A605
A605 | |||||||||||||
Location Map ( geo) | |||||||||||||
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From: | Thrapston (TL004780) | ||||||||||||
To: | Guyhirn (TF394015) | ||||||||||||
Via: | Peterborough | ||||||||||||
Distance: | 35.1 miles (56.5 km) | ||||||||||||
Meets: | A45, A14, A427, A1(M), A1139, A1, A1260, A15, A1129, A1139, A141 | ||||||||||||
Former Number(s): | B663, B665, B1093, B1097 | ||||||||||||
Old route now: | A45, B1092 | ||||||||||||
Primary Destinations | |||||||||||||
Highway Authorities | |||||||||||||
Traditional Counties | |||||||||||||
Route outline (key) | |||||||||||||
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The A605 is an important single-carriageway primary route from the A14 at Thrapston to A1, before the road is downgraded through Peterborough and then runs parallel to the A47.
Route
Thrapston - Peterborough
The road starts at A14 J13, where the A45 also terminates. The road bypasses Thrapston to the east before running northeastwards. This section has been improved much of the way to Peterborough.
The road follows the lush valley of the Nene, skirting Barnwell, seat of the Dukes of Gloucester and once the haunt of the Large Blue butterfly. Oundle, with its narrow streets, is now bypassed, so the A427 meets us to the north of the town. At Elton Hall the B671 leaves for Wansford, and we are now on a new section of road that joins the top end of the A1(M). The road ahead - and the obvious route for through traffic - is the A1139 but the A605 multiplexes north along the A1 as far as the next junction.
Peterborough - Guyhirn
Although Peterborough has altered beyond recognition since classification in 1922 the A605 still follows its original route into town. Leaving the A1 at Alwalton the road heads east past the East of England Showground and a number of roundabouts to cross the A1260 western inner bypass at a north-facing GSJ, Peterborough J32. A mile or so further on the road goes under the East Coast Main Line to meet the A15 at traffic lights to the south of the city centre. There's a short multiplex past the football stadium, then the A605 heads southeastwards to go under the A1139 eastern bypass.
Now things get even more complicated. The B1092 through Stanground is obviously the old route of the A605 - but the road now follows the A1139 westwards, crossing it twice at adjacent GSJs (J4 and J3A) before heading back east to bypass Stanground; only the western half of the bypass is dualled.
The road rejoins its pre-bypass route and heads east into Whittlesey, where Clement Freud was once the MP. From here on the fens dominate, and roads are very straight or beset with right-angled corners. After Eastrea and Coates the old road (which was Class II) used to wiggle off to March, but the A605 follows a "new" stretch of road parallel to Moreton Leam and the realigned River Nene, to join the A141 in, frankly, the middle of nowhere. Actually, Guyhirn is a mile and a half to the north, and March three miles to the south.
History
The A605 is described in the 1922 Road Lists as Thrapston - Oundle - Peterborough, running between the old A604 and the A15. The road was then extended at both ends, to Higham Ferrers on the A6 and, later, eastward to the A141 (although it ended arbitrarily in the centre of Whittlesey for a few years). Now it's contracted somewhat again at its western end due to the rerouting of the A45, and currently begins at a GSJ on the A14 east of Thrapston.
The western, primary, half of the A605 has been heavily upgraded and bypassed. For example, the road once went through Oundle and there was originally no multiplex along the A1.
Opening Dates
Year | Section | Notes |
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1958 | Fletton and Stanground Bypass | The 0.9 mile road from Fletton Avenue to Whittlesey Road (by Oakdale) bypassing High Street and South Street was opened on 23 July 1958. Contractor was Highways Construction Co. Ltd. at cost £56,579 10s 11d. |
1985 | Oundle Bypass | Opened on 12 December 1985 by Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester. |
1988 | Thrapston Eastern Bypass | Reported as opened last month by the 8 December 1988 Peterborough Standard and mentioned as open by the Northamptonshire Evening Telegraph of 29 November 1988. Contractor was Wrekin Construction. It was the section from Oundle Road to Huntingdon Road, since the Ringstead and Denford Bypass section southwards did not open until November 1989. Thrapston Southern Bypass opened in November 1990. |
1991 | Elton and Chesterton Bypass | 3.7 mile road from west of B671 to A1 Fletton Parkway Interchange. Reported as completed in the 18 January 1991 Peterborough Herald. It may have opened in late 1990. |
1996 | Warmington Bypass | 1.4 miles. Opened on 17 October 1996. The official opening was reported in the 28 November 1996 Wellingborough and Rushden Herald. The 1.6 mile online Phase 1 section (Tansor Improvement Scheme) between Elmington and Warmington crossroads had been opened on 22 December 1995 per the Land Compensation Act notice. Cost £2.7 million. |
For details of new roads south of Thrapston which opened as A605 see the A45 page.