The removal of an eyesore, noise, and pollution from Huntingdon is undoubtedly an improvement. But what was not clear from the video is that it made a big improvement to traffic on the A14. The map shown only showed the spur to north of Huntingdon making it look like the road only ran between the M11 and A1(M), but the main line of the A14 turns west to the north of the town to head across country to join the M1 and M6. And because the A14 was made out lots of bits of existing roads it meant to use the mainline traffic has to leave the A14 at Spittals Interchange to use a roundabout to join the A14 (now renumbered as part of the A141). And that only took to another roundabout at the Brampton Hut Interchange with the A1. So the new route not only improved Huntingdon, it also removed those roundabouts and finally made the A14 a freeflowing road all the ways from the edge to Felixstowe to, well, Scotland, as if you do not take any junctions becomes the M6 which becomes the A74(M), which becomes the M74, which takes you onto the M8. Given the increasing risk of the viaduct collapsing, and it sitting over one of the countries most important rail routes, the cost of leaving it up would have ended up being far worse that the cost of demolition.
And it's not like most of the old road has been dug up or anything, it's just been added to the local network. I would imagine having the traffic further away from the residential areas makes it a lot quieter too? Towns where all you can hear is traffic are a bit oppressive IMO.
.. Do you know Jesus Christ can set you free from sins and save you from hell today Jesus Christ is the only hope in this world no other gods will lead you to heaven There is no security or hope with out Jesus Christ in this world come and repent of all sins today Today is the day of salvation come to the loving savior Today repent and do not go to hell Come to Jesus Christ today Jesus Christ is only way to heaven Repent and follow him today seek his heart Jesus Christ can fill the emptiness he can fill the void Heaven and hell is real cone to the loving savior today Today is the day of salvation tomorrow might be to late come to the loving savior today Romans 6.23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. John 3:16-21 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God. Mark 1.15 15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel. 2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Hebrews 11:6 6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Jesus
Thanks Rebeka for an extremely informative comment. In particular the point that the viaduct crossed the East Coast Main Line should have been stressed in the original video. Before 2020 I occasionally used Huntingdon station, just south of the viaduct. The removal of this viaduct must have considerably improved the environment for waiting passengers.
`I second this. It's been a big improvement. It also provides a very quick and easy way in and out of Huntingdon and the station that doesn't involve the ring road.
@@nathansmith7153 I never said it did. But cynicism opens your mind to potential problems to then fix those problems. Blind trust is never a good thing. ☮
... Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Come to Jesus Christ today Jesus Christ is only way to heaven Repent and follow him today seek his heart Jesus Christ can fill the emptiness he can fill the void Heaven and hell is real cone to the loving savior today Today is the day of salvation tomorrow might be to late come to the loving savior today John 3:16-21 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God. Mark 1.15 15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel. 2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Hebrews 11:6 6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Jesus
@@bfapple Imagine if some government came along, and required speed limits to be set within 5mph of the original design specification of the road (as in: The speed the road is designed to be ran at based on lane width, etc). Solve a LOT of problems with BS speed limit posting, without physical design changes to the road to ensure drivers are going to naturally trend towards the desired safe speed. Would actually lead to safer roads... something about people don't do what is legal, they do what feels right.
It wasn't just the pollution from the vehicles it was also the noise as the road was so high up. Getting rid of a 1960s mistake is money well spent for the town. The whole area around the station is vastly better. The error was surely making the new bit of the A1 not a motorway as if they ever do the A1(M) missing bits it will need rebuilding again.
I doubt they ever will do the A1(M) missing bits - the A14 was built to motorway standards, just not made a motorway, so there's little point them doing the same for other bits of road.
@@jamwil200 I think @ADAMEDWARDS17 is referring to the section of A1 that was rebuilt between where it is joined by the new A14 and the A1(M) at Alconbury. Though I am sure the reason it, and the new section of A14, were not legally designated as motorways is because of the lack of a hard shoulder. Smart motorways were already controversial by the time of it all opening, so easiest to do nothing and despite it being no safer as an A-road. And both of those roads are effectively motorways but for the legal definition and colour of the sign, as restrictions have been placed on them equivalent to those that apply to motorways, hence needing half a dozen restriction signs on the slip roads. And this secret motorway stuff is something I hate having started out by riding on a motorcycle on a CBT, which prohibits riding on motorways. If you judge by a map or rouet planning software there is no way of knowing you are not allowed on it until you reach those signs. And with my parents living in Lincolnshire this was a route I would use, getting to Alconbury via either the A1 directly or via Huntingdon on the A10 and A1198.
@@Rebecka_J I am aware that that is the section of A1 being referred to. At the time of opening, from my understanding, government policy was to not build hard shoulders on any roads, motorways or not. I have heard that the A14 was due to be made a motorway but they couldn't get the approval through before they needed the signs made due to civil servants being caught up with brexit.
I live in Huntingdon. This over pass was literally collapsing, it would have been more expensive to replace it. With the A14 being rerouted to the south it made perfect sense.
Yep, I remember when lumps of concrete started falling off it. The A14 upgrade had been in the pipeline for decades (CHUMMS being one of the early studies) but was shelved for a long time. I left before the upgrade was delivered, but have seen it since and it’s a huge improvement. I don’t miss taking an hour to drive from Huntingdon to Cambridge in the am peak.
I travel to work by train going north through Huntingdon. One morning a few years back there was a problem north of Huntingdon and our train terminated. The train company arranged taxis to get us to Peterborough but we would need to wait for them to arrive. It was raining so we all sheltered under the viaduct. However, we had to be careful where we stood as water was dripping down from it in various places.
let us know in a few years when busineses start closing down and leaving. we have a long history of bypassing roads here in america and the locations often turn into a ghost town following a couple decades.
Yeah, this video captures all the main points. One thing to note is that the original western bypass of Huntingdon was to relieve pressure not only on the centres of Huntingdon and Godmanchester but also on the tiny mediaeval bridge over the river Ouse. Another is that, when the then-A604 was built, it was never intended that all the Felixstowe to Birmingham road freight would be routed along it. It only later became part of the A14. The new A14 has basically sorted things out. The one pinch point is the bridge over the railway line; I wouldn't be surprised to see plans for a new bridge between the Views Common roundabout and Edith Bell Way some year soon...
I used to live in Huntingdon and remember the day the new A14 opened and the viaduct was no longer in use. I lived just off the ring road in the town centre and the lack of noise pollution was noticeable, you could actually hear the trains leaving the station.
As a truck driver in the mid 80s I can remember having to slow down for the joints in the bridge because they were so un- even , it used to give you a real jolt in the seat , bouncing the truck as you crossed over . Horrible bit of road , ok if you knew it was coming as you could lift off your seat in readiness as the truck bottomed out on the suspension 😂
I can so relate to your comment when I used to drive Commer truck in a faraway country, maybe so severe as your bridge. Different jolt with loaded or unloaded on flat deck, 1980s. Front wheels right under your bum. Used to drive Commer and Thames Trader vans as well. With the Thames Trader, if I braked too hard, with no load, always thought the back end was going lift off the ground. Wonder if the Chinese could have done a better job building it and cheaper.
it was interesting to watch as I work at the station, I has really made a difference traffic wise no where near as much. The huge cost was due to the crane equipment that was required had to come from Germany as nothing in the UK could lift it
Dutch company actually. Mammoet meaning mammoth. One sees their red lifting gear with the mammouth logo all over nowadays. They were heavily involved in the A14 work where the Bar Hill bridges were constructed a few hundred yards down the road and lifted into position fully made.
Wouldn't that happen anyway. The new road is way better than the old A14/A604. I would have considered making the road still closed, so traffic couldn't take the A141 link, but it was openable again in case they needed to work on the new A14
I live very close to Huntingdon and use this route very often. Getting rid of the nasty viaduct is a good thing, and the old A14, despite the silly 40mph limit, that everyone ignores (apart from myself obviously - for any police people reading this) is nice to drive on and relatively traffic free for local journeys.
