A507

Route

The A507 essentially acts as a Mid-Bedfordshire distributor. The fact that this east-west road, which is only secondary, links up four primary routes and two motorways, all north-south, and bypasses just about every town along the way, lends considerable weight to this observation.

Brogborough – Buntingford

The route now starts at the northern roundabout in the dumbbell of M1 junction 13, where it also meets the A421. It heads north along that road's former route then immediately turns right at a a set of traffic lights. For the first two miles it runs parallel to the M1 before turning away when it rejoins its original routing (which ran through Ridgmont village to meet the A4012 until 2008).

Clearly the A507 used to follow a gentler, more meandering route than its current form, connecting town centre to town centre. The main section of the modern road, the Ampthill to A1(M) J10 stretch, is a single-carriageway, grade-engineered road with one generously wide lane in each direction, where it's possible and necessary to overtake by straddling the centre line. The junctions are not grade-separated though, and you do have to negotiate a number of roundabouts along the way. The towns of Ampthill, Flitwick, Clophill, Shefford, Clifton, and Stotfold are all bypassed, and the new alignment was laid out in the 1980s I believe, although there are a few sections where the A507 still follows its original route.

The section from the A1 to Buntingford through the heart of Baldock is again a single-carriageway road but of a more traditional width. The town of Baldock is quite pretty in an unpretentious way; before the A505 bypass was built traffic queues at the main crossroads in town were common.

The rest of the route is through rolling North Herts countryside until we end on the A10 on its bypass of Buntingford, although the junction was originally in the centre of town.

History

Baldock in 1956, showing the A507's multiplex along the A1

Original 1922 Route

The original 1922 route of the road was Ampthill to Buntingford, with the section between Ampthill and Ridgmont being part of the A418 (now cut back to Leighton Buzzard). In the Baldock area there was a multiplex with (what was then) the A1 through the town, but now the A507 has the road to itself as the A1(M) bypasses the town.

Opening Dates

Year	Section	Notes
1978	Clophill Bypass	Shown in full on 1978 Philips Road Atlas. Clophill Outlook of March 1977 had reported that the section west of A6 (from just west of the village to Clophill Roundabout) was to be started in 1978-79. Stage 2 A6 to The Causeway had opened in 1976 per the Biggleswade Chronicle of 4 February 1977. It also reported that Stage 3 The Causeway to the Gravenhurst turn had opened on 27 January 1977. It is unclear when the eastern section from the Gravenhurst turn to Shefford Road had completed. Online upgrade of unclassified roads with new sections. Completed by the County Council’s Direct Labour section.
1983	Ampthill and Maulden Bypass	The 5 mile road was to be opened on 25 November 1983 by Allan Chapman, County Council Chairman. Contractor was Roadworks Ltd. of Ipswich, cost £5 million. It opened after 40 years of discussion. It was subjected to major roadworks in 2001, when the pavement was reinforced to prolong its life.
1990	Shefford, Clifton and Henlow Bypass	Bedfordshire Times of Friday 6 July 1990 reported that it had been opened “last Wednesday” by Nicholas Lyell, MP for Mid-Bedfordshire. It put an end to the constant traffic congestion at the traffic lights on a 90-degree junction in Shefford town centre.
2008	Ridgmont Bypass and Woburn Link Road	Reported by BBC News on 10 June 2008 that it was being officially opened. 1.6 miles. Note that Hansard of 22 October 2008 stated a 2007 completion date. Cost £22 million. It relieved the village from through A507 traffic, as well as creating a shorter route for the A507, cutting off the corner that involved a loop to the south of the M1.

Pictures

Ridgmont bypass

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  The first roundabout on the bypass

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  Climbing up to cross over the railway

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  The bridge itself

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  The second roundabout, this time for the rerouted A4012

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  Beyond the roundabout

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  The straight and quiet nature of this road can be seen

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  Approaching the tie in with the original A407 from Ridgmont

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  The junction itself

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  The end of the bypass

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  Back in the other direction, at the second roundabout there is this footbridge