Roads News

If you know of any road construction news that we haven't reported, please do contact us.

10/06/10: New government puts all schemes on hold

The new coalition government has today announced that all road improvement schemes are being put on hold, while they perform their spending review. This is due to report in the autumn, at which point it will become clear what the shape of the roads programme will be over the next few years. Due to the large public spending cuts expected, it is unlikely to be good news.

25/05/10: M1 J25-28 widening opens

Open Road welcomes the opening of the newly widened 15-mile stretch of the M1 near Nottingham. This busy stretch of motorway has been widened from 3 to 4 lanes in each direction, which will reduce congestion and accidents on the route.

25/01/10: M4 J29-32 widening opens

Open Road welcomes the opening of the newly widened 8-mile stretch of the M4 north of Cardiff. This section of the motorway has been widened from 2 to 3 lanes in each direction, which will reduce the congestion and accidents that used to occur regularly here.

07/09/09: A1 Colsterworth GSJ opens

Open Road welcomes the opening of the Colsterworth grade separated junction on the A1 near Grantham. This has removed the final remaining roundabout on the A1 between Peterborough in the south and Doncaster in the north, and means that it is now possible to travel from London to Yorkshire using the M11, A14 and A1 without having to stop at any junctions. As a result, this will reduce accidents and congestion on the route.

31/07/09: A1(M) Bramham - Wetherby opens

Open Road welcomes the opening of the Bramham-Wetherby stretch of the A1(M). This 3-mile section of the A1 in North Yorkshire has been upgraded from dual carriageway to motorway standard, and as a result will improve journey times and safety on this important inter-city route.

20/07/09: Construction starts on M25 J27-30 widening

Construction starts today on the widening of the north-east section of the M25 between the M11 and the Dartford Crossing from three to four lanes. The widened road will eliminate the congestion on this stretch, and improve road safety.

It is worth noting that other than the M60 J15-12 widening, this is the last motorway widening scheme in the current roads programme; the government has now decided to use Hard Shoulder Running as an alternate solution in all other cases.

13/07/09: Construction starts on A46 dualling

Construction starts today on the dualling of a 17-mile stretch of the A46 in the East Midlands, between Newark and Widmerpool, near Nottingham. As a result, the route from the M1 J21a to Newark will be completely dual carriageway. This improvement is very welcome; the only shame is that the Newark Bypass itself will not be dualled, leaving a short 3-mile stretch of single carriageway left in this fast link between the M1 and A1.

01/06/09: Construction starts on M25 J16-23 widening

Construction starts today on the widening of the north-west section of the M25 between the M40 and A1(M) from three to four lanes. The widened road will eliminate the daily congestion on this stretch, and improve road safety.

02/05/09: A2 Gravesend widening opens

Open Road welcomes the opening of the realigned and widened stretch of the A2 near Gravesend. This section of road has been widened from 3 to 4 lanes each way, and moved further away from the residential area to reduce noise for local residents. As a result, the new road will reduce congestion and improve quality of life for people living nearby.

01/05/09: A419 Blunsdon bypass opens

Open Road welcomes the opening of the Blunsdon bypass, on the A419 near Swindon. The new dual carriageway bypasses the old section of road that ran close to the front of local residents' houses, and replaces the old roundabout with a grade separated junction. This new road will significantly improve road safety, and the quality of life for people living in Blunsdon.

27/03/09: A47 Earl Shilton bypass opens

Open Road welcomes the opening of the 3-mile single carriageway Earl Shilton bypass, on the A47 near Leicester. The bypass will allow through traffic to avoid the town, significantly reducing congestion, delays and accidents in Earl Shilton.

26/03/09: Construction starts on A1 Dishforth-Leeming upgrade

Construction starts today on the upgrade of a 12-mile stretch of the A1 in North Yorkshire from dual carriageway to 3-lane motorway standard. This will go half way to fixing the "missing link" in the motorway connection between Newcastle and the south, and will dramatically improve safety on this important strategic route.

25/03/09: A69 Haydon Bridge bypass opens

Open Road welcomes the opening of the A69 Haydon Bridge bypass. This 2-mile single carriageway bypass will remove traffic from the village of Haydon Bridge, the last major settlement that this road passed through between the A1 in the east and the M6 in the west. The new road will vastly improve the quality of life for residents of the village, and improve journey times for drivers.

03/03/09: A5117 Deeside Park improvement opens

Open Road welcomes the opening of the new section of the A5117 that connects England and North Wales. The three previous at-grade junctions caused significant regular congestion, and have been replaced with a new free-flow layout which will dramatically improve life for drivers and improve safety. This now completes the free-flow route between Manchester, Liverpool and Anglesey.

30/01/09: M27 J3-4 widening opens

Open Road welcomes the opening of the newly-widened stretch of the M27, on the south coast. This 3-mile stretch of road connects the M3 to the M271, and experienced regular severe congestion; the fourth lane in each direction will dramatically cut congestion and accidents on the route.

19/01/09: Construction starts on M80 upgrade

Construction starts today on the upgrading of the A80 in Scotland, between Stepps and Haggs, from the current dual carriageway to motorway standard. This 11-mile scheme will plug the gap between junctions 3 and 4 of the existing M80 and provide a continuous motorway route from Glasgow to Falkirk and Sterling. When complete, this will significantly reduce congestion and accidents on the route.

15/01/09: Government scraps all motorway widening plans

Hidden behind the Heathrow announcement today was a decision by the government to abandon all plans for motorway widening, and instead introduce hard-shoulder running on more stretches of motorway. This includes the M1 J10-13 widening scheme which was due to start construction later this year. The only two schemes to survive are the M25 J16-23 and 27-30 widening, which will continue as planned.

Open Road is opposed to the widespread rollout of hard-shoulder running (or "ATM"), for the reasons given on our FAQ page. The decision today appears to confirm that the government sees using the hard shoulder as a permanent solution to congestion rather than a temporary short-term fix, and is a decision that we will continue to oppose.

22/12/08: A1 Carpenters Lodge junction opens

Open Road welcomes the opening of the new grade-separated junction at Carpenters Lodge, on the A1 in the East Midlands. The new junction replaces the old roundabout and will eliminate the congestion and accidents that the roundabout used to cause.

22/12/08: M25 J1b-3 widening opens

Open Road welcomes the opening of the widened M25 from J1b-3, east of London. This section has been widened from 3 to 4 lanes each way, and will reduce congestion and accidents on this stretch of road. However, with the Dartford Crossing being the real bottleneck here, congestion for northbound traffic will not improve significantly.

Open Road is calling for a new Dartford crossing to be built as soon as possible.

19/12/08: M1 J6a-10 widening opens

Open Road welcomes the opening of the newly widened J6a-10 section of the M1. This section of road was chronically congested with long delays every day, and the widening will significantly reduce congestion and accidents on this stretch of road.

19/12/08: A38 Dobwalls bypass opens

Open Road welcomes the opening of the Dobwalls bypass. This short new section of dual carriageway provides a bypass for the town in south-west England. Dobwalls has for years been a major bottleneck in the summer holiday season, and the opening of the bypass will dramatically improve life for residents as well as drivers passing through the area.

18/12/08: A14 Haughley Bends realignment opens

Open Road welcomes the opening of the realigned 2-mile stretch of the A14 in East England. The old road was sub-standard with sharp bends, right-turn junctions across the dual carriageway and a poor accident record; the new road will improve journey times and safety on this important trunk route.

17/12/08: A595 Parton-Lillyhall dualling opens

Open Road welcomes the completion of a 3-mile section of the A595, near Whitehaven in Cumbria. The new road bypasses local villages and will improve the environment for local residents, as well as reducing congestion and improving safety on the route.

13/12/08: M62 J6 free-flow slips open

Open Road welcomes the opening of the newly constructed free-flowing slip roads at the M62 J6 near Liverpool, which allow traffic travelling between the M62 to the east and the M57 to the north to bypass the roundabout. This will significantly reduce congestion and accidents at this junction.

