A46 Newark Northern Bypass

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jervi
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Re: A46 Newark Northern Bypass

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Re: A46 Newark Northern Bypass

Post by Micro The Maniac »

jervi wrote: Sat May 22, 2021 00:34 Consultation report published:
https://assets.highwaysengland.co.uk/ro ... Report.pdf
I'm pleased to see several of my comments made the report :-)

Let's hope they listen. This bypass needs to be Expressway standard - not a development led kludge.
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Re: A46 Newark Northern Bypass

Post by Bryn666 »

Micro The Maniac wrote: Sat May 22, 2021 07:35
jervi wrote: Sat May 22, 2021 00:34 Consultation report published:
https://assets.highwaysengland.co.uk/ro ... Report.pdf
I'm pleased to see several of my comments made the report :-)

Let's hope they listen. This bypass needs to be Expressway standard - not a development led kludge.
It really does, and the interchange with the A1 needs to prioritise strategic movements.

Look at how the Dutch motorway network has been developed and then refer back to ours.
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Re: A46 Newark Northern Bypass

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Good to see 65% supporting option 2 compared to 23% for the risible option 1.
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Re: A46 Newark Northern Bypass

Post by M19 »

Has anyone who responded put in a drawing with it to suggest a better layout?
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Re: A46 Newark Northern Bypass

Post by prodraught »

Having seen the uproar this has caused on a recent edition of 'Midlands today' its clear whilst the Town is desperate for the improvement, they are already being prepared for 'compromises' on the scheme. The local MP has refused to be drawn on the issue that two of the junctions may remain unseparated and the D2 improvement may be the only actual capacity benefit - apart from a grade separated junction at the A1.

This does rather fly in the face of the long term strategy of a fully expressway standard road from the north east coast via Leicester, Coventry and onto the M1, M5 & M6.
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Re: A46 Newark Northern Bypass

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I see a statement appeared on the scheme site last month and has not yet been reported here:

https://highwaysengland.co.uk/our-work/ ... rk-bypass/
Latest updates

16 September 2021
Preferred Route Announcement update

Since our public consultation earlier this year, where we presented possible options for improving the A46 between the Farndon and Winthorpe roundabouts, we’ve been using the local knowledge and views we received to help us develop the best option for improving this section of the A46. We intended to make an announcement on our preferred route in summer 2021, but this will now be later than planned. We expect it to be later this year or early next year.

There are a number of steps we need to go through before we can announce a preferred route, and we’re continuing to work through these steps, along with the Department for Transport and the Government. We’ll provide updates on our webpage in due course.

While we’re not yet able to start the next stage of work or confirm the route we’ll be taking forward, we’re continuing to prepare for the next stage and will be carrying out further survey work this autumn and winter to collect more information about current conditions along the A46 route.
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A303Chris
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Re: A46 Newark Northern Bypass

Post by A303Chris »

Modified option 2 has been chosen as the preferred option.

Great scheme except for the signalised Winthorpe roundabout!!!!

Why can't they grade separate that!
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Re: A46 Newark Northern Bypass

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A303Chris wrote: Thu Feb 24, 2022 09:31 Why can't they grade separate that!
Got to have something to keep the consultants employed
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Re: A46 Newark Northern Bypass

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I'm pleased that this option was chosen - I don't think not GSJing the Winthorpe roundabout is a huge deal since a) the A46 is already not fully GSJed towards Lincoln, b) this plan does get rid of the conflict between the key movements and c) grade separating in the long term wouldn't be too hard if necessary. (They don't say it, but this is an advantage of moving the A46 mainline closer to the existing route between Friendly Farmer and Winthorpe, as the alignment for a flyover would be nice and straight across the roundabout instead of needing a zig-zag.)

However, I'm not happy that the proposed scheme not only leaves in the existing roundabout at Farndon but allows a new one to be built - surely they could have required the Southern Link Road builders to contribute towards paying for a combined GSJ to access both? Instead of the only S2 from the M40 to Lincoln, in not too long Newark will have the only two at-grade junctions from the M40 to the A1 (northbound at least).

Interestingly, the brochure says that the possibility of providing both the freeflow at Winthorpe and the GSJ at Cattle Market was considered:

"A hybrid option (option 2 at the western end and 1 at the eastern end) was developed in response to your feedback. We modelled and assessed this option so that it could be considered fully at the option selection stage. This hybrid option provided similar travel time savings and additional capacity on the A46 to Option 2, but, due to the raised flyover link from Friendly Farmer roundabout, had a greater environmental impact than Option 2 Modified. For these reasons, it was not selected as our preferred option."
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Re: A46 Newark Northern Bypass

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Mapper89062 wrote: Thu Feb 24, 2022 10:19 I'm pleased that this option was chosen - I don't think not GSJing the Winthorpe roundabout is a huge deal since a) the A46 is already not fully GSJed towards Lincoln, b) this plan does get rid of the conflict between the key movements and c) grade separating in the long term wouldn't be too hard if necessary. (They don't say it, but this is an advantage of moving the A46 mainline closer to the existing route between Friendly Farmer and Winthorpe, as the alignment for a flyover would be nice and straight across the roundabout instead of needing a zig-zag.)