I used to live in Huntingdon (that bridge was owned by the Highways Agency btw, not the Council, so the strengthening works didn’t cost CCC money directly) but traffic was an absolute nightmare, all the time. I was also a Traffic/Project Engineer covering west division for about a decade. The WTC Link Road (north of the railway station, shown in your video, and which was built by Cambridgeshire County Council) relieved some of the traffic on the ring road but the strengthening of that viaduct in the mid 2010s brought with it a necessary height restriction on the B1514 from Brampton into Huntingdon (a route from the A1) which meant overheights had to use Spittals Interchange, which was already disastrously congested, and the A141 northern bypass (going through Godmanchester wasn’t an option because of the weight restriction on the bridge into Huntingdon). I’ve driven through the area since it’s gone, the whole area is much quieter now, it’s like chalk and cheese. I never really noticed air quality being an issue, but remember people visiting me who didn’t live there always remarked to me about the constant sound of traffic, especially in the evenings when local traffic and activity in general had reduced. It was a constant, distant background noise, but I actually found it quite relaxing.
let us know in a few years when busineses start closing down and leaving. we have a long history of bypassing roads here in america and the locations often turn into a ghost town following a couple decades.
I’m so glad I found this video. I started truck driving in 2023 and the maps were not updated as of that time so naturally, I was taken down the old A4 straight up to that roundabout you see in the video only to find weight restriction and a road that no longer exists. 😂 it was a nightmare as it was my first week on the job and I’m from the south east so nowhere near this area and didn’t know where to go.
Living in Huntingdon, i do believe removing that viaduct has made the area look a lot nicer and a bit quieter but not worth the money. Traffic is only affected when the A14 is closed but apart from that I think it was good.
The lack of a bridge confused the shit out of me the first time I was travelling back West on what I thought was the A14. I don't go that far along it very often and it had been about two years.
I moved from Huntingdon late last year, and it was a bloody nightmare getting the bridge down. The former A14 it carried, now the A1307 has been 40mph from the train station to Godmanchester for years and that drives the locals nuts. After listening to the locals complaints about the speed limit apparently the highways department decided that the whole of the A1307 should 40mph and have apparently done just that! The other damage causing issue with the bridge was overheight HGVs despite the many warnings slamming into it further reducing the stability of the joints.
Its crazy that you have a 60mph road where it is just enough to fit a car and is very windy, and a 40 mph dual carriageway where it feels like your walking. It feels wrong to do 40 but its the legal thing to do. I think the speed limit on single carriageways should go down to 50mph since France did just that and it's also been done on the A140 between Norwich and Ipswich and the road from Boston to Skegness.
The other benefit of the new Huntingdon bypass bypass is that you don't have to turn off the A14 at a roundabout junction to stay on the A14 and then go round another roundabout junction to go under the A1(M), so by reducing a lot of stop-start traffic, it would have reduced air pollution. The A14/A45/A604 alone could warrant a series of videos.
I think with the M1 J19 improvements (although lacking two junctions) and the A14 improvements it’s now a fairly good road with so much pollution reduction. 3 disastrous roundabouts and choke points gone.
@@michaelcoles6140 Yes, it was down to 1 lane going from the M6 to the A14, under the M1. I think that junction is back to its original state of being a rural road.
Indeed, Spittals Interchange was an anomaly in that three exits served the A14 and to continue on the same route, as you say, you had to exit and then rejoin via a signalised roundabout which was always congested af during peak hours, otherwise you ended up on the A1(M), an excellent section of road that was designed with far more capacity than it would ever need.
Removing the viaduct and repurposing bits of the old A14 has improved nearby parts of Huntingdon and made access to the station easier. For some incomprehensible reason, the A1307 (formerly A14) from Huntingdon to Swavesey, a distance of about 10 miles, is lined with temporary 40mph signs. They've been there for four years. A notice says "Speed limit for safety reasons", but nobody seems to know what the safety reasons are. So a four-lane road that used to be safe for dense HGV traffic at 70mph is now unsafe for light local traffic above 40mph.
It’s because it floods in heavy rain. Someone was killed hitting deep water and loosing control at speed. The local council now has ownership of the road and are still trying to make a plan of fixing the flooding issue.
@@welshwizard645 That is why that restriction is in place. The M road alone wouldn't be a health risk, nor really is a modern airport alone. The combination is the problem, so they fixed it.
The 40 mph stretch is nothing like 10 miles, more like three. The reason for the speed restriction is the decrepit safety barriers and initially, handover works prior to the road being passed from the Highways Agency to Cambridgeshire CC to maintain.
I remember visiting Huntingdon in 2021 and travelling under the overhanging bit of the viaduct, hoping it wouldn’t collapse until I got past! Great video as usual ❤
It wasn’t just a bridge, it was one of the few bridges with apart from being huge was also spanning a road and rail i was told one of only three like it in the country, the huge crane used was itself an astounding piece of engineering let alone the removal of the span, it’s made a huge difference to the local roads and noise, Money well spent
I used to live around huntingdon and still visit occasionally, as an infrastructure nerd I liked the bridge and having a huge bridge over the station felt really impressive. But i have to admit the area is a lot nicer now afterwards. it's also interesting seeing how far in advance these are filmed knowing what the area looks like today.
minor pedantic point, when the Huntingdon bypass opened in 1979 it was part of A604, as was the rest of the route to A6 at Kettering A14 as we know it today came in the early 90s, and the main reason for the new bypass was to fix the bodge at Girton (a little way to the south), where all through traffic going east to west had to make a sharp right turn onto the ex-A604 via a 270 degree bend on a cloverleaf junction; the new bypass not just gets rid of that nasty junction, but is a more direct route to A1 and points west, and is a vast improvement all round
The A14 at Girton was previously the A604 and before that it was the A45. The A45 went on to St Neots and was going to go further as a new road, to eventually meet The M1. Hence the rather poor right turn at Girton came about when they changed their mind. The A45 at that point was changed to the A604, the existing number of the bit to the A1 beyond Huntingdon and the remaining bit, to St Neots called the A45, became the A428. Then they decided to build the section from the A1 to the M1/M6 junction and then the whole lot from Felixstowe became the A14, which was previously Ermine St from Royston to Huntingdon, that became the A1198, are you still with me? To be fair the flyover at Huntingdon was fucked, I remember standing on one side (closed for roadworks) while trucks roared by on the other and it bounced up and down! It needed taking down before it fell down, on the railway. Now they are upgrading the A428 to the A421 at the Black Cat roundabout and it will probably be that or something else, all the way to the M1 🙄. As you might have guessed, I've lived near it before it was even there.
I remember that 270° slip road. Saw a lorry topple over a few cars in front once. We managed to get past it but my mate a mile or so behind me got stuck for hours and hours
@@Rabchog I think a little bit later than that. I left London and moved to St Neots in 1978. We then moved to St Ives in 1980. I remember driving to Cambridge when it was a three lane road.
A blast from the past. 35-25 years ago I owned a house at nearby Brampton and worked at RAF Brampton for 3. On Google Maps they are almost unrecognisable - so much change. I shopped in Huntingdon and can still remember the bridge; the road was a noisy intrusion that seemed to contaminate the area and I can see the change as all for the better.
I noticed that and I assume that they didn’t compact the embankments sufficiently. I would like to think that it’s covered in snagging warranty work but who knows.
@@robinwells8879 It all depends on what the contracts are like. There is no standard warranty on commercial projects, that is all determined per job. There are legal requirements of course, but responsibility and liability can be set in a contract. It is very likely the government will have it surveyed to determine the cause of the issue. That will show how far the final product differs from what was agreed on and what was in the plans. Either the contractor fixes it or they're likely taken to court.
Love the cutaway at 3:15 😂 And all for 'nothing'. Literally! Cracking bit there, Jon. It's moments like these that make your midweek videos worth a watch too
It was nicely done, except that the script ruined the joke. He'd explained at length that, with the rerouting of the A14, there was no need for the bridge any more. The video title talks about removing, rather than replacing it. So I was mostly wondering why he said we'd be wondering what would be built to replace it. He'd already told us.
I've spent far too many hours of my life queueing on that sodding flyover in both directions so I'm pleased it's gone, and Huntingdon centre must be SO much better now. Thanks to a little medical problem I missed the closing of that stretch of road and the opening of the new bypass bypass. Must go drive it. Nice one as ever, Jon.