05/12/08: M6 extension opens

On the 50th anniversary of Britain's first motorway, Open Road welcomes the completion of the M6 Carlisle - Guards Mill. This 6-mile section near the Scottish border was the missing link in the motorway between London and Glasgow, and its completion will improve safety and reduce congestion, finally completing this route after half a century.

We just hope it doesn't take another 50 years to complete the other vital schemes on our Most Needed Roads page.

19/11/08: A876 Kincardine Western Bypass opens

Open Road welcomes the opening of the new A876 western bypass for Kincardine in Scotland, which includes the new Clackmannanshire Bridge over the Firth of Forth. This will allow traffic from Glasgow and Grangemouth on the M876 to split between the old bridge, to the south of Kincardine, and the new one taking it to the north. The opening of the bridge will significantly reduce traffic through the town and improve road safety and journey times.

30/10/08: A688 Wheatley Hill to Bowburn link opens

Open Road welcomes the opening of the A688 Wheatley Hill to Bowburn link, in County Durham. This new 1.5-mile single carriageway road runs north-eastwards from the A1(M) J61 to link up with the A181 at Running Waters. This new road will reduce the volume of traffic travelling through local villages, and along unsuitable local roads.

29/10/08: Construction starts on second Tyne tunnel

Construction starts today on a second tolled tunnel under the Tyne, in order to plug the gap in the dual carriageway A19 through the east of Newcastle. When complete, the new tunnel will provide a dual carriageway route under the river, significantly reducing congestion on the A19.

28/10/08: Construction starts on A421 dualling

Construction starts today on the dualling of the A421 between the M1 J13 and Bedford. The current single carriageway road is extremely congested and has a poor accident record. When complete, the new road will significantly reduce congestion and improve safety on this important east-west route.

23/09/08: A68 Dalkeith bypass opens

Open Road welcomes the opening of the new Dalkeith bypass on the A68, near Edinburgh. This new road will remove all of the daily traffic from the town centre, improving life for residents, and road safety for drivers.

However, we are very disappointed that this bypass was only built as a 3-lane single carriageway. A dual carriageway here would have had the potential to provide greater safety by preventing head-on crashes, and would only have cost very little extra to build.

09/09/08: Construction starts on M6/M42 ATM extension

Construction starts today on the extension of variable speed limits and hard shoulder running to cover more of the M42 and M6 around Birmingham. Open Road supports the use of hard shoulder running on the M6 J8-10a stretch, since it is on a viaduct and would be extremely expensive to widen.

However, the rest of the road is not subject to this constraint, and in particular the introduction of hard shoulder running for the single short stretch of road between M6 J4-5 has the potential to confuse drivers since the hard shoulder will start and then stop to be available within a short period of time.

01/09/08: M27 J11-12 climbing lanes open

Open Road welcomes the opening of the new climbing lanes on the M27 near Portsmouth. The new lanes will provide better opportunities to overtake HGVs on the steep hill between these junctions, and will improve safety and reduce congestion.

22/08/08: A27 Southerham - Beddingham opens

Today the newly widened section of the A27 between the Southerham and Beddingham roundabouts, on the south coast, has been opened. Whilst it does bypass the notorious level crossing that used to cause major delays, Open Road feels that this is a major missed opportunity which could have dualled the road, but has instead simply created a wider single carriageway. Therefore, whilst we welcome the improvement to journey times that removing the level crossing will bring, we cannot help but feel that this scheme has been a large wasted opportunity.

26/06/08: A66 Long Newton junction opens

Open Road welcomes the opening of the new grade separated junction on the A66 between Middlesborough and Darlington. This provides a new bridge and slip roads to prevent traffic from having to turn right across the dual carriageway. This should help to dramatically improve safety at this junction.

23/06/08: Construction starts on A1073 bypass

Construction starts today on the new A1073, a 13-mile single carriageway bypass of the existing route that connects Peterborough and Spalding. The existing road is very busy, and is too narrow for all the lorries that use it. The new road will reduce congestion and accidents on this important regional route.

20/06/08: A1 Gonerby Moor junction opens

Open Road welcomes the opening of the new Gonerby Moor grade separated junction on the A1 in the East Midlands. The new junction replaces the old roundabout and will allow through traffic to flow freely without stopping, thus reducing congestion and improving safety at this location.

11/06/08: A507 Ridgmont Bypass opens

Open Road welcomes the opening of the A507 Ridgmont bypass. The new 2-mile single carriageway road completes the programme of bypasses on the A507 between the M1 and the A1.

The new road will dramatically cut congestion and accidents in Ridgmont, and provide a much nicer environment for its residents. We are however disappointed that the A507 route has not been constructed to dual carriageway standard.

02/06/08: Construction starts on M4 J11 improvement

Construction starts today on the rebuilding of Junction 11 of the M4, south of Reading. The junction suffers from regular congestion, and the improved junction should reduce congestion and accidents.

28/05/08: Construction starts on M74 Completion

Construction starts today on the completion of the M74 in Glasgow. The project will extend the M74 from its current northern terminus by 5 miles to join it up with the M8 in the west of Glasgow, and should dramatically reduce congestion and pollution on the M8 and on local roads in the area.

22/05/08: A465 Abergavenny - Gilwern dualling opens

Open Road welcomes the opening, finally, of the newly dualled eastern section of the Heads of the Valleys road in South Wales. This scheme's construction has dragged on for almost a year longer than planned, so we welcome it finally being completed.

This is the second of six sections which will be dualled, to provide a continuous dual carriageway route from the A40 in the east to the existing dual carriageway at Hirwaun in the west. We urge the Welsh Assembly to construct the other sections as soon as possible.

20/05/08: A1 Apleyhead junction opens

Open Road welcomes the opening of the new Apleyhead (Five Lanes End) junction on the A1 south of Doncaster. The old roundabout has been replaced with a grade separated junction, which means that through traffic no longer has to stop at the roundabout. This will improve safety and reduce congestion on this important trunk road.

28/04/08: A1 Blyth junction opens

Open Road welcomes the opening of the new Blyth junction on the A1 near Doncaster. The old roundabout has been replaced with a grade separated junction, which means that through traffic no longer has to stop at the roundabout. This will improve safety and reduce congestion on this important trunk road.

08/04/08: A590 High & Low Newton bypass opens

Open Road welcomes the opening of the High & Low Newton Bypass, on the A590 in Cumbria. The new 2.5-mile dual carriageway bypasses the old narrow and winding road that went through the middle of the villages, and improves the route for long distance traffic to and from Barrow in Furness. The new road will reduce accidents and congestion on this important route.

27/03/08: A494 widening cancelled

Open Road is extremely disappointed that the Welsh Assembly has decided to cancel the proposed A494 widening in North Wales. This is the main route into North Wales from England, and a scheme to widen this short section, which regularly suffers from severe congestion and has a poor accident record, was due to start construction in the summer.

We are now calling on the Assembly Government to promote an alternative scheme to improve this route as soon as possible.

25/03/08: Construction starts on M40 J15 improvement

Construction starts today on constructing a bypass link at Junction 15 of the M40, which will allow A46 through traffic between Warwick and Stratford to bypass the motorway junction. This should significantly reduce congestion at this junction -- although we are disappointed that the western end is to be linked into the A46 with a roundabout rather than a grade separated junction.

13/03/08: M25 J28 improvement opens

Open Road welcomes the opening of the newly improved Junction 28 on the M25. This relatively minor scheme provides free flow from the M25 eastbound onto the A12 northbound, and widens the A12 north of the junction. We are disappointed with the scale of this scheme considering the congestion that occurs at this location.

11/03/08: Construction starts on Hemsworth-A1 link road

Construction starts today on the construction of a new single carriageway road to link Hemsworth with the A1 in Yorkshire. The scheme will provide a new 5-mile east-west road connecting the Hemsworth bypass to the A1, and thus freeing the villages of South Kirkby and South Elmsall from through traffic. When complete, the project will help to reduce accidents and congestion.

