M11 Jct 8 to 9 ? does it needs widening

[Pontelad]

I've been driving this route a few times a year for 20+ years to and from by brothers place in Bishop's Stortford.

It's needed to be a 3 lane motorway all the way up to the A14 for all of those 20+ years.

In my experience, the only thing the HGV ban from lane 2 does is encourage Herberts to steam up the inside in the tiny gaps between lorries. Probably saving a massive 30 seconds on the journey.

[Grey]

Is there a road of sufficient significance to form junction 8B? Distance between junctions isn’t an issue, it’s generally considered that fewer junctions are better.

J8b is the junction proposed for the north Stansted airport junction

[crb11]

But as you said a junction at Newport could realistically serve London bound traffic from Saffron Walden well. Considering the B1083 bridge is already in place along with some Northbound facing slips, it would not be a major project to undertake to make this into a new junction along with a small bypass for Newport to allow easy access to the B1383.

I wonder whether a better option would be to create a junction with the B1383 south of Newport. I don't think the B1038 is going to cope with a substantial increase in traffic, particularly at the B1383 junction, whereas the B1383 (the former A11) is a much better road.

[owen b]

J8-14 of the M11 was proposed for widening to D3M in Roads for Prosperity way back in 1989 . Cost was estimated at £81m.

With all the expansion around Cambridge I suspect that J11-14 won't be far behind in the queue to convert the hard shoulders.

[jackal]

'Plans for three-lane M11 round Cambridge to link up with Oxford route revealed':

https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/c ... e-14315489

[A9NWIL]

'Plans for three-lane M11 round Cambridge to link up with Oxford route revealed':

https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/c ... e-14315489

So will the A428 be dualled to the A1 then? Also will the A421 be dualled from Oxford to Milton Keynes? Or extend the A34 to Milton Keynes? and plug into the A421 at M1 junction 13?
Ideally if you extend the A34 to the A421 and have it take over from Milton Keynes to the A1. Then with a new link road from that point to the A428 with the A428 could become an extension of the A34.

[Robert Kilcoyne]

'Plans for three-lane M11 round Cambridge to link up with Oxford route revealed':

https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/c ... e-14315489

So will the A428 be dualled to the A1 then? Also will the A421 be dualled from Oxford to Milton Keynes? Or extend the A34 to Milton Keynes? and plug into the A421 at M1 junction 13?
Ideally if you extend the A34 to the A421 and have it take over from Milton Keynes to the A1. Then with a new link road from that point to the A428 with the A428 could become an extension of the A34.

If the new route beyond the M40 at Wendlebury were also to be numbered A34, it would create an issue with regard to the numbering of the A34 from the M42 through Birmingham up to Manchester.

[Truvelo]

A34 north of Wendlebury need not exist nowadays as it's all been superseded by motorway. Part of it could revert back to its original A455 number. A34 from Winchester to Cambridge would make more sense with modern traffic patterns.

[KeithW]

'Plans for three-lane M11 round Cambridge to link up with Oxford route revealed':

https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/c ... e-14315489

So will the A428 be dualled to the A1 then? Also will the A421 be dualled from Oxford to Milton Keynes? Or extend the A34 to Milton Keynes? and plug into the A421 at M1 junction 13?
Ideally if you extend the A34 to the A421 and have it take over from Milton Keynes to the A1. Then with a new link road from that point to the A428 with the A428 could become an extension of the A34.

Dualling the A428 between Caxton Gibbet to the A1 at the Black Cat to join up with the A421 is already on the radar as a separate project. The problem being alluded to in the article is that at present getting on to the A428 from the M11 is a pain involving ducking and diving along minor roads. I dont see going for all lane running north of M11 J10 as a viable option as at busy periods it is common to find traffic backed up from the sliproads onto the Motorway. So common is it that at J12 drivers have a long standing convention of queuing on the hard shoulder. The queue can reach all the way back to J11 in the morning rush. The whole northern section of the M11 from J8 to the new A14 really needs sorting. J9 only provides connections Southbound from A11 to M11 and northbound from M1 to A11. J10 frequenty sees traffic queuing on the M11 due to the traffic trying to get on to the Trumpington Road. And J11 has no connection from the A1303 to the M11/A14 Northbound and way to get off and head into Cambridge on the Madingley Road. The demographics of that part of Cambridgeshire have changed out of all recognition since the M11 opened. There has been massive residential and business development and Stansted became the defacto 3rd London Airport but the roads remain largely unchanged since the late 70's.

At the other end I really have my doubts about joining up with the existing A34. Oxford has even worse problems than Cambridge. Its another booming area that has simply outgrown its roads but there is very limited free space to widen the existing A34. What Oxford really needs is a mini M25 allowing through traffic to avoid the city entirely and improving access to the new developments around the periphery. The so called Oxford Cambridge Expressway is really only part of a longer express route from East Anglia to the Thames Valley and the South West avoiding London. As such I would really like to see the new road running from Milton Keynes to a new Oxford ring road built to expressway standards and then following the general line of the A420 to terminate on the M4 in the Swindon area.

Of course it will never happen.