I helped! Was hired out to mammoet for a few days once the bridge had been split in half and the Eastern side was moved back. All I was doing was moving various equipment from one side of the site to the other. Was interesting to look at how they were removing it while it straddled a major road and railway.
I remember the bridge being built. As your graphic shows, it had a solid arched section each side balanced on a pier, and the gap between them was filled with a row of prestressed concrete beams that were quickly lifted into position. A (possibly) novel feature was that the solid sections were built away from the road and rail crossing and then slid forwards each other into position so that closure times of the East Cost railway line and Brampton road were minimised. Whether or not this design feature had a bearing (sorry) on the weakness of the bridge it did come in handy when it was reversed for the demolition. As with many novel designs they got the difficult bit right but the simple bit ...
I live in Ramsey, just near Huntingdon. It's not too bad with the bridge gone and the bridge was prone to bridge strikes from moronic HGV and Van drivers failing to observe the low bridge warnings. The old A14 is actually great as it still acts as a connecting and relief road for all the villages and the town itself too. It's a good overnight diversion route for the A14 too
@@rkyadius Ah yes, I think that that was the bit that went from Huntingdon up to the A1(M) North. There was also an A604(M) somewhere too, may be the same stretch.
@@rkyadius My favourite part of the old A45 where were it went down to 1 lane in total through St Neots. There were HGVs from the Midlands Europe bound queueing at the bottleneck to get through. Then there was the Cambridge bypass, now A14, the teased you with a 3-lane dual carriageway, then a 2 lane dual carriageway as you went past the A11 turn off, then a whole load of disappointment as it went to single carriageway all the way to Northampton. I don't think that the A604 was much better.
I remember ordering a burger inside the Megatron on a computer screen around 20 years ago - you could even customise the burger contents via the screen. Only more recently have the big franchise burger outlets introduced this capability.
From what I've heard, after they'd done all that metal work underneath the bridge someone crashed into it in a lorry, presumably because the height had been substantially reduced. The bridge was then closed down due to damage and I don't think it ever opened again.
I'm a lorry driver and have noticed a marked increase in puncture related breakdowns over the last decade or so. I put it down to the fadion for "sporty" SUV type cars that tend to have alloy wheels and low profile tyres which seem to have a tendency to act like a balloon that has been introduced to a pin when it comes to air retention.
Back of an envelope calculation but £46,000,000 is cheaper than paying compensation and loss of earnings to the treasury for say, 10 people killed when the bridge goes down. (For reference, the Grenfell Tower Fire Enquiry so far costs £1.2 billion for 72 dead plus wounded... about £8,000,000 for each of 150 people.)
I live in Huntingdon and its not too bad outside of rush hour, although it would be nice to have something other than a massive tarmac junction outside the station
The other factor for why the removal of the A14 viaduct was so necessary was that the original road was built to link the M11 with the A1, which it did; the A604 however ran east to west, TOTSO'ing at the junction just to the north-west of Huntingdon, and this traffic increased when the *main* east-west route to Felixstowe was re-routed via Kettering and Huntingdon in the early 90s. Before this, the A604 west of Huntingdon was a two-lane road and traffic from Birmingham to East Anglia went via Bedford on the A428. So, it was carrying two trunk routes and was choked with traffic. The original A14 upgrade was done on the cheap, with that ridiculous multi-roundabout junction at Catthorpe where you had to drive down a bit of a local road to get from the A14 to the M6, and the bit through Huntingdon was another part of that false economy.
Not sure about nowadays, but a rule of thumb was that every notable piece of motorway built would add 0.1% to GDP the moment it opened. So, expensive to construct, financially insolvent to maintain, costly to demolish, but economically well worth it. Nowadays I don't know. With more people able to work from home, and Internet in general, there's less need for more people to travel as part of their job and go meet people, though lorry traffic is probably increasing. Interestingly, East West Rail seems to be more about freight, passenger traffic being a secondary benefit.
The old A14 between Spittles interchange (just north of Huntingdon)and Bar Hill was a complete nightmare, having driven along the de classified A14, I can imagine the surrounding areas of Huntingdon etc is so much quieter for locals.
I was born in Huntingdon and went there regularly for audiology appointments for two decades - there would be traffic jams nearly all the time. I would dread having to go there because of the traffic. However, soon after I got my driver's licence last year and drove through Huntingdon for the first time and I was surprised by how incredibly smooth and quick the roads were. Nothing like how I remembered it. As you say at 3:36, the non-solution to the lack of viaduct isn't much of an issue because of circumstances elsewhere.
Except that the joke was ruined as he'd already spent most of the video explaining how the bridge was both redundant and broken, and the video title talked about the cost of removing, rather than replacing it. If you didn't see "nothing" coming, you weren't actually paying attention.
It’s an improvement apart from the fact that now all the traffic now goes through Huntingdon again. So good luck trying to get anywhere around 5pm! Also the new a14 has cut off some villages and the next town (st Ives) and there’s no way to get on or off it in these places
Hi John, I hope youre having a good week. I live near Huntingdon and it appears the new road layout works fine. The new rowd sends so much traffic away the local roads can handle it
You should do a video dedicated to this new A14. It was meant to be the A14(M) but to open it a few weeks earlier they decided not to make it a motorway. This was a really pointless thing IMO and required entirely new legislation to be implemented to enable an A road to have a variable speed limit, which this section of the A14 does. For some time after it opened it had "CAMERA NOT IN USE" signs under every gantry because the cameras weren't switched on. Kind of defeats the point of even having a camera as a detterent if you ask me if people know its not working.
I learnt to drive on that stretch of the A14. It was terrifying. The new A14 means there's now a bunch of local roads so you can get between the villages without having to use the massive dual carriageway. When the A14 was still referred to as the A604 A1 M1 link road, my mum always used to complain that it was impossibke to get anywhere without messing with all the traffic & if only they would build some local roads. 30 years later they did just that
I live just east of Huntingdon and these changes have undoubtedly made getting to the station easier. Jump onto the old A14 (now A1307) at St Ives and boom, 5mins later your at Huntingdon station. However, if you want to go further and join the A1 as I often do, you now need to negotiate these 'bolt ons' to local roads, which do cause congestion around Hinchingbrooke area. The alternative is go round the north of Huntingdon via Houghton, or back track and head south west via Swavesey and pick up the 'new' A14 junction to go north to Peterborough, neither is ideal, but that's progress.
Never been to Huntingdon itself, but I really like the new A14 upgrade. It was finished early, under budget and brings a massive amount to much needed capacity to an important yet overburdened road. My only nitpick is that they didn't give it full motorway status as the A14(M) since it's built to a better standard than many older motorways. I sure don't miss the tailbacks over the old viaduct.
It’s the A14(M) in all but name. IIRC it was planned to be the A14(M), but it was ready before all the new (M) legislation was finished, so they continued without it. It’s funny though, because when you join it, there’s a massive sign with all manner of traffic restrictions, making it akin to an actual motorway
@@jordank195 Yeah that would make sense. It'd be nice if they could upgrade the Brampton to Catthorpe stretch to motorway standard and then make it one continuous blue A14(M) to Cambridge that links up neatly with the A1(M), M1 and M6. And while I'm busy dreaming the A1 through Bedfordshire is also overdue for an upgrade so there can be an unbroken London-Peterborough motorway.
It seems odd that a bridge demolition can take from as little as 30 hours (a weekend closure) to a couple of years. Obviously, they should avoid closing the road as much as possible hence why they don't close the Midland Mainline for six months to electrify the rail from Kettering to Wigston (23 mile section just south of Leicester) and instead keep it open on weekdays and close it on some weekends/nights. Speaking of which, demolishing a bridge over a railway that has the overhead wires (OLE) is even more difficult and disruptive which is the case here over the East Coast Main Line. The ECML is really busy and contains the fast LNER and Thameslink trains going as fast as 140 mph.
Living nearby its a massive improvement! Having all traffic go round instead through Huntingdon makes much more sense. Just a shame it was already falling apart and they couldnt use it for a living bridge or viewing platform given its so flat around here!
