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”