26/02/08: Construction starts on A1073 bypass

Construction starts today on the construction of a new single carriageway road to replace the existing A1073 in Lincolnshire between the A47 near Peterborough and the A16 at Spalding. The existing road is narrow and has several tight bends and private accesses. The replacement road, designed to modern standards, will dramatically improve safety on this route.

23/02/08: Construction starts on M27 widening

Construction starts today on the widening of the M27 J3-4, in Hampshire. This 2.5-mile stretch of motorway runs between the junctions with the M3 and M271, and therefore carries a lot of north-south traffic as well as east-west traffic. Widening to 4 lanes will reduce congestion on this busy stretch of road. However, the widening is to be done "on the cheap" by using narrow lanes, and Open Road is concerned that this may have safety implications.

20/02/08: M1 J31-32 widening opens

Open Road welcomes the opening of the newly widened J31-32 of the M1, near Sheffield. This short 1-mile stretch of motorway runs from the junction with the M18, and as such is a major "pinch point" where 6 lanes had to merge into 3. Now, the fourth lane will significantly reduce congestion and accidents.

18/01/08: Construction starts on M27 climbing lanes

Construction starts today on the addition of climbing lanes to the M27 between junctions 11 and 12, near Portsmouth. This scheme will reduce congestion and should improve safety on the route; however, due to the new 4 lanes each being narrower than the current 3 lanes, safety may be at risk as a result.

18/12/07: A2 widening & M25 junction improvement open

Open Road welcomes the opening today of the widening of the A2 to 4 lanes in each direction between the M25 and Bluewater, and the upgrade of the M25/A2 junction to provide free flowing link roads between the Dartford Crossing and the A2.

This improvement will significantly reduce congestion and improve safety in the area. However, once combined with the nearby M25 widening it will leave the Dartford Crossing itself as the major bottleneck in the area, and we are pressing for an alternative crossing to be built as soon as possible.

06/12/07: A303 Stonehenge tunnel scrapped

Today the government has announced that it has scrapped the proposed tunnel to remove the A303 trunk road from Stonehenge and provide a bypass of the village of Winterbourne Stoke. No alternative solution is proposed due to environmental impacts, so the whole improvement scheme has now been cancelled.

Open Road considers this absolutely outrageous. At the very least, the Winterbourne Stoke bypass should still be constructed to spare its residents from more years of heavy traffic; and without any improvement at Stonehenge, it will continue to be a national disgrace.

29/10/07: Construction starts on M1 J25-28 widening

Construction starts today on the widening of the M1 between J25 and 28, near Nottingham and Derby, from 3 to 4 lanes in each direction. When complete, this work will improve safety and reduce congestion on this important strategic route.

18/10/07: A66 Temple Sowerby bypass opens

Open Road welcomes the opening of the new 2-mile dual carriageway bypass of Temple Sowerby in Cumbria. The A66 is the main trans-pennine route for traffic in the north of England, and the opening of this new bypass will eliminate congestion and significantly reduce accidents in the village.

We are calling for the rest of the A66 between the M6 and A1 to be dualled, because the government has put these plans on ice.

08/10/07: A4146 Stoke Hammond Bypass opens

Open Road welcomes the opening of the new 5-mile dual carriageway western bypass for Stoke Hammond and Linslade, in Buckinghamshire. The old road, the main route between Milton Keynes and Aylesbury, was extremely busy and had severe congestion and safety problems. The new road will now take traffic out of these villages, giving quicker journeys to drivers and safer streets to local residents.

03/10/07: A8000 motorway replacement opens

Open Road welcomes the opening of the new 1.5-mile motorway spur to replace the single carriageway A8000 that connects the M9 and A90 near Edinburgh. The old road suffered severe congestion for much of the day, and the motorway replacement will dramatically improve safety and reduce congestion.

We are calling for the same to be done to the A556 south of Manchester, which is a road in a similar situation with similar problems.

01/10/07: A66 dualling opens

Open Road welcomes the opening of two upgraded sections of the A66 in the North East of England. 7 miles of the road has been widening from single to dual carriageway, which will improve safety and reduce congestion on this important east-west route in the north.

03/09/07: M25 J25 widening opens

Open Road welcomes the opening of the widened Junction 25 on the M25. Previously it only had two lanes going through the junction eastbound, which caused regular queues. This has now been widened to 3 lanes, and the tunnel to the east widened to 4 lanes, to ease congestion and improve safety.

11/07/07: A30 dualling opens

Open Road welcomes the opening of the newly dualled A30, between Bodmin and Indian Queens in Cornwall. This new 7-mile stretch of road has replaced the previous single carriageway, which was heavily congested and suffered from regular accidents. It means that the A30 is now all dual carriageway between the M5 and Carland Cross, except for a short 3-mile section near Temple, which we are pressing the government to fund an improvement to.

18/06/07: Construction starts on A14 Haughley bends

Construction starts today on the realignment of a 2-mile stretch of the A14 near Stowmarket in Suffolk. It will replace the current sharp bends and at-grade junctions with a new section of road designed to modern standards, including a grade separated junction, and should give a significant improvement in safety at this location.

11/06/07: Construction starts on M25 J1b-3 widening

Construction starts today on the widening of the M25 to 4 lanes each way between the junctions with the A2 and the M20 in Kent. This short 3-mile stretch of motorway can get very busy, but with no plans to widen the Dartford Crossing immediately to the north, it remains to be seen whether this improvement will provide many benefits.

11/06/07: Construction starts on A830 widening

Construction starts today on the upgrading of the A830 between Arisaig and Loch Nan Uamh in Scotland. This stretch of road is currently single track with passing places (the only trunk road in the UK to be of such a poor standard), and it will be widened to two-lane single carriageway standards. This will improve safety and journey times between Fort William and the port of Mallaig, and Open Road welcomes this announcement.

31/05/07: Tolls to be scrapped on Tay and Forth bridges

Open Road welcomes the decision by the Scottish Executive to end tolls on the Tay bridge in Dundee and the Forth bridge near Edinburgh. This will end all bridge tolling in Scotland, following the removal of the Clyde and Skye tolls last year.

We applaud the Scottish Executive for this decision, and encourage the English Department for Transport to consider removing tolls from the Dartford Crossing.

29/05/07: Construction starts on M4 widening

Construction starts today on the widening of the M4 between junctions 29 and 32, near Cardiff in Wales. This will widen the stretch from 2 to 3 lanes each way, reducing congestion and eliminating a bottleneck at this location.

29/05/07: Construction starts on M25 J28 improvement

Construction starts today on the improvement of the M25 junction 28 (the junction with the A12). This will widen the roundabout and provide a free-flow slip road between the M25 to the west and the A12 to the north.

24/05/07: A428 dualling opens

Open Road welcomes the opening of the newly dualled A428, between Cambridge and the A1198 in Cambridgeshire. This busy single carriageway links the new town of Cambourne to Cambridge, and was getting increasingly congested and dangerous.

However, we point out that the second half of the puzzle is to dual the other 8 miles to link the new road up to the A1 at St Neots; and with no funding having been granted for this to happen, it looks set to become a bottleneck in future years.

14/05/07: A429 Barford bypass opens

Open Road welcomes the opening of the A429 Barford Bypass, in Warwickshire. The new 1-mile single carriageway road allows through traffic to avoid the village, thus reducing congestion and improving safety on this important local route.

08/05/07: Construction starts on A1(M) Bramham - Wetherby

Construction starts today on the upgrading of a 6-mile stretch of the A1 in North Yorkshire to motorway standard. In particular, this will remove a congestion hotspot where the road narrows to 2 lanes as it passes Wetherby. As a result, the scheme will reduce congestion and improve safety on this important strategic route.