Living in Huntingdon as they were building this. This has definitely helped as there use to be a huge amount of congestion at the Brampton hut roundabout and roundabout following due to traffic just trying to pass on the A14. Now all this East West traffic can flow without any roundabout, congestion is a lot better. Also, the hospital and school use to suffer from a single way in and out, but connecting up the old road next to it has definitely helped that too. Overall, it’s definitely an improvement that isn’t without its quirks
... Do you know Jesus Christ can set you free from sins and save you from hell today Jesus Christ is the only hope in this world no other gods will lead you to heaven There is no security or hope with out Jesus Christ in this world come and repent of all sins today Today is the day of salvation come to the loving savior Today repent and do not go to hell Come to Jesus Christ today Jesus Christ is only way to heaven Repent and follow him today seek his heart Jesus Christ can fill the emptiness he can fill the void Heaven and hell is real cone to the loving savior today Today is the day of salvation tomorrow might be to late come to the loving savior today Romans 6.23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. John 3:16-21 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God. Mark 1.15 15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel. 2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Hebrews 11:6 6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Jesus
You truly deliver a much more accurate representation of the real history of our roadways than any national or local (We know they have political bias) authority ever could or would! Greatly appreciated John!
What I like about Jon on these videos is that he is not a total, 100%, mental Clarkson-like, petrol-head and does taken in wider social and environmental concerns.
I live nearby and it has upsides and downsides ditching the viaduct, biggest benefit is it makes access to the train station and hospital a lot easier as it's off the old A14 instead of having to go through the town proper. However it also makes it more of a pain to get to the northern or western side of the town, I end up on the new A14/A1 then coming back in from the west. Travelling through it the decision to whack a random roundabout on what's currently a left turn is a bit odd though, I presume something (probably houses) will get built off that eventually. Plus the routing between the station and the hospital is "fiddly" at best. The more annoying thing about the whole scheme is the 40mph speed limit on the dual carriageway approach to the old viaduct, it's done with temporary speed limit signs, but has been like that for best part of 4 years now, so they're starting to feel pretty permanent. Oh and side topic, the fact you can't head eastbound onto, or come off westbound from the new A14 at the Wood Green junction to the south of all this is a bizarre farce. If you want to go to Cambridge from Huntingdon, it's back down the old road.
I live in Huntingdon, the new bypass has helped it's made the town less of a bottleneck for many years it was a nightmare to go 20 miles to Cambridge some days would take 1 hour it was worse than driving in London and if there was an RTC it was even worse. As a driver its more simple to go around town even avoiding the ring road at some points to get to places like coming from Brampton going towards hartford you no longer need to go around the ring road you go up to the next left turning on the A1307 and go through the town centre on the 1 way street. Saving minutes and less stop start with the traffic lights.
Thanks for this,in 77 78 i used to come up the A10 and past the water tower up to the a1 via the american airbase but these last few years i was really confused as now everythibg is different,youve cleared it all up in a way i couldnt understand by going on google maps and trying to get my head round where the flyover was and the strange new road layout thats there now in its place
As you pointed out, the bridge was crumbling, and existing weight restrictions were only to have become more restrictive to the "heavy" lorries that use this important road link. The new bypass has much less negative affects on the town and a good opportunity to retire the bridge before it collapsed.
I have a suggestion for a video if you're interested. The Kingskerswell bypass in South Devon, just outside of Newton Abbott. It took many years of planning to get it done, I do believe they started in the 90's to start and get it through. It was completed a few years ago. It's a good piece of engineering as it involves a flyover over a railway and a busy roundabout.
I do miss the A14 flyover. It was so mesmerising before the new A14 bypass was built to take traffic away from Huntingdon. But it guess it looks lot better now than it was before.
.. Do you know Jesus Christ can set you free from sins and save you from hell today Jesus Christ is the only hope in this world no other gods will lead you to heaven There is no security or hope with out Jesus Christ in this world come and repent of all sins today Today is the day of salvation come to the loving savior Today repent and do not go to hell Come to Jesus Christ today Jesus Christ is only way to heaven Repent and follow him today seek his heart Jesus Christ can fill the emptiness he can fill the void Heaven and hell is real cone to the loving savior today Today is the day of salvation tomorrow might be to late come to the loving savior today Romans 6.23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. John 3:16-21 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God. Mark 1.15 15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel. 2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Hebrews 11:6 6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Jesus
Quite unusually for this sort of thing it's a massive improvement. Even the old bits of the A14 are now basically an express lane almost right up to the train station (outisde of rush hour). Before all of this there wasn't an exit and you'd have to drive through slower, more residential roads to get there.
Call Sidney Central engineer would sure that the build the structure was checked periodically for things like rust except a course in the USA where they wait until the structure falls over to to do replacement
A side effect will to be stopping as much traffic using the old A14 infrastructure as a rat-run through huntingdon. I expect part of the cost of removal was the requirement to keep the railway line operational pretty much throughout. It is the east coast main line after all.
Having lived in The Huntingdon area for the last 25 years I can only say that the A14 "Upgrade" is only that in name. While the benefits to the town are very apparent the rest of the upgrade is a horrendous piece of planning (or lack thereof). Now, to go south on the A1 from the westbound A14 you have to leave the A14 and join the northbound A1 At Buckden, Travel a mile north to Brampton hut roundabout, then use the roundabout to reverse direction to go back the way you came from to go south. Also to go south on the A1 from the eastbound A14, you now have to negotiate a tight series of extra roundabouts in order to do so. To go north from the A1 onto the eastbound A14 you have to do the same thing round an extra two tight roundabouts which for heavy goods vehicles is not an easy thing to negotiate especially in bad weather at rush hour. These extra roundabouts have already had to be resurfaced due to the wear placed on them by the heavy traffic and has been the site of many accidents since opening in 2017.This could have been easlily avoided by incorperating an extra slip road from the northbound A1 directly on to the eastbound A14 which would bypass the busy Brampton hut roundabout completely and ease a lot of the congestion there. the design of the junctions where the A14 and A1 roads meet, north and south, have also been the site of numourous accdents as four lanes of flowing traffic are funneled into two and in the case of the southbound A1 the traffic joining from brampton Hut has to try to fight its way across the traffic leaving for the A14 at Buckden. It's the worst road plan you can imagine and accidents are all too common! The only benefit to motorists has been to smooth out the transition past Huntingdon for A14 traffic which is now seamless but for the rest, its been a right balls-up!
The fun part is to go from the A14 eastbound, decide you want to stop off at Brampton Hut services for a delicious Wendy's, and then continue your journey eastbound. Good luck finding the A14 again
It annoys me EVERY time I travel to/from Cambridge to Buckden how I have to drive North up the A1 to go back South.and visa versa especially when you can see a nice little ‘service road’ which is for use by.. who knows! 🤨
The new roundabout which was built where the northern end of the viaduct would have joined onto the old a14 is a bit, odd, but I think it opens up opportunities for any development. I visit Huntingdon regularly, traffic is so much better and prevents massive bottlenecks at Brampton Hut services and interchange. Still a bit weird how there is NO DIRECT SOUTHBOUND LINK from A14W to A1S and viseversa for A1N to A14E. Cars have to go up to the "new" Brampton Hut services, navigate the junction and double back. Corners cut...
I left Huntingdon (and the whole country) in 2013 and still haven't been able to see all the changes. But my guess would be that this is an improvement for the town.
Cutting corner always works out for the building company. When the bridge only lasts 30 years instead of 50 to 70 years it is too late to demand compensation.
I grew up near Huntington and a few years back, I got out of the train station and genuinely thought I got out at the wrong station when I couldn't see the viaduct.
we still get loads of older cars coming though HntGdn cos their sat navs haven't updated. The always end up near the train station or in Tesco car oark
I suspect as it was literally falling down in the nineties and had considerable works completed to save it with long term temporary repairs left no options but to remove it. Only the 25+ years delay to the A14 gave it the stay of execution.
