A10 Puckeridge Bypass

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c2R
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A10 Puckeridge Bypass

Post by c2R »

I spotted something interesting for the first time today... The 1974 landranger appears to show the projected route of the bypass being much further west than was constructed

1974
Screenshot from 2022-01-23 20-09-11.png
1975
Screenshot from 2022-01-23 20-11-44.png
Looking further south, the Hoddesdon and Ware bypasses are also shown as under construction - alongside an accurate route. Does anyone know if this is a mapping error or whether there had been plans for a more westerly bypass? The western route would have made the village a much quieter place, without all the traffic noise that the dual carriageway brings, and would have also been shorter, but I think more difficult to construct as would have passed through hillier terrain.
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wrinkly
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Re: A10 Puckeridge Bypass

Post by wrinkly »

I'd say almost certainly a mapping error. The OS often gets details wrong for roads under construction or newly opened, and this was at what must have been a time of major workload with the 1:50k replacing the 1".
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Truvelo
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Re: A10 Puckeridge Bypass

Post by Truvelo »

I wouldn't discount the 1974 map as being an error. There are many bypasses which were built on a slightly different alignment to what was originally planned. The best way to find out is to look for the original plans which may show the route further away from the village.
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wrinkly
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Re: A10 Puckeridge Bypass

Post by wrinkly »

According to the 1970s Network Changes page of the SABRE Wiki, it was opened Feb 1973:

https://www.sabre-roads.org.uk/wiki/ind ... es_-_1970s

The A10 was of course a trunk road so there should be notices about the orders in the London Gazette. Searching for just Puckeridge finds a lot of references so I searched for "Puckeridge by-pass" (both with and without the hyphen, as the date when they dropped the hyphen falls within the range of dates of interest!)

The only relevant notices seem to be

May 1967 - draft line order published
Nov 1967 - line order made
Aug 1970 - draft side roads order published
Feb 1971 - side roads order made

so it looks as though there was only ever one route (unless there was a proposal before 1961 where I set the start of my search). There does not appear to have been a public inquiry.

From the SABRE Wiki: Network changes - 1970s :
list of the changes to the road network in Great Britain from 1970 - 1979.  Includes road openings and renumberings.


NC|1971|A165|Coniston Bypass|Yorkshire|Reported as now open by the Hull Daily Mail of 9 February 1971.NC|1971|A168|Dishforth Bypass|Yorkshire|The 1.4 mile dual carriageway from 1013 yards north-east of Duckhill Lane to Blind Lane,

... Read More
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Truvelo
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Re: A10 Puckeridge Bypass

Post by Truvelo »

It appears to be a mapping error then. Still, it looked like a credible route as it takes a line further away from the village so would be quieter although the land in between would likely have seen infill development by now. There has been some development inside the current bypass and the two remaining fields look very rough as though they are no longer farmed so these may also be built on in the near future. So long as any access road is via the former A10 and not at a new roundabout on the bypass I don't mind but track record elsewhere in the country shows this can't be certain.
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Re: A10 Puckeridge Bypass

Post by Herned »

I'm surprised the Puckeridge bypass is contemporary with the Ware bypass. It looks a lot older
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c2R
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Re: A10 Puckeridge Bypass

Post by c2R »

From the landranger, it looks like the section to the north by the hare street turn was dualled earlier, and of course was online retaining the existing carriageway, which may explain some of that perception - although yes, even the new build section is built to an older standard, with kerbstones bounding the carriageway and recessed drains:

https://www.google.com/maps/@51.8898599 ... 384!8i8192

Compared with the Hoddesdon Bypass section which doesn't: https://www.google.com/maps/@51.7747971 ... 384!8i8192
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