08/05/07: Construction starts on M62 J6 slip roads

Construction starts today on the construction of free-flowing link roads between the M62 to the East and the M57 to the North, at junction 6 of the M62 near Liverpool. This will allow through traffic to bypass the roundabout, thus reducing congestion and improving safety.

04/05/07: M40 J4 improvement opens

Open Road welcomes the opening of the M40 J4 improvement, which provides a free flow connection from the A404 to the M40 North, and widens the roundabout. This should significantly reduce queuing at the junction and improve safety as a result.

23/04/07: Construction starts on A1 junctions

Construction starts today on the replacement of the Colsterworth and Carpenter's Lodge roundabouts on the A1 with grade separated junctions. These are the final two roundabouts on the route between Peterborough and Newcastle, and removing them will allow an uninterrupted journey on this important north-south trunk road.

16/04/07: Construction starts on A3 Hindhead tunnel

Construction starts today on the new bypass for Hindhead village, on the A3. This will remove the only single-carriageway section of the A3 between London and Portsmouth, improving safety and reducing congestion. Because of the environmental sensitivity of the area, a bored tunnel is being constructed which means that the project will take four years to complete.

Open Road welcomes the start of works, and when it is finally completed early in the next decade the A3 will present a viable alternative route to the M3 for journeys between London and the South Coast.

05/04/07: A63 Melton junction opens

Open Road welcomes the opening of the new junction on the A63 at Melton, near Hull. This scheme has replaced the previous traffic light-controlled junction with a motorway-style one, where through traffic can continue without stopping. As a result, the number of accidents and congestion at this junction should be significantly reduced.

03/04/07: Construction starts on A66 Long Newton junction

Construction starts today on a new grade-separated junction at Long Newton, on the A66 between Darlington and Middlesborough. This will replace the current at-grade junction where traffic must turn right across the dual carriageway, which has resulted in accidents.

Open Road welcomes this important safety scheme.

30/03/07: A419 Commonhead junction opens

Open Road welcomes the opening of the new flyover at the Commonhead roundabout, on the A419 near Swindon. This, along with the Blunsdon bypass which is currently under construction, improves the route between the M4 and M5 to high quality dual carriageway standard -- with the notable exception of the single carriageway stretch around the Air Balloon roundabout, which we are pressing to be upgraded as soon as possible.

30/03/07: A1198 Papworth Everard bypass opens

Open Road welcomes the opening of the new 2-mile single carriageway Papworth Everard bypass, on the A1198 in Cambridgeshire. The new bypass will remove a significant amount of traffic from the village, which is especially important as this route serves as a diversion when there are problems on the very busy A14.

26/02/07: Construction starts on A595 dualling

Construction starts today on the dualling of 3 miles of the A595 between Workington and Whitehaven in Cumbria. The new road will bypass three villages on this heavily used single carriageway road, reducing accidents and congestion on the route.

26/02/07: Construction starts on A1 Markham Moor junction

Construction starts today on the grade separation of the Markham Moor roundabout on the A1 in Nottinghamshire. It will be replaced by a motorway-style junction where through traffic does not have to stop.

Open Road welcomes this progress, and when completed the scheme will reduce accidents and congestion at this junction.

08/02/07: A11 Attleborough bypass dualling opens

Open Road welcomes the opening of the newly dualled Attleborough Bypass, in Norfolk. This completes a dual carriageway link between Thetford and Norwich, and will improve safety and journey times.

However, this scheme has been built with a roundabout at its southern end, which is now the only roundabout between Thetford and Norwich. We are disappointed with this decision, which has created a future bottleneck in an otherwise good quality route.

22/01/07: Construction starts on M1 J31-32 widening

Construction starts today on the widening of the M1 between junctions 31 and 32 to dual 4 lanes. This short 1-mile section of motorway is immediately south of where the M1 and M18 merge, and consequently suffers considerable congestion as 5 lanes merge into 3. This widening will make it easier for traffic to merge, thus reducing congestion and accidents.

22/01/07: Construction starts on A69 Haydon Bridge bypass

Construction starts today on the 2-mile single carriageway bypass for Haydon Bridge, on the A69 between Newcastle and Carlisle. This will mean that the route between Newcastle and Carlisle no longer passes through the centre of any communities, and should reduce congestion and improve safety as a result.

10/01/07: A606 Oakham bypass opens

Open Road welcomes the opening of the Oakham bypass, on the main A606 route between Nottingham and Peterborough. The new 2-mile single carriageway bypass will take traffic out of the town centre and away from the level crossing in the town, improving safety and reducing congestion in the town.

22/12/06: A30 Merrymeet junction opens

Open Road welcomes the opening of the Merrymeet grade separated junction on the A30, where it meets the A382 west of Exeter. This was the only roundabout on the route between Exeter and Bodmin, and its removal will significantly reduce congestion and improve safety.

15/11/06: Construction starts on A38 Dobwalls Bypass

Construction starts today on a bypass for the village of Dobwalls, in Cornwall. This will continue the dual carriageway Liskeard bypass around the edge of Dobwalls, avoiding the traffic lights in the town centre that cause significant delays in the summer months.

Open Road welcomes this progress. When complete the bypass will improve safety and journey times for drivers, and quality of life for residents.

08/11/06: Construction starts on A507 Ridgmont Bypass

Construction starts today on the 1.5-mile single carriageway bypass for Ridgmont, just off the M1 in Bedfordshire. This will mean that the A507 route between the M1 and A1 no longer passes through any towns or villages, and will dramatically improve the lives of residents in Ridgmont.

06/11/06: Construction starts on A5117 grade separation

Construction starts today on remodelling a 2-mile stretch of the A5117, which runs between the M56 and the A550 near the Welsh border, to remove 2 roundabouts and replace them with grade separated junctions so that through traffic does not have to stop.

Open Road welcomes this progress, and this will relieve a major bottleneck on the main route into North Wales.

30/10/06: Construction starts on A1 Gonerby Moor GSJ

Construction starts today on the grade separation of the Gonerby Moor junction on the A1. The current roundabout just north of Grantham will be replaced by a motorway-style junction where through traffic does not have to stop.

Open Road welcomes this progress, which will improve safety and reduce congestion; however we are still campaigning for this section of A1 to be upgraded to motorway standard.

18/10/06: A228 dualling opens

Open Road welcomes the opening of the new 2.5-mile Leybourne Bypass and dualling of the A228 between the M20 J4 and King's Hill, in Kent. The new road will reduce congestion and improve safety; however, we do have reservations about the at-grade traffic light nature of the junctions that have been built on this bypass.

16/10/06: Construction starts on A27 widening

Construction starts today on the widening of the A27 between Southerham and Beddingham from single carriageway to wide single carriageway, and will now include a bridge over the railway line instead of the current level crossing.

Here at Open Road, we believe that this scheme is a wasted opportunity. The A27 is a busy trunk route along the south coast, and should be upgraded to dual carriageway standards. This reduced-scale scheme will do little for road safety and congestion compared to what could be achieved with a dual carriageway upgrade.

16/10/06: Construction starts on A2 widening

Construction starts today on the widening of the 3-lane section of the A2 Gravesend Bypass to 4 lanes each way. Part of the route will be built on a new offline alignment to improve safety and reduce noise for local residents. This will complete the upgrading of the M2/A2 route from the M25 to Chatham.

Open Road welcomes this progress, and we are happy to see these upgrades to the A2 corridor nearing completion.

09/10/06: A500 Stoke-on-trent GSJs open

Open Road welcomes the opening of two new grade separated junctions on the A500 route through Stoke-on-trent. This completes the grade separation of the route, which runs between junctions 15 and 16 of the M6. The new junctions will significantly reduce congestion, and also help to provide a more effective diversion route when the M6 is closed.

