Before the A14

[Philip_Baum]

Found a road map from 1991 that shows the road network before the current A14 route was formed. It shows the original A14 route and the (then) new A14 from the M1/M6 to the A604 under construction.

[Philip_Baum]

Additional three maps.

[Philip_Baum]

In the days before the current A14 I think A45 traffic from Birmingham to East Anglia would follow the A45 as far as Higham Ferrers and would then follow the A605 and A604 to meet the A45 at Cambridge. This was to avoid the stretch of A45 from Higham Ferrers to St. Neots which was not a trunk road. The only other way to avoid this stretch would be to leave the A45 earlier at Northampton to follow the A428 through Bedford to the A1 then pick up the A45 from St. Neots.

[Philip_Baum]

So todays A14 is new construction from the M1/M6 to the A6, then follows a short stretch of the A6 to a new construction bypass linking to the former A604 east of Kettering. The A604 was online dualled with some bypasses to the A141 junction and then the rest of the A604 to Cambridge and A45 to Felixstowe, which were already dual carriageway, were simply renumbered.

[Philip_Baum]

Of course this route has been modified with the new Huntingdon Bypass which uses a short stretch of what was part of the A1 and then new construction until meeting the former A604 (Via Devana) to the north-west of Cambridge.

[RichardA35]

Welcome back. It would be great if you looked at the SABRE wiki and updated any part of the A14 article that you considered needed your efforts. A word of warning that copyright on scanned images of atlases is a tricky area and it's best to stick with links to SABRE maps that are definitely out of copyright. Basically anything younger than 50 years old is unlikely to be out of copyright but others here know better than me
PS I spent two years building the Kettering bypass so this area is known to me.

[Osthagen]

From the North, I believe the traditional route to Felixstowe was A1 South to Newark, the A17 East to King's Lynn, from which point, traffic would take the A134 South to Suffolk.

Traffic from West Scotland (and Cumbria) would take the A66 to Scotch Corner to join the A1, which remains the fastest route to the A14 from that starting point, rather than taking the M6 South all the way down to Rugby.

[KeithW]

So todays A14 is new construction from the M1/M6 to the A6, then follows a short stretch of the A6 to a new construction bypass linking to the former A604 east of Kettering. The A604 was online dualled with some bypasses to the A141 junction and then the rest of the A604 to Cambridge and A45 to Felixstowe, which were already dual carriageway, were simply renumbered.

There were some spotty bits on the old A45 , the Haugley Bends come to mind
https://www.sabre-roads.org.uk/wiki/ind ... _19926.jpg

[KeithW]

From the North, I believe the traditional route to Felixstowe was A1 South to Newark, the A17 East to King's Lynn, from which point, traffic would take the A134 South to Suffolk.

Traffic from West Scotland (and Cumbria) would take the A66 to Scotch Corner to join the A1, which remains the fastest route to the A14 from that starting point, rather than taking the M6 South all the way down to Rugby.

Once the Huntingdon Bypass opened in the 1970's it would be quicker to follow the A1 to St Neots and pick up the A45 (now A428) to Cambridge along Newmarket Road and down the A45. The A134 was not a great road especially around Thetford and Bury St Edmunds it was rather slow. Of course before the container terminal opened Felixstowe was rather a small port mostly handling grain and coal.

[Alderpoint]

From the North, I believe the traditional route to Felixstowe was A1 South to Newark, the A17 East to King's Lynn, from which point, traffic would take the A134 South to Suffolk.

Depends what you mean by "traditional".

When we lived in Yorkshire in the '70/'80s, our route to Felixstowe to catch the ferry was straight down the A1 to Huntindon, left down the A604 to Cambridge, then left again on the (then) A45 and through the centre of Ipswich (no southern bypass or Orwell bridge in those days).

When I moved to Coventry in the late '80s, the route to Ipswich (girlfriend!) was either straight down the A45, yes including through the middle of Kimbolton, or down the M1 to Northampton and then the A428 to Bedford and then St.Neots and onwards. Over time the A45 past Wellingborough got improved and Higham Ferres and Raunds bypasses added to eventually link up with what became the A14 at Thrapston. Then the A14 from the M6 opened and that because the default route.

[wrinkly]

left down the A608 to Cambridge,

Do you mean the A604?

[Osthagen]

left down the A608 to Cambridge,

Do you mean the A604?

If not, then they're taking some detour, because the A608 links Mansfield and Derby.

[Alderpoint]

left down the A608 to Cambridge,

Do you mean the A604?

Yes of course.

[skiddaw05]

In the days before the current A14 I think A45 traffic from Birmingham to East Anglia would follow the A45 as far as Higham Ferrers and would then follow the A605 and A604 to meet the A45 at Cambridge. This was to avoid the stretch of A45 from Higham Ferrers to St. Neots which was not a trunk road. The only other way to avoid this stretch would be to leave the A45 earlier at Northampton to follow the A428 through Bedford to the A1 then pick up the A45 from St. Neots.

From what I remember back in the 70s the A428 was the trunk road connection between Northampton and the A1. I don't think the A604 wasn't trunk west of the A1, I'm not sure if any the A45 east of Northampton was but I do remember it being upgraded piecemeal towards Wellingborough and wondering if this would extend all the way to the A1. It never did of course but the A14 has sort of done the job instead

[owen b]

In the days before the current A14 I think A45 traffic from Birmingham to East Anglia would follow the A45 as far as Higham Ferrers and would then follow the A605 and A604 to meet the A45 at Cambridge. This was to avoid the stretch of A45 from Higham Ferrers to St. Neots which was not a trunk road. The only other way to avoid this stretch would be to leave the A45 earlier at Northampton to follow the A428 through Bedford to the A1 then pick up the A45 from St. Neots.