Anecdote ‼️alert I bought a new van ( french basically) with sat nav and was travelling from Yorkshire down to The Bury St Edmonds area three years ago and the new bypass which had just opened which I was totally ignorant about and was blindly following the already out of date nav.. The nav guided me off on the old A14 and I must admit I saw the contradiction in the signage! The road simply ran out and was guided off into Huntingdon and the signs were removed or contradictory.. I drove round in circles a couple of times and just stopped at a convenient place. My nav was useless The map out of date .. google not correct and just in the middle of disruption and roadworks.. I have never felt so lost.. In the end I knew I wanted to go east and the Sun was out.. I ignored the signs and headed east till I picked up the Cambridge signs- 😢😅
The removal of an eyesore, noise, and pollution from Huntingdon is undoubtedly an improvement. But what was not clear from the video is that it made a big improvement to traffic on the A14.
The map shown only showed the spur to north of Huntingdon making it look like the road only ran between the M11 and A1(M), but the main line of the A14 turns west to the north of the town to head across country to join the M1 and M6. And because the A14 was made out lots of bits of existing roads it meant to use the mainline traffic has to leave the A14 at Spittals Interchange to use a roundabout to join the A14 (now renumbered as part of the A141). And that only took to another roundabout at the Brampton Hut Interchange with the A1. So the new route not only improved Huntingdon, it also removed those roundabouts and finally made the A14 a freeflowing road all the ways from the edge to Felixstowe to, well, Scotland, as if you do not take any junctions becomes the M6 which becomes the A74(M), which becomes the M74, which takes you onto the M8.
Given the increasing risk of the viaduct collapsing, and it sitting over one of the countries most important rail routes, the cost of leaving it up would have ended up being far worse that the cost of demolition.
And it's not like most of the old road has been dug up or anything, it's just been added to the local network. I would imagine having the traffic further away from the residential areas makes it a lot quieter too? Towns where all you can hear is traffic are a bit oppressive IMO.
..
Do you know Jesus Christ can set you free from sins and save you from hell today
Jesus Christ is the only hope in this world no other gods will lead you to heaven
There is no security or hope with out Jesus Christ in this world come and repent of all sins today
Today is the day of salvation come to the loving savior Today repent and do not go to hell
Come to Jesus Christ today
Jesus Christ is only way to heaven
Repent and follow him today seek his heart Jesus Christ can fill the emptiness he can fill the void
Heaven and hell is real cone to the loving savior today
Today is the day of salvation tomorrow might be to late come to the loving savior today
Romans 6.23
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
John 3:16-21
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
Mark 1.15
15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.
2 Peter 3:9
The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
Hebrews 11:6
6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Jesus
Thanks Rebeka for an extremely informative comment. In particular the point that the viaduct crossed the East Coast Main Line should have been stressed in the original video. Before 2020 I occasionally used Huntingdon station, just south of the viaduct. The removal of this viaduct must have considerably improved the environment for waiting passengers.
`I second this. It's been a big improvement. It also provides a very quick and easy way in and out of Huntingdon and the station that doesn't involve the ring road.
Your combination of humor, realism AND cynicism is refreshing.
☮
Cynicism doesn't fix the problems
@@nathansmith7153 I never said it did.
But cynicism opens your mind to potential problems to then fix those problems.
Blind trust is never a good thing.
☮
@@nathansmith7153^ why i don’t really like this channel much tbh
...
Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Come to Jesus Christ today
Jesus Christ is only way to heaven
Repent and follow him today seek his heart Jesus Christ can fill the emptiness he can fill the void
Heaven and hell is real cone to the loving savior today
Today is the day of salvation tomorrow might be to late come to the loving savior today
John 3:16-21
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
Mark 1.15
15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.
2 Peter 3:9
The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
Hebrews 11:6
6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Jesus
As someone who used to regularly commute over that bridge I’m glad I didn’t know then what I know now!
You could have had a "Genoa moment". 😐
Oh, dear. The road has collapsed.
I suspect the 40mph bridge over the Ouse a minute down the road has the same problem?
@@iwantagoodnamepleasegood question. I suspect that the Cambridgeshire council are just looking to make a mint from speeding penalties.
@@bfapple Imagine if some government came along, and required speed limits to be set within 5mph of the original design specification of the road (as in: The speed the road is designed to be ran at based on lane width, etc). Solve a LOT of problems with BS speed limit posting, without physical design changes to the road to ensure drivers are going to naturally trend towards the desired safe speed.
Would actually lead to safer roads... something about people don't do what is legal, they do what feels right.
It wasn't just the pollution from the vehicles it was also the noise as the road was so high up. Getting rid of a 1960s mistake is money well spent for the town. The whole area around the station is vastly better. The error was surely making the new bit of the A1 not a motorway as if they ever do the A1(M) missing bits it will need rebuilding again.
I doubt they ever will do the A1(M) missing bits - the A14 was built to motorway standards, just not made a motorway, so there's little point them doing the same for other bits of road.
I do remember the noise for sure. Even from the part of high street where Waitrose was, it was still apparent.
@@jamwil200 I think @ADAMEDWARDS17 is referring to the section of A1 that was rebuilt between where it is joined by the new A14 and the A1(M) at Alconbury. Though I am sure the reason it, and the new section of A14, were not legally designated as motorways is because of the lack of a hard shoulder. Smart motorways were already controversial by the time of it all opening, so easiest to do nothing and despite it being no safer as an A-road. And both of those roads are effectively motorways but for the legal definition and colour of the sign, as restrictions have been placed on them equivalent to those that apply to motorways, hence needing half a dozen restriction signs on the slip roads.
And this secret motorway stuff is something I hate having started out by riding on a motorcycle on a CBT, which prohibits riding on motorways. If you judge by a map or rouet planning software there is no way of knowing you are not allowed on it until you reach those signs. And with my parents living in Lincolnshire this was a route I would use, getting to Alconbury via either the A1 directly or via Huntingdon on the A10 and A1198.
@@Rebecka_J I am aware that that is the section of A1 being referred to. At the time of opening, from my understanding, government policy was to not build hard shoulders on any roads, motorways or not. I have heard that the A14 was due to be made a motorway but they couldn't get the approval through before they needed the signs made due to civil servants being caught up with brexit.
I live in Huntingdon. This over pass was literally collapsing, it would have been more expensive to replace it. With the A14 being rerouted to the south it made perfect sense.
Yep, I remember when lumps of concrete started falling off it. The A14 upgrade had been in the pipeline for decades (CHUMMS being one of the early studies) but was shelved for a long time. I left before the upgrade was delivered, but have seen it since and it’s a huge improvement. I don’t miss taking an hour to drive from Huntingdon to Cambridge in the am peak.
I travel to work by train going north through Huntingdon. One morning a few years back there was a problem north of Huntingdon and our train terminated. The train company arranged taxis to get us to Peterborough but we would need to wait for them to arrive. It was raining so we all sheltered under the viaduct. However, we had to be careful where we stood as water was dripping down from it in various places.
let us know in a few years when busineses start closing down and leaving. we have a long history of bypassing roads here in america and the locations often turn into a ghost town following a couple decades.
@@geronimo5537 this is not like that as the old road just passed above Huntingdon on a flyover so it brought very little passing trade to the town.
That reminds me; I must grout those kitchen tiles I put up. It's been 14 years now, adhesive should be dry enough.
Check the walls behind them for rust first.
Yeah, this video captures all the main points.
One thing to note is that the original western bypass of Huntingdon was to relieve pressure not only on the centres of Huntingdon and Godmanchester but also on the tiny mediaeval bridge over the river Ouse.
Another is that, when the then-A604 was built, it was never intended that all the Felixstowe to Birmingham road freight would be routed along it. It only later became part of the A14.
The new A14 has basically sorted things out. The one pinch point is the bridge over the railway line; I wouldn't be surprised to see plans for a new bridge between the Views Common roundabout and Edith Bell Way some year soon...
I used to live in Huntingdon and remember the day the new A14 opened and the viaduct was no longer in use. I lived just off the ring road in the town centre and the lack of noise pollution was noticeable, you could actually hear the trains leaving the station.
I wonder what this has done for house prices within audible distances of the old A14!