18/09/06: Construction starts on A419 Blunsdon Bypass

Construction starts today on the 2-mile dual carriageway bypass for Blunsdon, near Swindon. The current road is an urban dual carriageway with a 50 mph speed limit, which runs through Blunsdon and includes a roundabout which causes congestion. The bypass will replace this with a new stretch of carriageway, bypassing the village and allowing the existing road to be downgraded to make life more pleasant for residents and motorists alike.

Open Road welcomes this progress, but we do point out that the stretch of single carriageway around the Air Balloon roundabout on this route needs urgent attention.

18/09/06: Construction starts on A1 Blyth GSJ

Construction starts today on the grade separation of the Blyth junction on the A1, near Doncaster. This will replace the existing roundabout with a motorway-style junction where through traffic does not have to stop.

Open Road welcomes this work, however we are campaigning for the A1 to be upgraded to motorway standard between Peterborough and Blyth in order to better improve safety.

04/09/06: Construction starts on A68 Dalkeith Bypass

Construction starts today on the 3 mile bypass for Dalkeith, on the A68 near Edinburgh. The new road will bypass the town to the north, connecting to a new junction on the A720 Edinburgh Southern Bypass.

Open Road welcomes this progress; however, we are disappointed that the bypass is only being built to single carriageway standards, as this will not achieve the best safety improvements for the route.

01/09/06: Construction starts on A2 widening

Construction starts today on the widening of the A2 between the M25 and Bean junction, and also the construction of free-flowing slip roads for traffic travelling between the Dartford Tunnel and the A2.

Open Road welcomes this progress, which along with the A2 Gravesend widening will have improved the A2/M2 route from the M25 into North Kent considerably.

24/08/06: A421 Great Barford Bypass opens

Open Road welcomes the opening of the A421 Great Barford Bypass. The new dual carriageway links the Bedford Bypass with the A1, removing traffic from Great Barford village, and will improve safety and reduce congestion.

We are now pressing for the final link in the route, the M1-Bedford dualling, to be built as soon as possible.

31/07/06: Construction starts on A66 dualling

Construction starts today on dualling 7 miles of the A66 in the North East. Two sections of the road, near its junction with the A1 at Scotch Corner, will be upgraded to dual carriageway.

Open Road welcomes this progress, which will improve safety and reduce congestion. However, we are wary of the fact that the road is to have "at grade" junctions, where vehicles need to turn right across the traffic flow. We firmly believe that trunk roads should be built with grade separated junctions for accident reduction.

26/07/06: Construction starts on A590 High & Low Newton bypass

Construction starts today on the 2.5-mile dual carriageway bypass of the villages of High and Low Newton in Cumbria. The A590 is the main route linking Barrow-in-Furness to the M6, and carries a large amount of traffic which makes the existing single carriageway through the villages dangerous.

Open Road welcomes this progress, and when completed the bypass will dramatically improve the quality of life for residents and drivers.

25/07/06: Construction starts on M6 extension

Construction starts today on the extension of the M6 from its current terminus at Junction 44 in Carlisle, to link it up with the A74(M) 6 miles to the north. This will replace the A74, which is a poor standard 2-lane dual carriageway, and will significantly improve safety and reduce congestion.

Open Road welcomes this scheme finally starting construction. It's one of our Top 10 Most Needed Road Schemes and we're glad to see it get underway.

20/07/06: No extension of M6 Toll

The Government has formally announced its decision not to extend the M6 Toll road to Manchester, and instead to widen the existing M6 by one lane in each direction.

Open Road supports the decision not to go with tolls, but we point out that building a toll-free Expressway route would do a better job at reducing congestion and improving safety than widening will do, since it would provide an alternative route and reduce the amount of traffic using the existing road.

06/07/06: Government announces decision on regional funding

The Department for Transport has today announced its decision on funding "regionally important" trunk road schemes over the next 10 years. Unfortunately because of the very small amount of money the government is prepared to invest, several important schemes have been delayed, in some cases indefinitely.

The schemes which have been granted funding for construction in the next few years are:

• M27 J3 to J4 Widening
• M27 J11 to J12 Climbing Lanes
• A3 Hindhead dualling
• A19/A1068 Seaton Burn Junction Improvement
• A19/A184 Testos Grade Separated Junction
• A453 dualling (M1 to Nottingham)

Schemes which have now been postponed are:

• A5 Dunstable Northern Bypass
• A11 Fiveways to Thetford dualling
• A21 Tonbridge Bypass to Pembury dualling
• A21 Kippings Cross to Lamberhurst dualling
• A23 Handcross to Warninglid widening
• A46 Newark - Widmerpool dualling
• A47 Blofield to North Burlingham dualling
• A57/A628 Mottram, Hollingworth and Tintwistle Bypass
• A120 Braintree to Marks Tey dualling

Open Road is calling for increased investment to allow these schemes to be delivered earlier than is now planned.

03/07/06: A249 Sheppey Crossing opens

Open Road welcomes the opening of the new crossing linking the Isle of Sheppey to the English mainland in north Kent. The new dual carriageway will significantly reduce journey times and accidents on the route, and improve access to the island.

30/06/06: M5 J19-20 climbing lanes open

Open Road welcomes the opening of two new climbing lanes on the M5 between J19 and 20. These add a fourth lane to the motorway as it climbs a steep hill, and will reduce congestion and accidents on this busy summer holiday route.

12/06/06: M60 J5-8 widening opens

Open Road welcomes the opening of the M60 J5-8 widening, in south-west Manchester. This scheme has upgraded the road to dual 4 lanes between J5 and 6, and to dual 3 lanes plus parallel collector/distributor roads between J6 and 8. This should significantly improve safety and reduce congestion on this important route, and we would like to see collector/distributor roads used more widely on the UK's motorway network.

08/06/06: Construction starts on A876 Kincardine western bypass

Construction starts today on the western bypass for Kincardine, in Scotland. This includes a new bridge over the Forth, allowing traffic from the M9 to pass either side of the town.

Open Road welcomes this progress, and when complete it will improve the quality of life for drivers and residents.

07/06/06: A1(M) J62-61 climbing lane opens

Open Road welcomes the opening of the new climbing lane on the A1(M) between J62 and 61. This section, which has only 2 lanes in each direction, has been improved by adding a 3rd lane southbound going up the hill. This will reduce congestion and improve safety for users of the route.

17/05/06: Construction starts on A8000 upgrade

Construction work starts today on an upgrade of the A8000 single carriageway road that links the M9 and A90 near Edinburgh. The road will be replaced with a new dual 2-lane motorway, vastly improving safety and reducing congestion on the route.

Open Road welcomes this progress, and we point out that the same urgently needs to be done with the A556 road near Manchester.

06/05/06: Construction starts on M25 J25 improvement

Open Road welcomes the start of work on the M25 J25 improvement, which will widen the road to 3 lanes through junction 25 eastbound (where it currently suffers a lane drop), and also widen the Holmesdale tunnel to 4 lanes throughout in preparation for the main M25 widening scheme.

30/03/06: Highways Agency annual roads update

The Highways Agency has released its annual update on the progress of road schemes. As usual this involves the movement of the start dates for some schemes.

The winners are:

• M25 J28 junction improvement, brought forward to this year

• A1(M) Dishforth-Barton, brought forward from 2008/9 to 2007/8

• A69 Haydon Bridge bypass, brought forward to 2007/8

The losers are:

• M25 J1b-3 widening, delayed until 2007/8

• M40 J15 junction improvement, delayed until 2007/8

• A2 M25-Bean widening, delayed until later this year

• A2 Gravesend widening, delayed until later this year

• A14 Haughley New St improvement, delayed until 2007/8

• A590 High & Low Newton bypass, delayed until later this year

As always, Open Road is pressing for all these schemes to be progressed for construction as soon as possible.

20/03/06: Construction starts on M1 J6a-10 widening

Construction starts today on the widening of the M1 to dual 4 lanes between the M25 and Luton. This badly needed scheme will alleviate the chronic congestion on this section, as well as improving safety by reducing accidents.

Open Road welcomes this progress, though we are not impressed with the 10 year delay that this scheme has suffered.

