A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon "news"

[Berk]

It’s a running gag on here..

[nowster]

It’s a running gag on here..

So, the M7? [sheesh]

[Berk]

PAARRRP PAAARRRPPP!!

[A9NWIL]

If they did that the junction numbers would have to be negative!

Or just remember all the junctions from Felixstow to Glasgow!

What’s the benefit in doing so when the fastest route between those places is actually via the A1 and A66?

The A14 flows directly into the M6 now it makes sense to make it one long motorway. People may not actually drive it end to end, except for SABREists, but its already one long route so one number makes sense.

[A9NWIL]

It’s a running gag on here..

So, the M7? [sheesh]

They could use that in Scotland using the A74(M) and a new north east route from there to the Edinburgh area, maybe flowing into the end of the M9 crossing the M8, so linking to both. The M74 would remain as a TOTRSO from a newly created M7.

[Berk]

Tbh, I find the idea of a motorway stretching magically from the central belt of Scotland to the English east coast rather bizarre.

Surely it would make sense to have two motorways: one from the central belt running down to the south-west of England (i.e. M74-M6-M5 route), the motorway to the east coast breaking off/joining near Wolverhampton (M6 J11).

That’s how I see a joined up route. In fact, I would switch the numbers around too. Make the J11- Felixstowe route the M45. Or A45 east of Catthorpe if you prefer.

The old A45 from Birmingham can become part of the A428 (the motorway around Rugby can become the A428(M) ) up to Northampton. The A45 east of Northampton can become an A605 extension (it doesn’t really go anywhere now). I’d also renumber the Northampton ring road as the A428.

The old A428 from Coventry can take another number (A4284 anyone??). Then everything else as before.

[ais523]

If we're sending both the M6 and M14 along the current route of the M6 and A14, I'd put the break somewhere around the junction with the M5. That's where the M6 turns from being a north/south motorway to being an east/west motorway, so it's logical to number the two parts differently.

Much more logical, though, is to send one of the motorways along the existing M6 and the other along the M6 Toll, having each terminate on the other. That provides a natural stopping point.

[KeithW]

The A14 flows directly into the M6 now it makes sense to make it one long motorway. People may not actually drive it end to end, except for SABREists, but its already one long route so one number makes sense.

From a Sabristic point of view perhaps but from an economic point of view I doubt it.

From Felixstowe to Cambridge the A14 carries traffic levels from 40-50 k and that has not grown appreciably in the last decade at least in part due to better multi modal traffic provision moving containers by rail.

Between the A1 and M6 traffic levels tell us a similar story. The Cambridge Huntingdon A14 problems were the result of a Perfect Storm arising from increasing levels of traffic in and around Cambridge, the overloading of the decaying A14 Railway Viaduct and the poor quality of much of the original A604 dualling. I suspect some aspects of Expressway design such as refuges and smart signage will be retrofitted to the A14 but would be surprised to see much else happen. I see no way in which the cost of providing the LAR roads needed for Motorway status could be justified.

Once the new A14(M) is opened I suspect the DfT will be giving other schemes much higher priority, specifically raising the standards of the non Motorway A1 in England, dualling the A66/A69 and trans Pennine routes. Do that and I suspect you will see increasing levels of traffic heading to Scotland via the A1/A66/A74(M) route.

In East Anglia and Lincolnshire the priority surely has to be improve major routes out of Norfolk such as the A17, A46 and A47 which in terms of road quality are about where the A1 was in the 1960's. A mixture of almost unimproved rural A roads with individual town bypasses, many of which were built as S2. In fact give me a bottomless road building budget and the expressway I would build is the M46 from Gloucester to Hull via Cheltenham, Evesham, Stratford on Avon, Coventry, Leicester and Lincoln. A major benefit would be removing through traffic from the SW to the North from the M5, M42 and M1.

