A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon "news"

[B1040]

The A1307 has been detrunked.
Cambridgeshire CC celebrated this by extending to 40 limit around Godmanchester all the way from Huntingdon to the far side of Fenstanton.
I guess it's down to dodgy safety barriers that won't be replaced for years.
It's not so much the limit but the vulnerability I feel when many people aren't obeying the limit

[MotorwayGuy]

40 is ridiculous and I can imagine over 50% of the traffic using it is exceeding that. It makes me laugh that a D2 with no or poor barriers is considered dangerous at above 40 but an S2 is apparently fine at 60.

[NICK 647063]

40 is ridiculous and I can imagine over 50% of the traffic using it is exceeding that. It makes me laugh that a D2 with no or poor barriers is considered dangerous at above 40 but an S2 is apparently fine at 60.

But yet we have sections of national speed limit dual carriageways with no barriers….. A165 Brandesburton and A650 M1 towards Wakefield to mention a few!

[Truvelo]

I wonder when the first set of lights or at-grade roundabout will appear on this stretch

[NICK 647063]

I wonder when the first set of lights or at-grade roundabout will appear on this stretch

It’s actually no joke! I bet as soon as any bridge needs work it will come down and a roundabout replace it, not to mention development along it as that’s the usual case! I was originally thinking that the A1307 remaining a dual carriageway was better than say the old sections of the A1 that were singled and have 60 limits, but to be honest I’d take that over trying to do 40 on a decent, straight dual carriageway.

[Chris5156]

40 is ridiculous and I can imagine over 50% of the traffic using it is exceeding that. It makes me laugh that a D2 with no or poor barriers is considered dangerous at above 40 but an S2 is apparently fine at 60.

There is a risk presented by an incomplete or unsafe barrier installation. In a collision, instead of containing a stray vehicle, it might just end up causing a load of extra metalwork to be flung across the road.

[6637]

If that is the case, surely the cheapest option would be to remove the barriers altogether and give the road a 60 limit, considering a D2 with only a grass verge in the middle is definitely no less safe than an S4.

[Chris5156]

If that is the case, surely the cheapest option would be to remove the barriers altogether and give the road a 60 limit, considering a D2 with only a grass verge in the middle is definitely no less safe than an S4.

I expect the cheapest option is a 40 limit!

[Bryn666]

They should have properly rebuilt the road as part of the A14 contract.

It does not need to be a D2 - it should've been reconfigured to ensure that local journeys could be made without defaulting to driving but this is rural Cambs where apparently if you don't drive you're somehow a freak.

[kiran_mk2]

It's strange - that section had first one land coned off and then the other. Now it's two lanes but the 40 limit remains. No limit going westbound though (until just before the Godmanchester turning). I know that the eastbound section around the first Fenstanton junction is prone to flooding in lane 2 in heavy rain (it used to be dispersed by the volume of traffic in the A14 days) and initially I thought that's what the lane closure and limit were for.

[KeithW]

40 is ridiculous and I can imagine over 50% of the traffic using it is exceeding that. It makes me laugh that a D2 with no or poor barriers is considered dangerous at above 40 but an S2 is apparently fine at 60.

But yet we have sections of national speed limit dual carriageways with no barriers….. A165 Brandesburton and A650 M1 towards Wakefield to mention a few!

No barrier is needed on a Dual Carriageway all that is needed a is a physical separation, this is a dual carriageway which has a signed 50 mph limit.
https://www.google.com/maps/@54.6044983 ... &entry=ttu

As is this - the old A19 in fact
https://www.google.com/maps/@54.625417, ... &entry=ttu
Where the roundabout is there used to be a flyover which was removed when the new A19 Billingham bypass was opened.

There are probably thousands of miles of dual carriageway without barriers but with a central reservation, see the A689.
https://www.google.com/maps/@54.6510509 ... &entry=ttu

[AnOrdinarySABREUser]

They should have properly rebuilt the road as part of the A14 contract.

It does not need to be a D2 - it should've been reconfigured to ensure that local journeys could be made without defaulting to driving but this is rural Cambs where apparently if you don't drive you're somehow a freak.

Agreed - the section between Huntingdon and the A14 should've been downgraded to S2 with a bridleway in place of one of the original carriageways.

