October 2021

18 Buckden Roundabout October 2021 The Parish Council—the A1 and A14 The Parish Council - Part 9 My apologies for a mistake in part 8. The photograph was cap- tioned 2021. It should have been 2000. Unfortunately at least eight of those pictured are no longer with us. Last month I promised to write about the A1 and the A14. It makes sense to try to tell the whole story rather than spread it over a number of parts. In part 5 of my story I explained how the existing A1 bypass and the roundabout were completed in 1962. Since then both have been an ever - increasing thorn in the side of the Parish Council and the village as a whole. In the late eighties various options to upgrade the A1 were considered including a new road along the high ground the other side of the River Ouse which would have joined the existing A1 south of Sandy. Even- tually a route was agreed that created a new road to the west of Southoe and Buckden to join the A1 to the west of Bramp- ton. Unfortunately this was cancelled by the government in 1997 and the A1 was actually ‘ detrunked ’. In the late 1980s and early 1990s the A1 north of Brampton Hut up to Peterborough was completely rebuilt as to a four - lane motorway standard with a link at Alconbury to the A14 so that traffic had a clear route to the M11. It is a little known fact that this road is a Toll Road, the toll paid by the government rather than the individual road user. During subsequent years the A1 to the north of the new mo- torway was upgraded and all of the roundabouts were re- placed with graded separation interchanges. This meant that after Buckden the next roundabout was north of Newcastle. The inevitable frustration for drivers travelling south as they hit this obstacle is easy to understand. Common sense prevailed and the A1 south of Brampton was again declared a trunk road. The number and speed of vehicles increased and the roundabout and the various junctions and cross - over points became increasingly dangerous. The then County Councillor set up the A1 Safety Advisory Group with members from Buckden and Southoe Parish Coun- cils and Diddington residents. The aim of this working group was to press for improvements to the A1 and hopefully a by- pass to the west of Southoe and Buckden. Its meetings were attended by our County and District Councillors, the police and representatives from the Highways Agency (now Highways England). It not only pressed for improvements to our section of the road but had discussions with representatives from Brampton and Sandy. To date it has failed in its prime aim to get a bypass although the route is included in the current Highways England pro- posals. It did succeed in gaining the average speed cameras on the A1 and the 50mph speed limit on both approaches to the roundabout. It continues to keep the problem of the A1 at the forefront of MPs and Highways England minds. The problem of the roundabout and access to and from the village continues and will be exacerbated by the proposed development in Silver Street. Residents will be aware that there is a proposal from property developers, apparently supported by Highways England, to have traffic lights on the roundabout. This has not been sup- ported by the Parish Council in the past and I believe that dis- cussions continue. In summary the problems caused by A1 have always been high on the agenda of the Parish Council are likely to remain so. The A14 has also had a long - term effect on the traffic round Buckden and its development has been a regular item on the Parish Council ’ s agenda. During the late 1980s and early 1990s the A604 was up graded to a dual carriage way and it was re- numbered the A14 from the M1 to Ipswich and beyond. To join with the existing dual carriageway to Cambridge it made a rather ‘ untidy ’ detour round Huntingdon to the A14 which linked the A1 with the existing A604 to Cambridge. Various plans were submitted to improve the situation. One involved a new road to the north of Huntingdon but the final decision was to construct a new three lane highway to the south of Hunting- don. This meant that the route would have to run between Buckden and Brampton. Three possible routes were proposed and not surprisingly the two Parish Councils argued strongly that the route furthest from their village should be selected. The Parish Council joined forces with the Offords Parish Council to argue not only for the northern most route but for the most favourable and attractive viaduct crossing over the railway and the River Ouse. The final decision to use the middle route seemed a sensible compro- mise. Once the route was selected the Council ’ s main concerns were to ensure that no construction traffic was routed through the village, that the village hostelries would not be inundated in the evening by construction workers and that the route to the west of Brampton was constructed so that an eventual bypass would be able to join the A1. It was successful on all counts, most of the construction traffic reached their destina- tion by travelling along the new route as it was constructed and the main accommodation site for workers was sited close to Cambridge. The council argued that the new A14 should be constructed on the Brampton side of the A1 so that a future bypass could join the A1. Fortunately the village ’ s arguments prevailed and the route agreed as you now see it. During the early discussions on the A14 the Council was fortu- nate to have the advice of a retired resident who had been the senior highways engineer when the first UK motorway (Preston Bypass 1958) was built. The Council argued that the existing Huntingdon bypass should be retained as well as building the new road. This would have allowed an easy flow of traffic from the north to access the east and the M11 with the new road allowing an unfettered through route from East to West. Un- fortunately for various reasons this was not accepted. I can provide more information on this if any reader would like it. (Continued on page 22)