The only major road development I expect and hope to see in Cambridge area is the Oxford Cambridge Expressway

[si404]

The only bits of the A14 that are likely to see major upgrades in the future are J3-7 (nearly as heavily trafficked as the Kettering bypass that they made D3 coupled with low quality J5 and J6) and J13 to J21 (at grade junctions and frontages). I'd imagine HE priorities would lie elsewhere though, even within that part of the country (E-W expressway, A47, A12 and A1 corridors)

But, I could see comms upgrades and the like elsewhere and corridor slowly all meeting the requirements of motorway regulations via the expressway concept. Certainly previous upgrades have been done to make it a motorway-esque road (hence, for example, the roll out of junction numbers) and the expressway concept gives a route to that via stuff they'd want to give the road anyway.

Definitely shouldn't be called M6 though!

[medgoode]

A new newsletter has been released by the A14C2H team:

https://s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/asse ... +Oct18.pdf

[roadtester]

A new newsletter has been released by the A14C2H team:

https://s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/asse ... +Oct18.pdf

Thanks - interesting.

That said, the most fascinating information contained therein had nothing to do with the road - I had no idea that a blue whale weighed as much as 150 tonnes!

[c2R]

The only major road development I expect and hope to see in Cambridge area is the Oxford Cambridge Expressway

I'd add to that finally doing something about the A10 between Cambridge and Ely- I can't see that the current situation can possibly continue - even if it is just online dualling to make a poor man's roundabout infested monstrosity, as it currently stands the route simply isn't fit for purpose, and as more development occurs around Cambridge the situation is only going to get wrose.

[Euan]

Definitely shouldn't be called M6 though!

Another single digit motorway zone violation would certainly be the last thing we need, at least from a numbering perfectionist point of view.

[Ruperts Trooper]

Definitely shouldn't be called M6 though!

Another single digit motorway zone violation would certainly be the last thing we need, at least from a numbering perfectionist point of view.

Given that English & Welsh zone boundaries radiate from London, I think we need more cross-boundary roads that don't go to/from London.

[Euan]

Definitely shouldn't be called M6 though!

Another single digit motorway zone violation would certainly be the last thing we need, at least from a numbering perfectionist point of view.

Given that English & Welsh zone boundaries radiate from London, I think we need more cross-boundary roads that don't go to/from London.

The M5 is a bit of an interesting case, being the only single digit motorway in England and Wales not to be oriented relative to London. The result of the M5 forming the boundary between the 4 and 5 motorway zones would explain the greater number of M5x numbers than M4x numbers in use, and that's without taking into account the M48 and M49 both being entirely out of zone!

[si404]

Given that English & Welsh zone boundaries radiate from London, I think we need more cross-boundary roads that don't go to/from London.

And, assuming you are right, how would calling the Catthorpe-Felixstowe road M6 (and thus renumbering over 100 junctions) do this more than calling it M14?

[Ruperts Trooper]

Given that English & Welsh zone boundaries radiate from London, I think we need more cross-boundary roads that don't go to/from London.

And, assuming you are right, how would calling the Catthorpe-Felixstowe road M6 (and thus renumbering over 100 junctions) do this more than calling it M14?

It was slightly tongue-in-cheek - since TOTSOs are well established we'll have to live with SOTCRs (Stay-On-To-Change-Road)

[wrinkly]

Or should it be M77?

[c2R]

Sorry to be a bore, but any chance of fantasy numbering discussion taking place in the fantasy roads forum or in the Ax(M) designation thread, or starting a separate thread on motorway number zones?

[roadtester]

The only bits of the A14 that are likely to see major upgrades in the future are J3-7 (nearly as heavily trafficked as the Kettering bypass that they made D3 coupled with low quality J5 and J6) and J13 to J21 (at grade junctions and frontages). I'd imagine HE priorities would lie elsewhere though, even within that part of the country (E-W expressway, A47, A12 and A1 corridors)

But, I could see comms upgrades and the like elsewhere and corridor slowly all meeting the requirements of motorway regulations via the expressway concept. Certainly previous upgrades have been done to make it a motorway-esque road (hence, for example, the roll out of junction numbers) and the expressway concept gives a route to that via stuff they'd want to give the road anyway.

I mainly agree with this, except I think M6 > J3 has to be an early candidate for upgrading as well - isn’t this where the no HGV overtaking ban operates (or is rather ignored), already pointing to a problem on this bit?