The dual carriageway between the A1(M) and A141 should be retained as a dual carriageway, though Spittals should've been downgraded to an at-grade roundabout.

[Bryn666]

40 is ridiculous and I can imagine over 50% of the traffic using it is exceeding that. It makes me laugh that a D2 with no or poor barriers is considered dangerous at above 40 but an S2 is apparently fine at 60.

But yet we have sections of national speed limit dual carriageways with no barriers….. A165 Brandesburton and A650 M1 towards Wakefield to mention a few!

No barrier is needed on a Dual Carriageway all that is needed a is a physical separation, this is a dual carriageway which has a signed 50 mph limit.
https://www.google.com/maps/@54.6044983 ... &entry=ttu

As is this - the old A19 in fact
https://www.google.com/maps/@54.625417, ... &entry=ttu
Where the roundabout is there used to be a flyover which was removed when the new A19 Billingham bypass was opened.

There are probably thousands of miles of dual carriageway without barriers but with a central reservation, see the A689.
https://www.google.com/maps/@54.6510509 ... &entry=ttu

Current design guidance is the lack of central barriers on dual carriageways means the speed limit ends up being capped. This doesn't get retroactively applied often.

[B1040]

One thing that is strange is seeing NSL signs on the minor roads to Hemingford and Fenstanton, especially as there's a 30 straight afterwards at Fenstanton.

[MotorwayGuy]

The lack of east-facing slip roads at junction 24 as well as lack of access to the A1096 from the new A14 means traffic from St. Ives, Godmanchester and the surrounding area is still relying on the old A14. Grade separation is overkill for the currant traffic levels on the road yes, but unless the bridges are life-expired it seems bonkers to remove them and potentially run into issues in the future when new housing estates pop up.

[roadtester]

...and potentially run into issues in the future when new housing estates pop up.

This is the crux. Cambridge is enjoying, if that is the right word, massive growth.

Two relatively lightly used dual carriageways linking in towards Cambridge in the shape of the A428 out towards Caxton Gibbet and the A1307 present two very tempting corridors for development. For this reason, any significant unnecessary downgrading would probably not be a great idea.

[AnOrdinarySABREUser]

Two relatively lightly used dual carriageways linking in towards Cambridge in the shape of the A428 out towards Caxton Gibbet and the A1307 present two very tempting corridors for development. For this reason, any significant unnecessary downgrading would probably not be a great idea.

Out of all the things we need right now, run-of-the-mill car dependent infrastructure is the last thing we need.

Cambridgeshire CC should focus on building a rail link between Cambridge and Huntingdon as the former is a university city after all. At present, rail users have to take quite the detour to get to Huntingdon or even Peterborough. From there, bus links from Huntingdon station to Fenstanton and Godmanchester should be considered. The A90 comes to mind as an example for inspiration.

When's the last time we had housing developments which aimed to improve the quality of life for people rather than filling the bank accounts of developers?

[dave55uk]

....a rail link between Cambridge and Huntingdon....

There was one until it got closed. Then some daft council went and spent an utter fortune covering most of the rail line in concrete.


Apologies. Quote got named wrong. Should have been AnOrdinarySABREUser.

[AnOrdinarySABREUser]

…a rail link between Cambridge and Huntingdon…

There was one until it got closed. Then some daft council went and spent an utter fortune covering most of the rail line in concrete.

We’re lucky it didn’t become a new motorway…

A more direct link between Cambridge and Huntingdon should be built along the line of the former St Ives branch though. To hell with the busway - install bus lanes on the A1307!

[Ruperts Trooper]

…a rail link between Cambridge and Huntingdon…

There was one until it got closed. Then some daft council went and spent an utter fortune covering most of the rail line in concrete.

We’re lucky it didn’t become a new motorway…

A more direct link between Cambridge and Huntingdon should be built along the line of the former St Ives branch though. To hell with the busway - install bus lanes on the A1307!

Even without the changes to the road network, the St.Ives-Huntingdon railway would have to be completely rebuilt as it was originally built to a very light standard on wooden trestles across the Great Ouse floodplain and most, or all, of the bridges have been removed - reinstating the St.Ives-Cambridge section would be easier, along the busway which was originally the railway!