COMMUNICA | Issue Four
HIGHLIGHTS
John Henry Group news briefing
Ambitious highways expansion underway
Photographic : Ofori Canacoo for COMMUNICA Magazine
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EAST ANGLIA , UNITED KINGDOM - PLANS are underway to expand one of the UK ’ s busiest roads . More than £ 1bn is being invested into improvement plans for the the A14 , which runs from Suffolk , through Cambridgeshire and into the Midlands . The road is an essential route for more than 80,000 vehicles each day and is used by hauliers , motorists and other traffic . The route is also one of the main access points into and out of Cambridge and connects the East of England to the M11 , one of the main routes to London . The improvement works , which actually began its early phases in November 2016 , will see about 22 miles of road redeveloped by 2020 , employing nearly 2,000 people . Some of the initial works are being carried out by John Henry Group ’ s cabling and civil engineering division , which is assisting in diverting existing fibre optic cables from under the future path of the new motorway route . It is expected that the road improvements will help improve journey times by 20 minutes and the works will include a major new bypass for Huntingdon , widening the A1 between Brampton and Alconbury , widening the existing A14 between Swavesey and Milton and improving the junctions at Bar Hill , Swavesey , Girton , Histon and Milton . There will also be improvements in Huntingdon town centre , including the demolition of the A14 viaduct and a new local access road . Since the government announced the goahead for the project in May 2016 , the project team at Highways England has been
carrying out advanced work . This has included preparing for the construction of the compounds at Swavesey and Brampton , marking out the boundary fence line across the scheme , ecological , archaeological and ground investigation work . In a UKGOV press release , Highways England strategic stakeholder manager , Mike Evans , said : “ The A14 upgrade is a vital improvement for people in the East of England and the economy as a whole . “ It will relieve congestion , unlock growth and connect communities .”
“ The A14 upgrade is a vital improvement for people in the East of England and the economy as a whole ”