16/03/06: Construction starts on A66 Temple Sowerby bypass

Construction starts today on the 3-mile dual carriageway Temple Sowerby bypass, in Cumbria. This scheme will remove the vast majority of traffic from the village, improving journey times on this important east-west link, as well as reducing accidents and improving safety in the village.

Open Road welcomes this progress, and is calling for the rest of the A66 between the M6 and A1 to be dualled as soon as possible.

16/03/06: A505 Baldock Bypass opens

Open Road welcomes the opening of the long-awaited Baldock Bypass, in Hertfordshire. The new 3-mile dual carriageway will bypass the town to the south east, providing a fast link from the A1(M) to Royston, and reducing the bad congestion and accident record in Baldock town centre.

We point out that a Hitchin Southern Bypass is really needed to complete this important east-west road link.

03/03/06: Draft Orders published for M4 J29-32 widening

The Welsh Assembly has published the Draft Orders for the M4 J29-32 widening, to the north-east of Cardiff. The scheme will improve the road from its current 2 lanes each way to 3 lanes each way, in order to deal with safety and congestion problems. The start of works is still planned for 2007.

Additionally, the Welsh Assembly has also announced the Variable Speed Limits, as seen on the M25, will be introduced onto the M4 between J25 and J27 (north-west Newport) later this year, in order to attempt to reduce congestion around the Brynglas Tunnels.

03/03/06: A14 Rookery Crossroads GSJ opens

Open Road welcomes the opening of the A14 Rookery Crossroads improvement. This includes a new grade separated junction, along with the realignment of the carriageway to make it straighter. This improvement, which has finally opened after months of delays, will improve safety and reduce congestion on the A14 in Suffolk.

01/03/06: Erskine Bridge tolls to be abolished

Open Road welcomes the announcement by the Scottish Executive that tolls on the Erskine Bridge are to be abolished. The bridge, which carries the A898 over the Clyde, to the west of Glasgow, will cease to be tolled from the 31st March. This should attract traffic to the Erskine Bridge, which is currently under-used, and away from the M8 Kingston Bridge, which regularly suffers congestion.

Open Road supports the Scottish Executive in this sensible and pragmatic decision.

20/02/06: Construction starts on A58 Blackbrook bypass

Construction starts today on the 1 mile, single carriageway A58 Blackbrook and Haydock bypass, in St Helens. The new road will link St Helens to the south west, with the A580 to the north east, providing a means for traffic to avoid going through the towns.

Open Road welcomes this progress, as the new road will reduce congestion and improve safety in the area.

24/01/06: New consultation on A303 Stonehenge

Following a review of the costs of the Stonehenge road scheme that we covered back in July, the options for proceeding have now been revealed. A new round of public consultation has been launched to determine which alternative option to take forward.

The original plan was a bored tunnel under the Stonehenge site, but as that was too expensive some new options have now been put forward -- a cut & cover tunnel (where a large ditch is dug and then filled back over with earth to create a tunnel), and Northern and Southern bypass routes. You can make your opinion known on the Highways Agency Website.

23/01/06: A1(M) Ferrybridge - Hook Moor opens

Open Road welcomes the opening of the new stretch of motorway on the A1 linking the M62 and the M1. This has replaced a very old section of dual-carriageway A1 which ran straight through the town of Fairburn, with a new dual 3-lane motorway. The new road will significantly improve safety and journey times for drivers, and will give a whole new quality of life to the residents of Fairburn.

Open Road is calling for the Doncaster - Ferrybridge section of A1 to be upgraded as soon as possible, thus completing a high quality alternative route to the M1 in Yorkshire.

14/12/05: A47 Thorney Bypass opens

Open Road welcomes the completion of the A47 Thorney Bypass, east of Peterborough. The new dual carriageway will take traffic out of the centre of Thorney, improving the quality of life and safety for residents as well as journey times for drivers.

13/12/05: M25 J12-15 widening completed

Open Road welcomes the completion of the M25 J12-15 widening. This improvement has widened the road to 6 lanes in each direction between J14 and 15 (Heathrow to the M4), and to 5 lanes each way between J12 and 14 (M3 to Heathrow), and will significantly reduce congestion on this stretch of motorway, which is the busiest in Europe.

23/11/05: M11 widening scrapped

The government has announced that the proposed widening of the M11 J8-9 (Stansted to the A11) will not now go ahead. The scheme had been due to begin construction around 2009, but will now not happen for at least another 10 years.

Open Road is very disappointed with this decision -- the M11 is expected to act as a diversion route for the M1 but with only 2 lanes on this section it cannot be expected to cope with diverted traffic as well as its own. We are pressing at least for the funds that would have been used to widen the M11 to be used to build other schemes in the region, such as the A1(M) J6-8 widening.

23/11/05: A80 Auchenkilns junction opens

Open Road welcomes the opening of the new grade separated junction on the A80 at Auchenkilns, in North Lanarkshire. This replaces the previous roundabout at the junction with the A73, and will improve safety and significantly reduce congestion at the junction.

22/11/05: Construction starts on A30 Merrymeet junction

Construction starts today on the grade separation of the Merrymeet roundabout on the A30. This junction, at Whiddon Down in Devon, is the first point at which drivers need to stop when travelling into Devon and Cornwall on the M5/A30 route. Grade separating this junction will improve safety and reduce congestion, and provide a continuous dual carriageway route over 50 miles in length from the end of the M5 at Exeter to the village of Temple in Cornwall.

08/11/05: M4 J18 Eastbound climbing lane opens

Open Road welcomes the opening of the new climbing lane on the Eastbound M4 on the approach to J18. The improvement will alleviate the regular congestion that occurs at this junction and will improve safety. However, we point out that the M4 J19-20 needs to be widened to dual 4 lanes as a matter of urgency.

26/10/05: Construction starts on M40 J4 improvement

Construction starts today on an improvement for Junction 4 on the M40 (Handy Cross). It will provide a free-flowing slip road from the A404 Northbound to the M40 Westbound, and widen the rest of the roundabout to reduce queues.

Open Road welcomes this progress.

23/10/05: Construction starts on A1(M) climbing lane

Construction starts tomorrow on a new climbing lane on the A1(M) Southbound between J62 and 61 in County Durham. This will provide a third lane uphill for slow vehicles, helping to reduce congestion and improve safety. Open Road welcomes the progress of this scheme.

21/10/05: A830 upgrade approved

The upgrading of the A830 between Arisaig and Loch Nan Uamh in Scotland was given the go-ahead today. This stretch of road is currently single track with passing places (the only trunk road in the UK to be of such a poor standard), and it will be widened to two-lane single carriageway standards. This will improve safety and journey times between Fort William and the port of Mallaig, and Open Road welcomes this announcement.

19/10/05: A1198 Papworth Bypass approved

Funding commitment has now been given for the construction of a single carriageway bypass of Papworth Everard in Cambridgeshire. The village lies on the busy A1198, which connects Huntingdon and Godmanchester with the A428. The bypass will remove through traffic from the village, improving the quality of life for residents and improving safety for drivers.

19/10/05: A197 Pegswood Bypass approved

Final approval has been given for the A197 Pegswood bypass in Northumberland. The new 1.5 mile single carriageway will bypass the village to the south, providing a safer and quicker route between Morpeth and Ashington.

Open Road welcomes the progress of this scheme; construction should start early next year and be completed in 2007.

17/10/05: M5 J18a-17 climbing lane opens

Open Road welcomes the opening of the new northbound climbing lane on the M5 near Bristol. This will significantly reduce congestion on Hallen Hill by adding a fourth lane for use by slow vehicles.

12/10/05: A5 Weeford - Fazeley dualling opens

Open Road welcomes the opening of the new A5 Weeford bypass. This now provides a continuous dual carriageway link between the M42 and the A38, and has removed through traffic from the village of Hints, thus significantly improving the quality of life for residents there.