As a truck driver in the mid 80s I can remember having to slow down for the joints in the bridge because they were so un- even , it used to give you a real jolt in the seat , bouncing the truck as you crossed over . Horrible bit of road , ok if you knew it was coming as you could lift off your seat in readiness as the truck bottomed out on the suspension 😂
It must have been bad for you to remember this
I can so relate to your comment when I used to drive Commer truck in a faraway country, maybe so severe as your bridge.
Different jolt with loaded or unloaded on flat deck, 1980s. Front wheels right under your bum. Used to drive Commer and Thames Trader vans as well.
With the Thames Trader, if I braked too hard, with no load, always thought the back end was going lift off the ground.
Wonder if the Chinese could have done a better job building it and cheaper.
it was interesting to watch as I work at the station, I has really made a difference traffic wise no where near as much. The huge cost was due to the crane equipment that was required had to come from Germany as nothing in the UK could lift it
Dutch company actually. Mammoet meaning mammoth. One sees their red lifting gear with the mammouth logo all over nowadays. They were heavily involved in the A14 work where the Bar Hill bridges were constructed a few hundred yards down the road and lifted into position fully made.
Wouldn't that happen anyway. The new road is way better than the old A14/A604. I would have considered making the road still closed, so traffic couldn't take the A141 link, but it was openable again in case they needed to work on the new A14
@@paulscottrobson the bridge was life expired and decaying, it had to come down.
@@Rabchog So it was one of those things where they'd have to spend a lot of money either way, taking it down or repairing it ? Fair dos.
Paying Network Rail for possessions doesn't come cheap, someone has to pay for RBS's.
I live very close to Huntingdon and use this route very often. Getting rid of the nasty viaduct is a good thing, and the old A14, despite the silly 40mph limit, that everyone ignores (apart from myself obviously - for any police people reading this) is nice to drive on and relatively traffic free for local journeys.
I used to live in Huntingdon (that bridge was owned by the Highways Agency btw, not the Council, so the strengthening works didn’t cost CCC money directly) but traffic was an absolute nightmare, all the time. I was also a Traffic/Project Engineer covering west division for about a decade. The WTC Link Road (north of the railway station, shown in your video, and which was built by Cambridgeshire County Council) relieved some of the traffic on the ring road but the strengthening of that viaduct in the mid 2010s brought with it a necessary height restriction on the B1514 from Brampton into Huntingdon (a route from the A1) which meant overheights had to use Spittals Interchange, which was already disastrously congested, and the A141 northern bypass (going through Godmanchester wasn’t an option because of the weight restriction on the bridge into Huntingdon). I’ve driven through the area since it’s gone, the whole area is much quieter now, it’s like chalk and cheese. I never really noticed air quality being an issue, but remember people visiting me who didn’t live there always remarked to me about the constant sound of traffic, especially in the evenings when local traffic and activity in general had reduced. It was a constant, distant background noise, but I actually found it quite relaxing.
let us know in a few years when busineses start closing down and leaving. we have a long history of bypassing roads here in america and the locations often turn into a ghost town following a couple decades.
I drive through the other day for the first time since the viaduct came down: it's such an improvement!
I’m so glad I found this video. I started truck driving in 2023 and the maps were not updated as of that time so naturally, I was taken down the old A4 straight up to that roundabout you see in the video only to find weight restriction and a road that no longer exists. 😂 it was a nightmare as it was my first week on the job and I’m from the south east so nowhere near this area and didn’t know where to go.
Yes. Outdated maps is a big pain
Living in Huntingdon, i do believe removing that viaduct has made the area look a lot nicer and a bit quieter but not worth the money. Traffic is only affected when the A14 is closed but apart from that I think it was good.
The lack of a bridge confused the shit out of me the first time I was travelling back West on what I thought was the A14. I don't go that far along it very often and it had been about two years.
I moved from Huntingdon late last year, and it was a bloody nightmare getting the bridge down. The former A14 it carried, now the A1307 has been 40mph from the train station to Godmanchester for years and that drives the locals nuts.
After listening to the locals complaints about the speed limit apparently the highways department decided that the whole of the A1307 should 40mph and have apparently done just that!
The other damage causing issue with the bridge was overheight HGVs despite the many warnings slamming into it further reducing the stability of the joints.
Its crazy that you have a 60mph road where it is just enough to fit a car and is very windy, and a 40 mph dual carriageway where it feels like your walking. It feels wrong to do 40 but its the legal thing to do. I think the speed limit on single carriageways should go down to 50mph since France did just that and it's also been done on the A140 between Norwich and Ipswich and the road from Boston to Skegness.
@@annabelholland your a bot from the speed campaign lobby
It was crashed into many a time. I witness a few of them in my days of using the route.
All the way back to Cambridge Services ?
@paulscottrobson just after shell fenstanton
The other benefit of the new Huntingdon bypass bypass is that you don't have to turn off the A14 at a roundabout junction to stay on the A14 and then go round another roundabout junction to go under the A1(M), so by reducing a lot of stop-start traffic, it would have reduced air pollution.
The A14/A45/A604 alone could warrant a series of videos.
I think with the M1 J19 improvements (although lacking two junctions) and the A14 improvements it’s now a fairly good road with so much pollution reduction. 3 disastrous roundabouts and choke points gone.
@@michaelcoles6140
Yes, it was down to 1 lane going from the M6 to the A14, under the M1.
I think that junction is back to its original state of being a rural road.
Indeed, Spittals Interchange was an anomaly in that three exits served the A14 and to continue on the same route, as you say, you had to exit and then rejoin via a signalised roundabout which was always congested af during peak hours, otherwise you ended up on the A1(M), an excellent section of road that was designed with far more capacity than it would ever need.
@@michaelcoles6140 Whoever designed the original Catthorpe interchange needs locking up, that had to be the worst junction in the country.
Removing the viaduct and repurposing bits of the old A14 has improved nearby parts of Huntingdon and made access to the station easier.
For some incomprehensible reason, the A1307 (formerly A14) from Huntingdon to Swavesey, a distance of about 10 miles, is lined with temporary 40mph signs. They've been there for four years. A notice says "Speed limit for safety reasons", but nobody seems to know what the safety reasons are. So a four-lane road that used to be safe for dense HGV traffic at 70mph is now unsafe for light local traffic above 40mph.
You think that is bad. the M4 between Heston Services and the M25 has 60 MPH limits for 'Air Quality' - this is the bit adjacent to Heathrow.....
It’s because it floods in heavy rain. Someone was killed hitting deep water and loosing control at speed. The local council now has ownership of the road and are still trying to make a plan of fixing the flooding issue.
@@welshwizard645 That is why that restriction is in place. The M road alone wouldn't be a health risk, nor really is a modern airport alone. The combination is the problem, so they fixed it.
The 40 mph stretch is nothing like 10 miles, more like three. The reason for the speed restriction is the decrepit safety barriers and initially, handover works prior to the road being passed from the Highways Agency to Cambridgeshire CC to maintain.
"Speed limit for safety reasons"
So... just like all speed limits, then?
I remember visiting Huntingdon in 2021 and travelling under the overhanging bit of the viaduct, hoping it wouldn’t collapse until I got past! Great video as usual ❤
John, you always make me smile. Even when taxes are being used, misused, etc.
Thank you.
It wasn’t just a bridge, it was one of the few bridges with apart from being huge was also spanning a road and rail i was told one of only three like it in the country, the huge crane used was itself an astounding piece of engineering let alone the removal of the span, it’s made a huge difference to the local roads and noise, Money well spent
I used to live around huntingdon and still visit occasionally, as an infrastructure nerd I liked the bridge and having a huge bridge over the station felt really impressive. But i have to admit the area is a lot nicer now afterwards. it's also interesting seeing how far in advance these are filmed knowing what the area looks like today.