[A9NWIL]

'Plans for three-lane M11 round Cambridge to link up with Oxford route revealed':

https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/c ... e-14315489

So will the A428 be dualled to the A1 then? Also will the A421 be dualled from Oxford to Milton Keynes? Or extend the A34 to Milton Keynes? and plug into the A421 at M1 junction 13?
Ideally if you extend the A34 to the A421 and have it take over from Milton Keynes to the A1. Then with a new link road from that point to the A428 with the A428 could become an extension of the A34.

Dualling the A428 between Caxton Gibbet to the A1 at the Black Cat to join up with the A421 is already on the radar as a separate project. The problem being alluded to in the article is that at present getting on to the A428 from the M11 is a pain involving ducking and diving along minor roads. I dont see going for all lane running north of M11 J10 as a viable option as at busy periods it is common to find traffic backed up from the sliproads onto the Motorway. So common is it that at J12 drivers have a long standing convention of queuing on the hard shoulder. The queue can reach all the way back to J11 in the morning rush. The whole northern section of the M11 from J8 to the new A14 really needs sorting. J9 only provides connections Southbound from A11 to M11 and northbound from M1 to A11. J10 frequenty sees traffic queuing on the M11 due to the traffic trying to get on to the Trumpington Road. And J11 has no connection from the A1303 to the M11/A14 Northbound and way to get off and head into Cambridge on the Madingley Road. The demographics of that part of Cambridgeshire have changed out of all recognition since the M11 opened. There has been massive residential and business development and Stansted became the defacto 3rd London Airport but the roads remain largely unchanged since the late 70's.

At the other end I really have my doubts about joining up with the existing A34. Oxford has even worse problems than Cambridge. Its another booming area that has simply outgrown its roads but there is very limited free space to widen the existing A34. What Oxford really needs is a mini M25 allowing through traffic to avoid the city entirely and improving access to the new developments around the periphery. The so called Oxford Cambridge Expressway is really only part of a longer express route from East Anglia to the Thames Valley and the South West avoiding London. As such I would really like to see the new road running from Milton Keynes to a new Oxford ring road built to expressway standards and then following the general line of the A420 to terminate on the M4 in the Swindon area.

Of course it will never happen.

I see what yo mean about the M11 perhaps between junctions 11 and 12 northbound there needs to be D4M or even D5M! Then at junction 12 a lane drop or even 2 if you have D5M. That would allow 3 lanes of mostly free traffic to bypass the problems of J12.

The A11/M11 junction sounds like it needs M11 north/A11 connections, shouldnt be too hard to do its open land after all.

I agree the idea of a Winchester to Cambridge expressway would need a new route around Oxford thats D3 at least maybe D3M, perhaps to the west of where it currently is. Then a link road that creates a new southern motorway bypass of Oxford from the line of the A34 (or if a more western route was built from that), to the M40.

[jackal]

A34 north of Wendlebury need not exist nowadays as it's all been superseded by motorway. Part of it could revert back to its original A455 number. A34 from Winchester to Cambridge would make more sense with modern traffic patterns.

Also quite tidy as it would join the M3 and A14.

[RichardA35]

A34 north of Wendlebury need not exist nowadays as it's all been superseded by motorway. Part of it could revert back to its original A455 number. A34 from Winchester to Cambridge would make more sense with modern traffic patterns.

Also quite tidy as it would join the M3 and A14.

It would be interesting to hear the views of Birmingham, Staffordshire, Cheshire councils etc on the changing of signs and their costs just because some southerners have changed the number of one of their roads....

[jackal]

Already the two halves of the A34 don't have much to do with each other, so maybe you could extend the southern half across to Cambridge without changing the northern numbers.

For those that are concerned about such things there would be a nominal multiplex along the A14, M6, and M42. If they don't add slips at Girton this would require a u-turn at the Histon roundabout interchange. That's fine because, like the existing A34, no one would ever actually use the complete route.

[A9NWIL]

Already the two halves of the A34 don't have much to do with each other, so maybe you could extend the southern half across to Cambridge without changing the northern numbers.

For those that are concerned about such things there would be a nominal multiplex along the A14, M6, and M42. If they don't add slips at Girton this would require a u-turn at the Histon roundabout interchange. That's fine because, like the existing A34, no one would ever actually use the complete route.

That works for me!

[ChrisH]

Given that the Expressway concept is now supposed to have motorway regulations and numbering, I would vote for the M35 Winchester to Cambridge motorway

[RichardA35]

Given that the Expressway concept is now supposed to have motorway regulations and numbering, I would vote for the M35 Winchester to Cambridge motorway

That's reserved for the Tolpuddle Bypass

[Chris56000]

Hi!

How difficult would it be to add a dumbbell interchange on the M11 where the B1383 passes over it a couple of miles south of Newport?

Chris Williams

[A9NWIL]

Given that the Expressway concept is now supposed to have motorway regulations and numbering, I would vote for the M35 Winchester to Cambridge motorway

We dont have an M34 so why not that? Seeing as it would be replacing the A34!

[A9NWIL]

Hi!

How difficult would it be to add a dumbbell interchange on the M11 where the B1383 passes over it a couple of miles south of Newport?

Chris Williams

You mean where the police shortcut is?

[Osthagen]

Hi!

How difficult would it be to add a dumbbell interchange on the M11 where the B1383 passes over it a couple of miles south of Newport?

Chris Williams

Not difficult at all. You’d just have to modify the existing police entrances.