However, I'm not happy that the proposed scheme not only leaves in the existing roundabout at Farndon but allows a new one to be built - surely they could have required the Southern Link Road builders to contribute towards paying for a combined GSJ to access both? Instead of the only S2 from the M40 to Lincoln, in not too long Newark will have the only two at-grade junctions from the M40 to the A1 (northbound at least).
Agreed on both points - apart from your comment about Newark having the only two at-grade junctions between M40-A1, not sure I follow in that regard?

Not GSJ'ing the existing Farndon roundabout is a real disappointment, but the prospect of a second roundabout on top for the link road is pretty wretched. The overall scheme will help a lot, but it feels like the bottlenecks are going to be moving to Farndon, rather than being eradicated full stop.
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Re: A46 Newark Northern Bypass

Post by skiddaw05 »

Have I got this right - where the existing A46 is being used between the Winthorpe junction and Friendly Farmer roundabout, it looks like they are only using one carriageway, making it an S2 link between the A46 and A1
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Re: A46 Newark Northern Bypass

Post by ForestChav »

Can't honestly think it would be that much more difficult to provide a GSJ at Farndon as it already is at the Cattle Market (A616/617).

Especially with the new link to Balderton coming in there it seems a bit silly they haven't provided this, and also that the new junction at Winthorpe isn't going to be grade separated either. Though that may not be too much of a big deal as a lot of traffic doesn't head on to Lincoln but is heading for the A1 or A17.

Probably not going to be very long before Farndon becomes an issue in honesty.
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Re: A46 Newark Northern Bypass

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skiddaw05 wrote: Thu Feb 24, 2022 12:54 Have I got this right - where the existing A46 is being used between the Winthorpe junction and Friendly Farmer roundabout, it looks like they are only using one carriageway, making it an S2 link between the A46 and A1
In the "aerial view" it appears to be dual but it's not very clear.
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Re: A46 Newark Northern Bypass

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danfw194 wrote: Thu Feb 24, 2022 12:08
Mapper89062 wrote: Thu Feb 24, 2022 10:19 I'm pleased that this option was chosen - I don't think not GSJing the Winthorpe roundabout is a huge deal since a) the A46 is already not fully GSJed towards Lincoln, b) this plan does get rid of the conflict between the key movements and c) grade separating in the long term wouldn't be too hard if necessary. (They don't say it, but this is an advantage of moving the A46 mainline closer to the existing route between Friendly Farmer and Winthorpe, as the alignment for a flyover would be nice and straight across the roundabout instead of needing a zig-zag.)

However, I'm not happy that the proposed scheme not only leaves in the existing roundabout at Farndon but allows a new one to be built - surely they could have required the Southern Link Road builders to contribute towards paying for a combined GSJ to access both? Instead of the only S2 from the M40 to Lincoln, in not too long Newark will have the only two at-grade junctions from the M40 to the A1 (northbound at least).
Agreed on both points - apart from your comment about Newark having the only two at-grade junctions between M40-A1, not sure I follow in that regard?

Not GSJ'ing the existing Farndon roundabout is a real disappointment, but the prospect of a second roundabout on top for the link road is pretty wretched. The overall scheme will help a lot, but it feels like the bottlenecks are going to be moving to Farndon, rather than being eradicated full stop.
The Farndon roundabouts won't be the only at-grade junctions when the scheme is opened, but the two roundabouts on the Coventry Eastern Bypass will be gone soon, and I seem to remember Stivichall is getting upgraded at some point? M1 J21 and the Hobby Horse roundabout are freeflow northbound already, so we might have these as the only at-grade junctions for northbound traffic not too far into the future.
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Re: A46 Newark Northern Bypass

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wrinkly wrote: Thu Feb 24, 2022 13:14
skiddaw05 wrote: Thu Feb 24, 2022 12:54 Have I got this right - where the existing A46 is being used between the Winthorpe junction and Friendly Farmer roundabout, it looks like they are only using one carriageway, making it an S2 link between the A46 and A1
In the "aerial view" it appears to be dual but it's not very clear.
It's single. From the PRA:

"Option 2 Modified would narrow the ‘old A46’
between Friendly Farmer and Winthorpe
roundabouts to a single carriageway, using the
existing westbound carriageway. The existing
eastbound carriageway would be used for part of the
new A46 link".