I like this video so I pressed the button specifically for that 👉🏻
I liked this comment so I pressed the button specifically for that 👍
I like this comment so I pressed the button specifically for that
Me three 😁
Me four
Actually, this government loves to waste OUR money, and Rishi Sunak has fucked us over more than most politicians.
minor pedantic point, when the Huntingdon bypass opened in 1979 it was part of A604, as was the rest of the route to A6 at Kettering
A14 as we know it today came in the early 90s, and the main reason for the new bypass was to fix the bodge at Girton (a little way to the south), where all through traffic going east to west had to make a sharp right turn onto the ex-A604 via a 270 degree bend on a cloverleaf junction; the new bypass not just gets rid of that nasty junction, but is a more direct route to A1 and points west, and is a vast improvement all round
The A14 at Girton was previously the A604 and before that it was the A45. The A45 went on to St Neots and was going to go further as a new road, to eventually meet The M1. Hence the rather poor right turn at Girton came about when they changed their mind. The A45 at that point was changed to the A604, the existing number of the bit to the A1 beyond Huntingdon and the remaining bit, to St Neots called the A45, became the A428. Then they decided to build the section from the A1 to the M1/M6 junction and then the whole lot from Felixstowe became the A14, which was previously Ermine St from Royston to Huntingdon, that became the A1198, are you still with me?
To be fair the flyover at Huntingdon was fucked, I remember standing on one side (closed for roadworks) while trucks roared by on the other and it bounced up and down! It needed taking down before it fell down, on the railway. Now they are upgrading the A428 to the A421 at the Black Cat roundabout and it will probably be that or something else, all the way to the M1 🙄. As you might have guessed, I've lived near it before it was even there.
In the late '60s/early '70s the A604 was a three-lane (total - not each direction) death trap.
@@frogandspanner I remember it well 😬
Lane each way and suicide lane up the middle. Dualled about 1977/78
I remember that 270° slip road. Saw a lorry topple over a few cars in front once. We managed to get past it but my mate a mile or so behind me got stuck for hours and hours
@@Rabchog I think a little bit later than that. I left London and moved to St Neots in 1978. We then moved to St Ives in 1980. I remember driving to Cambridge when it was a three lane road.
A blast from the past. 35-25 years ago I owned a house at nearby Brampton and worked at RAF Brampton for 3. On Google Maps they are almost unrecognisable - so much change. I shopped in Huntingdon and can still remember the bridge; the road was a noisy intrusion that seemed to contaminate the area and I can see the change as all for the better.
Thank you for brightening my Wednesday 🙂🖐
And now all the new bridges on the A14 are sinking or the land at the ends of the bridges are sinking 🤦♂️ 1.5billion new problem.
It's so bad in places. When I'm towing my trailer, I have to slow right down to 40 to go over the sinking sections.
I noticed that and I assume that they didn’t compact the embankments sufficiently. I would like to think that it’s covered in snagging warranty work but who knows.
@@robinwells8879 "snagging warranty" 🤣🤣🤣🤣 I bet the contractor will be wriggling out of that!
Bridge north of Hilton is the new casualty, with ramp warning signs and bumps that are gradually getting worse.
@@robinwells8879 It all depends on what the contracts are like. There is no standard warranty on commercial projects, that is all determined per job. There are legal requirements of course, but responsibility and liability can be set in a contract.
It is very likely the government will have it surveyed to determine the cause of the issue. That will show how far the final product differs from what was agreed on and what was in the plans. Either the contractor fixes it or they're likely taken to court.
These are so addicting to binge watch. Keep it up!
Thanks a lot mate, appreciate it!
Love the cutaway at 3:15 😂 And all for 'nothing'. Literally! Cracking bit there, Jon. It's moments like these that make your midweek videos worth a watch too
It was nicely done, except that the script ruined the joke. He'd explained at length that, with the rerouting of the A14, there was no need for the bridge any more. The video title talks about removing, rather than replacing it. So I was mostly wondering why he said we'd be wondering what would be built to replace it. He'd already told us.
I've spent far too many hours of my life queueing on that sodding flyover in both directions so I'm pleased it's gone, and Huntingdon centre must be SO much better now. Thanks to a little medical problem I missed the closing of that stretch of road and the opening of the new bypass bypass. Must go drive it. Nice one as ever, Jon.
I lived in Huntingdon for most of the work. A pain to live through it, but it does make it better.
Informative as usual. Very pleasantly distracted in your nice new motorway sign on your studio set😊
I helped! Was hired out to mammoet for a few days once the bridge had been split in half and the Eastern side was moved back. All I was doing was moving various equipment from one side of the site to the other. Was interesting to look at how they were removing it while it straddled a major road and railway.
I remember the bridge being built. As your graphic shows, it had a solid arched section each side balanced on a pier, and the gap between them was filled with a row of prestressed concrete beams that were quickly lifted into position. A (possibly) novel feature was that the solid sections were built away from the road and rail crossing and then slid forwards each other into position so that closure times of the East Cost railway line and Brampton road were minimised. Whether or not this design feature had a bearing (sorry) on the weakness of the bridge it did come in handy when it was reversed for the demolition. As with many novel designs they got the difficult bit right but the simple bit ...
I live in Ramsey, just near Huntingdon. It's not too bad with the bridge gone and the bridge was prone to bridge strikes from moronic HGV and Van drivers failing to observe the low bridge warnings.
The old A14 is actually great as it still acts as a connecting and relief road for all the villages and the town itself too. It's a good overnight diversion route for the A14 too
Another fantastic and informative video Jon.
Hey John could you make a video about the A14?
I was just thinking that the A14/A45/A604 could warrant a series of videos.
The road(s) you love to hate.
@@lewis72 and the A14(M) secret motorway
@@rkyadius
Ah yes, I think that that was the bit that went from Huntingdon up to the A1(M) North.
There was also an A604(M) somewhere too, may be the same stretch.
@@lewis72 A14(M) A604(M) and A1307(M) are all technically that one bit of slip road that joins the A1(M) north
@@rkyadius
My favourite part of the old A45 where were it went down to 1 lane in total through St Neots.
There were HGVs from the Midlands Europe bound queueing at the bottleneck to get through.
Then there was the Cambridge bypass, now A14, the teased you with a 3-lane dual carriageway, then a 2 lane dual carriageway as you went past the A11 turn off, then a whole load of disappointment as it went to single carriageway all the way to Northampton.
I don't think that the A604 was much better.
Remembering nearby at Alconbury on the A14 there was a McDonald's building that looked like a ufo
That would make a good video that John The Alconbury UFO Not too far away from Former PM John Major's home ... Odd that !
it was a restaurant called Megatron! it was then turned into a Maccies later on and closed around 2007 i think
I remember that McDonald's as well.
I remember the Megatron. 😎
I remember ordering a burger inside the Megatron on a computer screen around 20 years ago - you could even customise the burger contents via the screen.
Only more recently have the big franchise burger outlets introduced this capability.
From what I've heard, after they'd done all that metal work underneath the bridge someone crashed into it in a lorry, presumably because the height had been substantially reduced. The bridge was then closed down due to damage and I don't think it ever opened again.
the new A14 is an absolute tyre shredder, never seen so many blown tyres at the side of the road!
All large roads often have tyres at the side or leaning up the centeral reservation - especially the M1
I've only been in the new A14 about 2 times and that's from GODMANCHESTER to the A1 lol
I'm a lorry driver and have noticed a marked increase in puncture related breakdowns over the last decade or so. I put it down to the fadion for "sporty" SUV type cars that tend to have alloy wheels and low profile tyres which seem to have a tendency to act like a balloon that has been introduced to a pin when it comes to air retention.
Back of an envelope calculation but £46,000,000 is cheaper than paying compensation and loss of earnings to the treasury for say, 10 people killed when the bridge goes down.
(For reference, the Grenfell Tower Fire Enquiry so far costs £1.2 billion for 72 dead plus wounded... about £8,000,000 for each of 150 people.)
considering it would fall onto a mainline railway, it would probably kill a lot more than 10.
@@RGChandler also depending on the time of day, its also a walking route for the local secondary school
I live in Huntingdon and its not too bad outside of rush hour, although it would be nice to have something other than a massive tarmac junction outside the station
Well presented.
The other factor for why the removal of the A14 viaduct was so necessary was that the original road was built to link the M11 with the A1, which it did; the A604 however ran east to west, TOTSO'ing at the junction just to the north-west of Huntingdon, and this traffic increased when the *main* east-west route to Felixstowe was re-routed via Kettering and Huntingdon in the early 90s. Before this, the A604 west of Huntingdon was a two-lane road and traffic from Birmingham to East Anglia went via Bedford on the A428. So, it was carrying two trunk routes and was choked with traffic. The original A14 upgrade was done on the cheap, with that ridiculous multi-roundabout junction at Catthorpe where you had to drive down a bit of a local road to get from the A14 to the M6, and the bit through Huntingdon was another part of that false economy.
