Was the A1(M) outside of Peterborough meant to be part of something bigger?

[qwertyK]

It's 4 lanes in each direction and I've never seen it that busy - it's position as an eight lane motorway is even more questionable considering the A14 was moved further south so now it doesn't even reach that. The new A14 is only three lanes in each direction and so is the newly rebuilt A1 south of the old A14/new A1309. Was this section of the A1(M) ever intended to be part of a bigger motorway, and what is the future for it now the A14 is further south.

[JohnnyMo]

The section was built under a design finance build & operate contract for 30 years. Traffic projection showed a fair change (high growth prediction) that the D3(M) motorway would be congested after about 25 years requiring a major investment in widening the road. The additional cost of building a D4(M) was minimal and a business decision was made to take the hit at the build stage. I expect some of the additional cost may have been offset against easier traffic management during the build phase when the existing D2 A1 was switched onto the new northbound carriageway as a D2 contraflow.

Actual traffic growth has been near the mid growth prediction so a D3(M) would have been adequate for the contract.

[IAN]

For a while it was planned that the whole of the A1 between the M25 and Tyneside would be upgraded to motorway standard. https://pathetic.org.uk/unfinished/a1m/

[jackal]

it's position as an eight lane motorway is even more questionable considering the A14 was moved further south so now it doesn't even reach that. The new A14 is only three lanes in each direction and so is the newly rebuilt A1 south of the old A14/new A1309.

The traffic that used the "8 lane" A1(M) prior to the A14 scheme would still do so afterwards. So I don't see why the A14 scheme makes it "even more questionable". In fact it will increase demand as there is no longer the bottleneck on the A14.

It's also appropriate that the rebuilt A1 has a lane less as traffic still diverges at Alconbury for Huntingdon and St Ives. It's basically the same situation as the lane drop at J16.

The erroneous thing about it was that there was only a single lane drop at Alconbury even when the turn off had significantly higher volumes than the A1 beyond. Curiously that's been fixed by changing volumes to match the markings - the other way round is the usual way of doing things!

[Rillington]

For a while it was planned that the whole of the A1 between the M25 and Tyneside would be upgraded to motorway standard. https://pathetic.org.uk/unfinished/a1m/

That's what I thought was the reason it was built in the first place - ie it was the first part of the southern half of this project.

[KeithW]

The bottle neck for the A1 northbound is Baldock to Alconbury, there was a 1994 scheme to build a D3M offline upgrade of the A1. This got to the point of selected route leaflets being issued before it was cancelled. This would have had flows onto the then A604 and the Peterborough section of A1(M). The southern end of the M1 had major congestion issues and this would of helped. In the end the M1 was widened.

[KeithW]

For a while it was planned that the whole of the A1 between the M25 and Tyneside would be upgraded to motorway standard. https://pathetic.org.uk/unfinished/a1m/

That's what I thought was the reason it was built in the first place - ie it was the first part of the southern half of this project.

Roll of drums - flashes of Lightning and the fabled East Coast Motorway rises from the dead again
viewtopic.php?t=27221&start=20

[roadphotos]

You can see that they intended to extend the A1(M) north of Peterborough as the overhead sign on the northbound carriageway at junction 17 says Stamford A1(M) even though from this junction onwards it's not a motorway.

[Chris5156]

For a while it was planned that the whole of the A1 between the M25 and Tyneside would be upgraded to motorway standard. https://pathetic.org.uk/unfinished/a1m/

That's what I thought was the reason it was built in the first place - ie it was the first part of the southern half of this project.

Roll of drums - flashes of Lightning and the fabled East Coast Motorway rises from the dead again
viewtopic.php?t=27221&start=20

Two different projects, surely. Upgrading the A1 to motorway between the M25 and Newcastle was Government policy for a few years in the 1990s, while the East Coast Motorway was never a formal proposal at all.

[Steven]

That's what I thought was the reason it was built in the first place - ie it was the first part of the southern half of this project.

Roll of drums - flashes of Lightning and the fabled East Coast Motorway rises from the dead again
viewtopic.php?t=27221&start=20

Two different projects, surely. Upgrading the A1 to motorway between the M25 and Newcastle was Government policy for a few years in the 1990s, while the East Coast Motorway was never a formal proposal at all.

That's exactly it, two entirely different things.

As much as people keep wishing for the so-called "East Coast Motorway" to have been something official, it absolutely was not, with no more basis than the ABD's POLO.

[JohnnyMo]

You can see that they intended to extend the A1(M) north of Peterborough as the overhead sign on the northbound carriageway at junction 17 says Stamford A1(M) even though from this junction onwards it's not a motorway.