Elsewhere it's mentioned that the volume of traffic using the Winthorpe GSJ would be halved. Hence they think a single carriageway approach is sufficient.
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Re: A46 Newark Northern Bypass

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Mapper89062 wrote: Thu Feb 24, 2022 13:56 The Farndon roundabouts won't be the only at-grade junctions when the scheme is opened, but the two roundabouts on the Coventry Eastern Bypass will be gone soon, and I seem to remember Stivichall is getting upgraded at some point? M1 J21 and the Hobby Horse roundabout are freeflow northbound already, so we might have these as the only at-grade junctions for northbound traffic not too far into the future.
I think Stivichall has probably received all the titivations due for it so I can't see that being upgraded much further, but I stand to be corrected on that. I'd be amazed (and delighted) if any plans were afoot to make northbound A46 freeflow with a flyover.

Hobby Horse is an interesting one, I live right near it and daily drive it. Would love to see a full grade separation but I haven't heard anything in local media about any plans. All the talk locally was about a brand new 'Eastern Bypass' that would have routed from the M69, around the south and east of Leicester to connect to the existing A46 north of Hobby Horse, but I believe that's dead in the water now. Hobby Horse is tricky because the A46 is pretty much a 90 degree turn here. Plus, at peak times the freeflow lane isn't much use. If you catch the lights right, it can actually be quicker to stay in lane 2 and turn left at the roundabout. At peak, lane 1 is often nose-to-tail from the A6 junction. M1 J21 is very similar, you're often better off avoiding the lane 1 freeflow.
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Re: A46 Newark Northern Bypass

Post by jackal »

It seems there might be some 'passive' future proofing:
We received some responses, including from stakeholders such as Midlands
Connect, requesting that the scheme is designed to accommodate potential
future grade separation of the remaining junctions at Farndon and Winthorpe.
Whilst the scheme cannot make an active provision for a future potential
scheme, as the detail of the design is developed, we will consider whether
junction layouts can be detailed to ‘not preclude’ future grade separation.
https://s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/asse ... Report.pdf
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Re: A46 Newark Northern Bypass

Post by Herned »

jackal wrote: Thu Feb 24, 2022 15:14 It seems there might be some 'passive' future proofing:
We received some responses, including from stakeholders such as Midlands
Connect, requesting that the scheme is designed to accommodate potential
future grade separation of the remaining junctions at Farndon and Winthorpe.
Whilst the scheme cannot make an active provision for a future potential
scheme, as the detail of the design is developed, we will consider whether
junction layouts can be detailed to ‘not preclude’ future grade separation.
https://s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/asse ... Report.pdf
I wonder what the "stakeholders" think of adding in the new roundabout immediately to the south?
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Re: A46 Newark Northern Bypass

Post by jackal »

danfw194 wrote: Thu Feb 24, 2022 15:10
Mapper89062 wrote: Thu Feb 24, 2022 13:56 The Farndon roundabouts won't be the only at-grade junctions when the scheme is opened, but the two roundabouts on the Coventry Eastern Bypass will be gone soon, and I seem to remember Stivichall is getting upgraded at some point? M1 J21 and the Hobby Horse roundabout are freeflow northbound already, so we might have these as the only at-grade junctions for northbound traffic not too far into the future.
I think Stivichall has probably received all the titivations due for it so I can't see that being upgraded much further, but I stand to be corrected on that. I'd be amazed (and delighted) if any plans were afoot to make northbound A46 freeflow with a flyover.

Hobby Horse is an interesting one, I live right near it and daily drive it. Would love to see a full grade separation but I haven't heard anything in local media about any plans. All the talk locally was about a brand new 'Eastern Bypass' that would have routed from the M69, around the south and east of Leicester to connect to the existing A46 north of Hobby Horse, but I believe that's dead in the water now. Hobby Horse is tricky because the A46 is pretty much a 90 degree turn here. Plus, at peak times the freeflow lane isn't much use. If you catch the lights right, it can actually be quicker to stay in lane 2 and turn left at the roundabout. At peak, lane 1 is often nose-to-tail from the A6 junction. M1 J21 is very similar, you're often better off avoiding the lane 1 freeflow.
The A46 phase 2 study (November 2020) had M1 J21 in 2020-25, Leicester Western Bypass and Hobby Horse Interchange in 2025-30, and Stivichall Interchange in 2030-35. Details as follows:

M1 JUNCTION 21
Both WSP preferred options (Options 10 and 11)
include upgrade to M1 J21 (free flow links from M69
northbound to M1 northbound and M1 southbound
to M69 southbound.

STIVICHALL INTERCHANGE
Flyover providing a free flow link between the A46
and A45 was included within the Phase 1 Illustrative
Package.

LEICESTER WESTERN BYPASS
WSP preferred option (1/2) (Option 10) includes
online improvements to this section (an additional
lane in each direction).

HOBBY HORSE ROUNDBOUT (A607)
Highways England undertook a PCF0 SOBC study
which reported in October 2018. Option 1 (grade
separated junction) generated the biggest benefits.
This option was used in the WSP work for one of two
preferred options (Option 10).

Of course, this is a Midlands Connect wishlist, so should be taken with a pinch of salt, but it at least shows their ambition.

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