A1307

Route

The A1307 runs from the A1(M) at Alconbury to Huntingdon before joining the previous route of the former A14 and formerly the original A604 to and through Cambridge, reaching the Suffolk border to end in Haverhill. The first stretch from the A1(M) to Huntingdon has primary status.

Alconbury - Girton

The route begins at the Alconbury East Interchange, and predominantly follows the line of the old A14 route to Swavesey Interchange, with exception of some modifications to the road layout in Huntingdon; the removal of the ECML viaduct required the A1307 to be tied into the local road configuration.

The dual carriageway former A14 section terminates at a roundabout, the A1307 then continues at approximately 90° to the old route along the newly constructed Views Common Road to Hinchingbrooke Park Road, which has a grade separated junction with the B1514 Brampton Road- although due to a low bridge, vehicles over 4.4m/14'6" high have an at-grade link. There is a gap between Hinchingbrooke Park Road and Edison Bell Way where through traffic uses the B1514 Brampton Road. This is not a formal multiplex. At Edison bell Way, there is then a short new link back on to the old A14 route, including access to Huntingdon Railway station.

From here the former A14 is used until just before Swavesey Interchange, where it deflects to meet one of the roundabouts at this junction. Here, traffic for Cambridge and beyond is signposted to use the A14. Meanwhile, beside the A14 the A1307 continues as a single carriageway road providing local access. A bridge looping over the A1307 and A14 serves the village of Lolworth, which formerly had a LILO on the westbound carriageway of the A14 as it's only access. At Bar Hill, a short "jug handle" link provides access to the B1050, giving access to Bar Hill, Northstowe and the A14. This is the final access from the A1307 to the A14 eastbound.

After Bar Hill, the A1307 pulls away slightly from the A14, before using the old Dry Drayton interchange overbridge to fall on the 'south' side of the A14. On this section there is an access road to Cambridge Crematorium, formerly accessed by a LILO on the westbound A14. Two new roundabouts are then reached at Girton interchange; an entry slip for the A14(W) and an exit slip from the A14(E). No further access is provided with any other roads at the interchange.

If the interchange is studied further, there was a small slip road bearing right off the A14 in the beginnings of the central reservation just before the A1307 turn off. This was to provide access to "The Avenue", a minor road just left off the slip road onto the westbound A14 now only accessible by the A1307 between Girton and Dry Drayton. "The Avenue" leads to Madingley and on to the A1303. It could potentially be used as a tuning point back onto the A14; however, this is not its recommended route.

An amended OpenStreetMap trace for this route awaits uploading to the SABRE Wiki.

Girton - Babraham

After the Girton Interchange, the road heads southbound into Cambridge city centre through a suburb called Girton (although we're still outside the city limits here). It passes the Girton College, part of Cambridge University. A bus lane runs parallel to the road, with cyclist access permitted.

Entering Cambridge

To the right of the road is open land but to the left of the road is a built-up suburb. The road rapidly reaches the city centre, with housing replacing much of the scenery. We soon reach the A1134 ring road at traffic lights and multiplex anticlockwise around it. The old A604 continued ahead past the Kettles Yard Gallery, an art gallery with a different perspective, created by Jim Ede to provide a different artistic perspective for university art students. Beyond that, it followed Magdalene Street on a multiplex with the A10 and A45 across the River Cam. This road does permit access, but many roads in Cambridge City Centre are open to buses only. This road diverts towards the famous Jesus Green, then returns to a central road, Sydney Street, which will lead out on the A1307 again. This route is not advised, as the streets are narrow, and have many pedestrians walking on them, buses stopping and cyclists.

To get around Cambridge we need to use the A1134 which passes along Queen's Road and then The Fen Causeway to reach the A603 Lensfield Road, to rejoin the A1307 opposite Regent Street.

The route leaves Cambridge southbound after passing the Our Lady and English Martyrs Catholic Church. Note the blackened walls against the road: this is from soot from the vast amounts of traffic that passed through the city on this route. The road then passes the turn to Cambridge Railway Station before crossing a bridge over the line. The last Cambridge University college, Homerton, is passed before the A1134 is crossed at a triangular junction by Addenbrooke's Hospital. A brief built-up section then leads to open country, the park & ride and the city boundary.

After crossing a roundabout we pass a golf course and climb into the Gogmagog Hills. As we cross the ridge the road becomes D2, although this is hatched out to D1 around the turn for the Wandlebury Country Park, home of the famous Wandlebury Ring (an Iron Age hill fort). We descend the other side and pass to the north of Babraham before crossing the A11 at a roundabout GSJ.

Babraham - Haverhill

Near Linton

The road, which has been fairly straight up to this point, now becomes more winding. We zigzag past Little Abington and cross the River Granta, before a D2 section takes us into Linton (now D1 Linton-bound, with the outside lane converted to a bus lane). This was done to improve the safety of accessing and exiting Dalehead Foods Factory, reduce congestion whilst improving journey times for bus services. Passing the college on the left, another road improvement is visible with a 3-way pedestrian traffic light controlled junction with the High Street, again done to improve bus journey times and reduced congestion in the High Street itself. The A1307 then continues onto the bypass of the village centre, crossing the River Granta upstream of Linton and then heading up an incline to reach another short D2 section after rejoining the old road. Horseheath is then bypassed and after another mile or so we enter Suffolk and reach a roundabout on the western edge of Haverhill. Most of the section between the A11 and Haverhill bypass are subject to reduced speed limits (mostly 50mph and a few 40mph for the villages), with the only exception being the dual-carriageway between Linton and Horseheath and the final straight to Haverhill. At the named 'Spirit of Enterprise' roundabout, and dubbed locally as the 'Toilet Roll' roundabout or 'Chicken Wire' roundabout, where the A1017 forms the bypass straight ahead whilst we bear left to run into the town centre. We pass an out-of-town retail park before running into town along Withersfield Road, which remains rural for a surprising distance but does eventually become lined with houses. At a mini-roundabout in the town centre we bear left to end at the next roundabout on the A143.

History

All of the above was originally numbered A132 and then renumbered A604 on 1st April 1936.

Completion of the A45 and M11 Cambridge bypasses in the 1970s allowed through traffic to avoid Cambridge city centre and so the A1307 number came into existence as the road's old route; it left the A604 at Girton to rejoin it at the A11 junction near Babraham.

The A1307 was extended further in 1997, again at the expense of the A604. It took over that road's course east to Haverhill, giving the A1307 its current route.

Upon opening of the A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon scheme in May 2020, the A1307 was extended further still to Alconbury to meet the A1(M), and gained its first primary section during the process.

References

1. The A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon Improvement Scheme Development Consent Order 2016