Ideally, we would like to see the A5 completely dualled from the A38 westwards to the M6, in order to provide a decent alternate route to the M6 Toll.

05/10/05: Construction starts on M5 J19-20 Climbing Lanes

Construction starts tomorrow on new climbing lanes between J19 and 20 on the M5. These will provide a fourth lane on the uphill section of both carriageways between these two junctions, and will alleviate the regular traffic jams that occur here in peak periods and summer Saturdays.

Open Road welcomes the progress of these schemes to reduce congestion on this route.

15/09/05: Construction starts on A419 Commonhead Junction

Construction starts on Monday of the A419 Commonhead Junction improvement. This involves the construction of a flyover to grade separate the junction on this important route between the M4 and M5. Commonhead Junction is the first junction you encounter on the A419 after leaving the M4.

Open Road welcomes this progress, but we have to ask why the junction wasn't originally built like this, and why it has taken so long for such a simple improvement to finally get built.

22/08/05: A158 Partney Bypass opens

Open Road welcomes the opening of the new Partney Bypass. This comprises 3 miles of new single carriageway to bypass the town, which lies on the main holiday route from the East Midlands to the coastal resort of Skegness. The new road will dramatically improve the quality of life for local residents, and bring large benefits to through traffic as well.

16/08/05: Construction starts on A11 Attleborough Bypass dualling

Work starts this week on the dualling of the A11 Attleborough bypass. This single carriageway section is a major bottleneck on the main route from Cambridge to Norwich.

Open Road welcomes this progress, although the other single carriageway section, from Fiveways roundabout to Thetford, also needs to be dualled as a matter of urgency. We are also concerned that the scheme still incorporates a roundabout junction rather than being fully grade-separated.

15/08/05: Construction starts on A428 dualling

Work starts this week on dualling the A428 between the Caxton roundabout and Cambridge. With the expansion of the new town of Cambourne on the route, this dualling is essential to ensure that the route does not grind to a halt.

Open Road welcomes this progress, however we point out that the other section of the A428, from Caxton to the A1 at St Neots, also needs to be dualled as soon as possible.

21/07/05: Stonehenge tunnel put on hold

The A303 Stonehenge bypass, which successfully passed its public inquiry last year, has now had further investigation work done by the Highways Agency. This has discovered ground conditions that will double the costs of constructing the tunnel, from a previous estimate of �284m to a new estimate of �470m; and therefore the government has announced it is to look again at other options, including a surface-level dual carriageway bypassing the site instead.

We understand the government's position after seeing the cost double, but we have to ask why these factors were not discovered earlier on in the process, so that all the facts were known before a decision was originally taken.

Open Road is calling for the re-assessment to be completed as quickly as possible and for an alternative proposal to be progressed without delay on this hugely important scheme.

20/07/05: No decision on new M6 Expressway

After considering the responses to the consultation last year on extending the M6 Toll from Birmingham to Manchester instead of widening the existing M6, the government has announced that there was no consensus in the responses. Further work will be carried out on both schemes with a view to having more detailed information on which to judge the merits of each scheme.

Open Road believes that building a new alternative route is preferable to widening since it provides more extra capacity than widening and provides an alternative route in case of accidents. However, we strongly oppose any tolling of the new route since it would reduce the effectiveness of the new route in reducing congestion on the existing M6. We also point out that the new route running parallel to the M6 would put additional strain on link roads leading to the motorway, and that a preferable solution would be for the new road to run to the east of Stoke, thus improving access to the east side of the town and reducing congestion through the town.

14/07/05: Construction starts on A30 dualling

Construction starts this week on dualling the A30 between Bodmin and Indian Queens in Cornwall. This is one of the three remaining single carriageway sections of the route between Exeter and Camborne, and suffers regular delays and congestion. A low bridge on the route has also suffered frequent hits from tall vehicles.

Open Road welcomes this progress, and is pressing for the other two single carriageway sections to be dualled as soon as possible.

14/07/05: Draft Orders published for A1(M) Bramham - Wetherby

Draft Orders have been published today for the upgrading of 6 miles of the A1 between the current terminus at Bramham to the new section at Wetherby. The road will be widened to 3-lane motorway standards, which will improve safety and reduce congestion, as well as providing a consistent high quality road link to the North East.

Construction is expected to start in early 2007.

11/07/05: A142 Fordham bypass opens

Open Road welcomes the opening of the Fordham bypass. The new 2-mile single carriageway road takes traffic out of the village, and will significantly improve safety and reduce congestion. Fordham is located to the east of Cambridge, on the main road between Newmarket and Ely.

07/07/05: Contracts awarded for A2 and M25 widening

The contracts have today been awarded for two schemes; first, for widening the M25 J1b-3 to dual 4 lanes. This is the section of the M25 between the Dartford Tunnel and the M20, which is frequently congested and only has 2 lanes through J2. Construction should start in 2007.

The A2 scheme involves widening the A2 to dual 4-lanes from the M25 to the Bean junction, a distance of about 1 mile. More importantly it includes free-flow links at the M25 junction so that much less traffic will have to use the roundabout. Construction should start around the end of the year.

20/06/05: A167 Chilton bypass opens

Open Road welcomes today's ahead-of-schedule opening of the A167 Chilton bypass, expected to cut traffic passing through the County Durham village by 80%, and improve the quality of life for residents.

The single carriageway to the west of Chilton, first proposed as long ago as 1939, begins at the A689 roundabout to the south and extends about 1,000 yards north of the village. The �9m scheme should cut travelling time on the busy link road by about 20 minutes. In the Chilton area, the road carries 18,000 vehicles per day, with a quarter of these being HGVs.

17/06/05: A68 Dalkeith bypass given go-ahead

The Scottish Executive has given its approval to the construction of a new single carriageway bypass for Dalkeith, near Edinburgh. The road was planned in the 1990's and all the statutory procedures were completed, so construction on the road should be able to begin next year.

The new route will run from the junction on the A720 to connect with the existing A68 at the east end of the town.

16/06/05: Draft Orders published for A69 Haydon Bridge bypass

A bypass for Haydon Bridge in Northumberland has come a step closer today, with the publication of the draft orders for the scheme. The new route will provide a 2 mile single carriageway bypass of the town, which lies on the main route between Carlisle and Newcastle. It should significantly improve life for residents in the town by removing through traffic from the town centre streets.

However, there is currently no funding allocated for the scheme, so construction will not start until 2008 at the earliest. Open Road is calling for the roads budget to be increased to allow vital schemes like this to be constructed as soon as possible.

13/06/05: A64 Colton Lane junction opened

Open Road welcomes the completion of the new grade separated junction on the A64 at Bilbrough Top service area. The new bridge here replaces the previous right-turn across the carriageway, which was very dangerous and saw several accidents.

Open Road is campaigning for the A64 to be dualled from York to Scarborough.

12/06/05: M74 completion delayed

Construction of the M74 completion in Glasgow has now been delayed by at least a year due to a legal challenge mounted by opponents of the scheme.

Open Road is disappointed that the situation has come to this. The new road will bring benefits to local people by removing traffic from local roads, and help the environment by reducing queues and congestion on the M8. Unfortunately there are always the 'usual suspects' who will do their best to stop any new road being built.

09/06/05: A419 Commonhead GSJ given go ahead

The grade separation of the A419 Commonhead roundabout in Swindon was today given the go ahead by the government. As no objections were received, there is no need for a Public Inquiry to be held, and therefore work can now start in a few months time.

Open Road welcomes this progress, although we would point out that this roundabout should have been built as a grade separated junction to begin with. Interestingly this is the only trunk road scheme to go ahead without a public inquiry since the Stansted Airport slip roads scheme 3 years ago.

Open Road is also calling for the single carriageway bottleneck at the other end of the A419 route to be dualled as soon as possible.

