterborough City Council is continuing its junction improvement work at the A47/A15 Dogsthorpe junction, Peterborough. The work will involve some overnight full closure and 24/7 lane closures on the A47. For more information, visit the scheme website.

A120 and A12 Essex: essential maintenance work

We are completing essential maintenance work on the A120 and the A12 in Essex, which will be ongoing until May. This work will include resurfacing, safety barrier repairs, and bridge repairs, with work taking place between Braintree and Marks Tey, near Colchester, at Kelvedon, and at Wix. Unless detailed otherwise, work will be taking place between 8pm and 6am.

This week we are starting work on Monday 9 January as detailed below:

Resurfacing the road and footpaths and replacing street lights, fencing and road signs on the A120 between Marks Farm (Braintree) and Marks Tey. We will be using temporary traffic lights on Monday 9 and Tuesday 10 January. From Wednesday 11 January the A120 will be closed while we are working from the Marks Tey roundabout to the B1024 junction. Drivers heading westbound diverted to continue south on the A12 to junction 19, take the A130 northbound to Little Waltham, the A131 northbound through Great Notley, then re-join the A120 at Braintree. Drivers heading eastbound will follow this diversion in reverse. We expect this work to be completed by May.

Repairing drainage on the A120 Wix bypass, with work expected to be completed by late April. There will be traffic lights in place and a 40mph speed limite while we are working.

Replacing the central reservation safety barrier on the A120 between junction 29 of the A12 (Crown Interchange) to Hare Green (between the B1029 and the A133). There will be narrow lanes westbound with a 50mph limit in place in both directions 24/7 throughout the works until mid-March.

General enquiries

Members of the public should contact the Highways England customer contact centre on 0300 123 5000.

Media enquiries

Journalists should contact the Highways England press office on 0844 693 1448 and use the menu to speak to the most appropriate press officer.

Published 6 January 2017