A1096
A1096 | ||||
Location Map ( geo) | ||||
| ||||
From: | Galley Hill (TL300688) | |||
To: | St Ives (TL321721) | |||
Distance: | 2.7 miles (4.3 km) | |||
Meets: | B1040, A1307, A1123 | |||
Former Number(s): | B1040 | |||
Highway Authorities | ||||
Traditional Counties | ||||
Route outline (key) | ||||
|
For an earlier road numbered A1096 in Norfolk which became the A47, see A1096 (Acle - Great Yarmouth).
The A1096 is a short link road near the Huntingdonshire town of St Ives. Formerly part of the B1040, the road gained its current number in the 1970s when the route was upgraded.
We start at the former A14 J26, now a junction on the A1307. Westbound slip roads meet the B1040 at a roundabout to the south of the A1307. The A1096 appears here and crosses the main road before the eastbound slip roads turn off to the left and the road continues north. Initially wooded we then cross a short stretch of open land before reaching the outskirts of St Ives.
After a stretch of straight residential road it bends right onto St Ives Bypass, with the old B1040 continuing straight ahead; this can be accessed from the next roundabout. We reenter open country and cross St Ives Viaduct over the River Great Ouse. The old mediaeval bridge into the town is just visible to the left if you know where to look. The narrow bridge was the main reason why the current A1096 bypass exists, it being opened in 1980.
Back on dry ground, we bear left to cross the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway at traffic lights. The next roundabout provides access to St Ives itself after which we follow a former railway alignment between the town and a lake. This is left at the next roundabout which serves an industrial estate. The road ends a short distance later at a roundabout on the A1123. The continuation of the B1040 is just to the left.