06/06/05: A1(M) Wetherby - Walshford opens

Open Road welcomes the opening of the new section of A1(M) between Wetherby and Walshford. This new 3-mile stretch of road upgrades the old A1 to dual 3-lane motorway. The new road will reduce accidents and congestion, and provide a safer road for everyone using it.

Open Road is still campaigning for the whole of the A1 between London and Newcastle to be upgraded to motorway standards.

05/06/05: Government announces Road Pricing scheme

Today the Transport Secretary, Alistair Darling, has announced the government's intention to proceed with a road pricing scheme where people are charged per mile travelled, at varying rates depending on how congested the road is.

Open Road is opposed to this scheme, for three main reasons:

1. People do not choose to travel on congested roads; it is often the only way that they can make their journey
2. Charging high fees for roads like the M25 will divert traffic off onto unsuitable local roads, and effectively "un-bypass" towns that have been bypassed by trunk roads.
3. The practicalities of policing the system are almost unworkable. Catching people who do not fit the box to their cars will be extremely difficult and is likely to lead to widespread evasion of paying the charge.

15/05/05: A14 Public Consultation to resume

Following its earlier suspension due to the general election, the public exhibitions on the A14 widening are now to restart. Full dates and locations can be found on the Highways Agency website.

29/04/05: A8000 upgrade approved

The Scottish Executive has given funding commitment for the upgrading of the A8000 link near Edinburgh to motorway standards. The route is currently a heavily congested single carriageway road between the M9 and A90, and the upgrade will provide a dual two-lane motorway to replace it.

Open Road welcomes this progress, and we are pressing for the English DfT to do the same with the A556 link near Manchester.

27/04/05: M77 extension opens

Open Road welcomes the opening of the new section of the M77 motorway in Scotland. The project has involved extending the dual-two lane motorway from its end in south Glasgow for approximately 10 miles southwards to Kilmarnock.

The old A77 which the motorway will relieve was a very dangerous road with a significant accident record, and the opening of the new motorway will lead to many lives being saved in the future, as well as providing journey time savings.

24/04/05: M5 Climbing Lane construction begins

Construction starts tomorrow on the M5 Northbound climbing lane between J18 and J17, near Bristol. This will widen the motorway to 4 lanes northbound for a length of approximately 1.5 miles where it climbs a steep hill.

Open Road welcomes this progress, however we point out that the M4/M5 motorway box around Bristol needs to be widened to 4 lanes in its entirety as significant congestion occurs on this section.

10/04/05: A429 Barford Bypass construction begins

Construction work starts tomorrow on the A429 Barford Bypass. This will provide a new 1.5 mile single carriageway bypass of the village of Barford, which straddles the main road between the M40 J15 and Wellesbourne. The scheme is planned to open in early 2007.

Open Road welcomes the scheme's progress, and when complete the bypass should provide welcome relief to residents of the village.

06/04/05: A14 Public Exhibition Suspended

The A14 Public Exhibition has been postponed for a month due to the general election being announced. According to electoral guidelines, public exhibitions by government bodies are not allowed during a campaign.

Open Road questions this stance, and we cannot see how anybody attending the exhibition would be influenced in their voting at the election. We are calling on the Highways Agency to continue preparations for the scheme in the meantime to ensure minimal delay to the scheme's construction.

03/04/05: A14 Public Consultation begins this week

Public consultations for the upgrading of the A14 between the M11 and A1 commence this week. If you live in the area, Highways Agency Exhibitions are being held to explain the proposals and allow you to give your views.

Open Road strongly supports the need for the road to be upgraded, but for safety reasons we are pressing for it to be upgraded to motorway standards rather than 3-lane dual carriageway.

30/03/05: A228 dualling to go ahead

Funding commitment has been given for work on the A228 dualling in Kent to start in May. This will see the road upgraded to dual carriageway between the M20 J4 and King's Hill, a length of about 3 miles.

Open Road welcomes this announcement, as the existing road is highly congested and dangerous.

24/03/05: M74 completion approved

The Scottish Executive has announced that the M74 completion is to go ahead. This is despite the public inquiry concluding that the scheme should be scrapped earlier this year.

The M74 completion is a highly controversial urban motorway scheme to connect the current end of the M74 to the M8 in Glasgow. Open Road has some reservations about the precedent being set by the Executive ignoring the public inquiry's verdict, but nonetheless we welcome the approval of this scheme. It has had much bad press, but the scheme has several advantages:

• Significantly reducing traffic and pollution through residential streets in the south of the city
• Reducing the severe congestion and accidents on the M8 through the city
• Reducing traffic on the Kingston Bridge over the Clyde, which is severely congested because virtually all traffic from the west has to cross it when heading for the east or the M74.
• The route is urban in character and would not pass through any environmentally sensitive areas. Some of the route would involve property demolition but much of it is through wasteland.

24/03/05: M1, M27 and M62 widening schemes announced

The DfT has today announced that schemes to widen the M1 J30-42 (Chesterfield to the M62), the M62 J25-28 (Huddersfield to Morley) and the M27 J3-4 (M3 to M271), all to dual 4 lanes, have been added to the TPI.

Open Road welcomes this announcement, although we do question the value for money of widening existing routes rather than building alternatives.

24/03/05: A21 Lamberhurst Bypass opens

Open Road welcomes the opening of the A21 Lamberhurst Bypass today. It provides a dual carriageway route to take traffic out of Lamberhurst and make life much more pleasant for residents and motorists alike.

However, there are still two sections of single carriageway on the A21 between the M25 and Lamberhurst, and we are calling for these to be dualled as soon as possible.

23/03/05: M4 widening contract awarded

The Early Contractor Involvement contract has been awarded for the M4 J29-32 widening in Cardiff. This section of the motorway is currently only 2 lanes each way, and suffers from considerable congestion on a regular basis. The widening scheme will bring it up to scratch by widening it to dual 3 lanes. Construction is currently scheduled to start in 2007.

22/03/05: Draft Orders published for A5117 Deeside Park

The grade separation of the A5117 route between the M56 and A550 has come a step closer today with the publication of the draft orders to build the route.

This scheme will replace the two roundabouts and one traffic signal controlled junction between the M56 and A550 with motorway-style Grade Separated Junctions.

Open Road welcomes this progress, though we do question why the route is not to be built to motorway standards, since it is effectively an extension of the M56.

16/03/05: A428 dualling brought forward

Open Road welcomes the government's decision today to bring forward construction of the A428 Caxton to Hardwick dualling, from 2008 to this year. 2005 was the scheme's original construction date until it was postponed late last year.

It is good news that the government has now seen sense and agreed to commence construction of this important scheme on its original timetable.

14/03/05: A14 Haughley New St improvement contract awarded

The contract has been awarded for this �32m scheme which will realign the main carriageway of the A14 close to the village of Haughley, Suffolk, and provide a new two level junction to rationalise and replace access to the A14 from the villages of Haughley, Haughley New Street and Harleston.

This will eliminate the tight bends and right-turns across the dual carriageway. Open Road welcomes the scheme's progress, and supports its construction commencing as soon as possible. It is currently programmed to start construction in 2006/07.

10/03/05: M1 and A66 contracts awarded

Open Road welcomes the award of contracts to construct the M1 J6A-10 widening and the A66 Temple Sowerby bypass schemes. These two sections of road experience considerable congestion and accidents, and construction should now start on these schemes later in the year.

The M1 widening consists of widening the M1 motorway to 4 lanes in each direction between the M25 and Luton. It also includes parallel link roads joining J7 with J8, so that people travelling between St Albans and Hemel Hempstead don't have to use the motorway.

The Temple Sowerby bypass consists of building 3 miles of dual carriageway to bypass the village on this important East-West road link in North England. Open Road is campaigning for the whole route to be dualled - see our Projects page for more information.

01/03/05: A595 dualling Draft Orders published

Draft Orders to construct the A595 Parton-Lillyhall dualling have been made. Open Road welcomes this announcement, but construction is not programmed to start until 2007 due to funding allocations.