A1(M)/Bramham to Wetherby

The A1(M) Bramham to Wetherby scheme was an on line upgrade of the A1 dual carriageway between junctions 44 and 46, costing £70 million. This section of the A1(M) carries 85,000 vehicles per day.

History

The now disused layby on the southbound carriageway

The first upgrade of the A1 between Bramham and Wetherby was dualling in the 1960s. This included an at grade roundabout at Wetherby Grange. This roundabout was bypassed in 1986, at a cost of £11.5 million, including a new bridge over the River Wharfe. The A1 between Bramham and Wetherby was upgraded to a D3 route between June 1990 and 1992, leaving the Wetherby bypass as a D2 route. The now disused layby between Bramham and Wetherby used to be part of the southbound carriageway.

In 2002 it was announced by the Minister for Transport that the Bramham to Wetherby upgrade scheme will be included in a wider scheme of improvements to the A1 in Yorkshire. The scheme went to a public inquiry in early 2006, which recommended changes to two bridges on the Wetherby bypass., following 120 objections to the scheme.

Construction

Site clearance work started in March 2007, while the main construction on the upgrade started on the 30th April 2007. The contractor for the scheme was Atkins-Balfour Beatty. The southbound slip road to Walton Lane on the Wetherby bypass closed permanently on the 2nd July 2007

On the 2nd April 2008, the local access road between the A659 at Wattle Syke and Wetherby Grange roundabout was opened to traffic as the A168. As a result of this, the southbound sliproads to the A1 from Wetherby Grange roundabout were closed to traffic.

Construction work on the Wetherby Grange roundabout

During a full closure on the night of 5-6th April 2008, the bridge beams for the new Weatherby Grange bridge were lifted in place. During this closure, traffic on the southbound A1 was directed to cross the northbound carriageway to exit the dual carriageway on the northbound on slip at Walton Lane. Later on 24th April the local access road between Bramham and the A64 was opened, effectively closing the southbound on slip at Bramham. The section of local access road between Wattle Syke and Tenter Hill opened at the beginning of June 2008.

As part of the works, 42 bat boxes have been installed along the route to provide shelter for five different species of bats which have been recorded in the area.

Links

• Highways Agency Project Page

• Post Opening Project Evaluation - A1(M) Bramham to Wetherby–One Year After  September 2011 (archive.org)

• Post Opening Project Evaluation - A1(M) Bramham to Wetherby–Five Years After  November 2015 (archive.org)

	This page was a candidate for Article of the Month October 2009