There is still a bit of A1(M) past the sign so I think the sign is correct and does not imply the next section of the A1 was to be upgraded.

[tom66]

The bottle neck for the A1 northbound is Baldock to Alconbury, there was a 1994 scheme to build a D3M offline upgrade of the A1. This got to the point of selected route leaflets being issued before it was cancelled. This would have had flows onto the then A604 and the Peterborough section of A1(M). The southern end of the M1 had major congestion issues and this would of helped. In the end the M1 was widened.

Hah! The red route goes through about where my house is right now (Loves' Farm, St Neots)

I wonder if this idea will get re-awakened once Black Cat A428 is dualled and grade-separated.

[Bryn666]

You can see that they intended to extend the A1(M) north of Peterborough as the overhead sign on the northbound carriageway at junction 17 says Stamford A1(M) even though from this junction onwards it's not a motorway.

Alas that doesn't prove anything, signs are routinely wrong in this country to begin with.

The signs at Hook Moor still say (A1) after all.

[KeithW]

You can see that they intended to extend the A1(M) north of Peterborough as the overhead sign on the northbound carriageway at junction 17 says Stamford A1(M) even though from this junction onwards it's not a motorway.

Actually what is says is

The North, Stamford A1(M)

Sure enough if you carry on up the A1 past Stamford you will end up on the A1(M) at Blyth.

[KeithW]

Hah! The red route goes through about where my house is right now (Loves' Farm, St Neots)

I wonder if this idea will get re-awakened once Black Cat A428 is dualled and grade-separated.

A Freedom of Information Act question was put to Highways England about just that. The response was along the lines of 'We have no plans now or in the future for further A1 upgrades at this time.

[Owain]

... signs are routinely wrong in this country ...

Hah! So it's govt policy on any scheme to get in as many mistakes as possible. Now we know.

Do you get a bonus for each one... or fired if none of the signs are wrong?

[KeithW]

Two different projects, surely. Upgrading the A1 to motorway between the M25 and Newcastle was Government policy for a few years in the 1990s, while the East Coast Motorway was never a formal proposal at all.

Well neither was really a project, both were supposed to provide a motorway between London and Tyneside. The East Coast Motorway was dreamed up by local politicians and press while Roads For Prosperity was a white paper, an aspiration rather than a plan. The 150 initial schemes in Roads For Prosperity were quickly whittled down. Many were eventually done but some major standouts remain, the A303 dualling for example. As for the A1 90% of the benefits were gained at a low cost just by replacing the roundabouts with GSJ's. That project saved me many hours on the A1. On summer weekends the queue on the A1(M) for the Blyth roundabout could almost tail back to the M18 Interchange

There are a few sections that should be upgraded on safety grounds such as Biggleswade to St Neots and removing the flat junctions should be a priority but apart from that given the traffic levels its hard to justify much more. There are far worse roads that need fixing, the A34 Oxford Western bypass being one of those on my list. As for new roads Milton Keynes really needs an East West bypass.

The other issue is that between Teesside and Tyneside the most important North South through route has arguably become the A19. The A1 Western Bypass seems now to be basically a feeder for all the retail outlets and Industrial Estates. Looking at it right now (12.27 Mon 15th) its congested from the Team Valley Estate to Birtley and from Scotswood to Kenton.

[the cheesecake man]

Two different projects, surely. Upgrading the A1 to motorway between the M25 and Newcastle was Government policy for a few years in the 1990s,

... but long enough for junctions on the various bits of A1(M) to be given numbers in a consistent scheme, leaving gaps for subsequent motorway upgrades from Darrington - Dishforth - Barton (now done), Red House - Darrington (desperately needed and may happen this decade), Peterborough - Blyth (not needed and unlikely to happen), Baldock - Alconbury (desperately needed but unlikely to happen soon).

[Rillington]

That's what I thought was the reason it was built in the first place - ie it was the first part of the southern half of this project.

Roll of drums - flashes of Lightning and the fabled East Coast Motorway rises from the dead again
viewtopic.php?t=27221&start=20

Two different projects, surely. Upgrading the A1 to motorway between the M25 and Newcastle was Government policy for a few years in the 1990s, while the East Coast Motorway was never a formal proposal at all.

Correct. Any proposals to convert the A1 to motorway standard had nothing to do with the East Coast motorway.

[qwertyK]

Why wasn't the A1(M) just extended to meet the new A14 though?
Also - it occured to me on the new A14 there are a lot of speed cameras with signs saying "not in use". This strikes me as being pointless, someone I spoke to on another forum said it was becauise the speed camera orders were made for the A14(M) rather than the A14?