From what I remember back in the 70s the A428 was the trunk road connection between Northampton and the A1. I don't think the A604 wasn't trunk west of the A1, I'm not sure if any the A45 east of Northampton was but I do remember it being upgraded piecemeal towards Wellingborough and wondering if this would extend all the way to the A1. It never did of course but the A14 has sort of done the job instead

For much of the 1980s as a teenager I lived in north Essex, then Suffolk (south of Bury St.Edmunds), and the default family route from Cambridge to the start of the M6 was indeed St.Neots / Bedford / Northampton / M1 J15. Once the (first) Marston Moretaine and (first) Kempston bypasses were opened, joining the M1 at J13 became another viable option which we sometimes did. I don't recall trying more northerly routes via Higham Ferrers, Kettering or Market Harborough. In the north Essex days, the A120 then A507 to M1 J13 was sometimes tried, but the A507 was painfully slow, as the first of the bypasses at Ampthill was opened around 1983 and the others were later, and the unbypassed places were bottlenecks.

[JohnnyMo]

I remember about 30 years ago, driving from MK to pick my wife up from Huntingdon Station before heading north to see my parents.
The A604 was a nightmare, it was being upgraded at that time.

[Octaviadriver]

In the days before the current A14 I think A45 traffic from Birmingham to East Anglia would follow the A45 as far as Higham Ferrers and would then follow the A605 and A604 to meet the A45 at Cambridge. This was to avoid the stretch of A45 from Higham Ferrers to St. Neots which was not a trunk road. The only other way to avoid this stretch would be to leave the A45 earlier at Northampton to follow the A428 through Bedford to the A1 then pick up the A45 from St. Neots.

From what I remember back in the 70s the A428 was the trunk road connection between Northampton and the A1. I don't think the A604 wasn't trunk west of the A1, I'm not sure if any the A45 east of Northampton was but I do remember it being upgraded piecemeal towards Wellingborough and wondering if this would extend all the way to the A1. It never did of course but the A14 has sort of done the job instead

For much of the 1980s as a teenager I lived in north Essex, then Suffolk (south of Bury St.Edmunds), and the default family route from Cambridge to the start of the M6 was indeed St.Neots / Bedford / Northampton / M1 J15. Once the (first) Marston Moretaine and (first) Kempston bypasses were opened, joining the M1 at J13 became another viable option which we sometimes did. I don't recall trying more northerly routes via Higham Ferrers, Kettering or Market Harborough. In the north Essex days, the A120 then A507 to M1 J13 was sometimes tried, but the A507 was painfully slow, as the first of the bypasses at Ampthill was opened around 1983 and the others were later, and the unbypassed places were bottlenecks.

I lived in the Market Harborough area from 1954 to 1985 and the A427 running east-west through the town (now A4304 to the west of Market Harborough) was busier back then with more through traffic. Once the A14 was built, the level of traffic was reduced and the bypass of the town constructed at a similar time to the A14 was for the A6 only with no east-west provision.

[KeithW]

For much of the 1980s as a teenager I lived in north Essex, then Suffolk (south of Bury St.Edmunds), and the default family route from Cambridge to the start of the M6 was indeed St.Neots / Bedford / Northampton / M1 J15. Once the (first) Marston Moretaine and (first) Kempston bypasses were opened, joining the M1 at J13 became another viable option which we sometimes did. I don't recall trying more northerly routes via Higham Ferrers, Kettering or Market Harborough. In the north Essex days, the A120 then A507 to M1 J13 was sometimes tried, but the A507 was painfully slow, as the first of the bypasses at Ampthill was opened around 1983 and the others were later, and the unbypassed places were bottlenecks.

As a regular driver from Cambridge to Oxford (Harwell actually) my route changed as roads and traffic patterns changed. At the beginning my normal route was as you describe. Later it became A428/A421/A43/M40/A34

[owen b]

For much of the 1980s as a teenager I lived in north Essex, then Suffolk (south of Bury St.Edmunds), and the default family route from Cambridge to the start of the M6 was indeed St.Neots / Bedford / Northampton / M1 J15. Once the (first) Marston Moretaine and (first) Kempston bypasses were opened, joining the M1 at J13 became another viable option which we sometimes did. I don't recall trying more northerly routes via Higham Ferrers, Kettering or Market Harborough. In the north Essex days, the A120 then A507 to M1 J13 was sometimes tried, but the A507 was painfully slow, as the first of the bypasses at Ampthill was opened around 1983 and the others were later, and the unbypassed places were bottlenecks.

As a regular driver from Cambridge to Oxford (Harwell actually) my route changed as roads and traffic patterns changed. At the beginning my normal route was as you describe. Later it became A428/A421/A43/M40/A34

In my uni years (1987-1990) we nearly always did the latter route, but in that case we weren't heading to the M6.

[WHBM]

straight down the A45, yes including through the middle of Kimbolton.

There's still the remnants of when the A45 itself went through Kimbolton, with some exceptionally narrow and sharp corners round the school there, where multiple westbound two-level car transporters, with import cars through Felixstowe and Harwich to Birmingham, once they built the trailer upper deck out over the articulated cab, managed to strike the historic school buildings. The vertical striped guard posts always used to have high level damage like a regularly bashed bridge.

https://www.google.com/maps/@52.2963377 ... 384!8i8192