TOTSO'ing?
@@KenFullman Turning Off To Stay On.
Remember, car infrastructure is not only expensive to construct, financially insolvent to maintain, it is also extremely costly to demolish.
True, but that is also true for any kind of infrastructure. All large scale infrastructure is expensive.
Pretty much like nuclear power stations. Doesn't stop them building new ones, does it :(
Not sure about nowadays, but a rule of thumb was that every notable piece of motorway built would add 0.1% to GDP the moment it opened. So, expensive to construct, financially insolvent to maintain, costly to demolish, but economically well worth it.
Nowadays I don't know. With more people able to work from home, and Internet in general, there's less need for more people to travel as part of their job and go meet people, though lorry traffic is probably increasing. Interestingly, East West Rail seems to be more about freight, passenger traffic being a secondary benefit.
Thanks, I'll remember that.
@@mb-3faze But they're super cheap to operate lol
Another amazing video with great research...
Funny as always.
Thank you
The old A14 between Spittles interchange (just north of Huntingdon)and Bar Hill was a complete nightmare, having driven along the de classified A14, I can imagine the surrounding areas of Huntingdon etc is so much quieter for locals.
I was born in Huntingdon and went there regularly for audiology appointments for two decades - there would be traffic jams nearly all the time. I would dread having to go there because of the traffic. However, soon after I got my driver's licence last year and drove through Huntingdon for the first time and I was surprised by how incredibly smooth and quick the roads were. Nothing like how I remembered it.
As you say at 3:36, the non-solution to the lack of viaduct isn't much of an issue because of circumstances elsewhere.
3:15 - the best editing this year on TH-cam! Brilliant!!
Except that the joke was ruined as he'd already spent most of the video explaining how the bridge was both redundant and broken, and the video title talked about the cost of removing, rather than replacing it. If you didn't see "nothing" coming, you weren't actually paying attention.
Love the true cost at the end. Great video to make this week a little bit better thanks Jon
Liking the new sign in your office John!
Plus great video, been hoping you’d do one on this
Classic excellent observation!! Keep me smiling 😁
Great video John, very interesting as always 👌👍😀
It’s an improvement apart from the fact that now all the traffic now goes through Huntingdon again. So good luck trying to get anywhere around 5pm!
Also the new a14 has cut off some villages and the next town (st Ives) and there’s no way to get on or off it in these places
Always a pleasure sir
Hi John, I hope youre having a good week. I live near Huntingdon and it appears the new road layout works fine. The new rowd sends so much traffic away the local roads can handle it
You should do a video dedicated to this new A14. It was meant to be the A14(M) but to open it a few weeks earlier they decided not to make it a motorway.
This was a really pointless thing IMO and required entirely new legislation to be implemented to enable an A road to have a variable speed limit, which this section of the A14 does.
For some time after it opened it had "CAMERA NOT IN USE" signs under every gantry because the cameras weren't switched on. Kind of defeats the point of even having a camera as a detterent if you ask me if people know its not working.
I learnt to drive on that stretch of the A14. It was terrifying. The new A14 means there's now a bunch of local roads so you can get between the villages without having to use the massive dual carriageway. When the A14 was still referred to as the A604 A1 M1 link road, my mum always used to complain that it was impossibke to get anywhere without messing with all the traffic & if only they would build some local roads. 30 years later they did just that
I live just east of Huntingdon and these changes have undoubtedly made getting to the station easier. Jump onto the old A14 (now A1307) at St Ives and boom, 5mins later your at Huntingdon station. However, if you want to go further and join the A1 as I often do, you now need to negotiate these 'bolt ons' to local roads, which do cause congestion around Hinchingbrooke area.
The alternative is go round the north of Huntingdon via Houghton, or back track and head south west via Swavesey and pick up the 'new' A14 junction to go north to Peterborough, neither is ideal, but that's progress.
Never been to Huntingdon itself, but I really like the new A14 upgrade. It was finished early, under budget and brings a massive amount to much needed capacity to an important yet overburdened road. My only nitpick is that they didn't give it full motorway status as the A14(M) since it's built to a better standard than many older motorways. I sure don't miss the tailbacks over the old viaduct.
It’s the A14(M) in all but name. IIRC it was planned to be the A14(M), but it was ready before all the new (M) legislation was finished, so they continued without it. It’s funny though, because when you join it, there’s a massive sign with all manner of traffic restrictions, making it akin to an actual motorway
@@jordank195 Yeah that would make sense. It'd be nice if they could upgrade the Brampton to Catthorpe stretch to motorway standard and then make it one continuous blue A14(M) to Cambridge that links up neatly with the A1(M), M1 and M6.
And while I'm busy dreaming the A1 through Bedfordshire is also overdue for an upgrade so there can be an unbroken London-Peterborough motorway.
It seems odd that a bridge demolition can take from as little as 30 hours (a weekend closure) to a couple of years. Obviously, they should avoid closing the road as much as possible hence why they don't close the Midland Mainline for six months to electrify the rail from Kettering to Wigston (23 mile section just south of Leicester) and instead keep it open on weekdays and close it on some weekends/nights. Speaking of which, demolishing a bridge over a railway that has the overhead wires (OLE) is even more difficult and disruptive which is the case here over the East Coast Main Line. The ECML is really busy and contains the fast LNER and Thameslink trains going as fast as 140 mph.
Living nearby its a massive improvement! Having all traffic go round instead through Huntingdon makes much more sense. Just a shame it was already falling apart and they couldnt use it for a living bridge or viewing platform given its so flat around here!
I like the bit on the new A14 when my sat nav thinks I’m in a lake/pond 😂
It needs updating by the way.
Cheers Jon 👍🏼
Total information and well just, a great video
I can confirm that the new road layouts meet with our approval
Trouble is like last week when A14 was shut all the traffic north was pushed straight through the centre of Huntingdon where the bridge used to run
Living in Huntingdon as they were building this. This has definitely helped as there use to be a huge amount of congestion at the Brampton hut roundabout and roundabout following due to traffic just trying to pass on the A14. Now all this East West traffic can flow without any roundabout, congestion is a lot better.
Also, the hospital and school use to suffer from a single way in and out, but connecting up the old road next to it has definitely helped that too. Overall, it’s definitely an improvement that isn’t without its quirks
...
Do you know Jesus Christ can set you free from sins and save you from hell today
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There is no security or hope with out Jesus Christ in this world come and repent of all sins today
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John 3:16-21
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
Mark 1.15
15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.
2 Peter 3:9
The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
Hebrews 11:6
6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Jesus
You truly deliver a much more accurate representation of the real history of our roadways than any national or local (We know they have political bias) authority ever could or would! Greatly appreciated John!
What I like about Jon on these videos is that he is not a total, 100%, mental Clarkson-like, petrol-head and does taken in wider social and environmental concerns.
I live nearby and it has upsides and downsides ditching the viaduct, biggest benefit is it makes access to the train station and hospital a lot easier as it's off the old A14 instead of having to go through the town proper. However it also makes it more of a pain to get to the northern or western side of the town, I end up on the new A14/A1 then coming back in from the west.
Travelling through it the decision to whack a random roundabout on what's currently a left turn is a bit odd though, I presume something (probably houses) will get built off that eventually. Plus the routing between the station and the hospital is "fiddly" at best.
The more annoying thing about the whole scheme is the 40mph speed limit on the dual carriageway approach to the old viaduct, it's done with temporary speed limit signs, but has been like that for best part of 4 years now, so they're starting to feel pretty permanent.
Oh and side topic, the fact you can't head eastbound onto, or come off westbound from the new A14 at the Wood Green junction to the south of all this is a bizarre farce. If you want to go to Cambridge from Huntingdon, it's back down the old road.
I live in Huntingdon, the new bypass has helped it's made the town less of a bottleneck for many years it was a nightmare to go 20 miles to Cambridge some days would take 1 hour it was worse than driving in London and if there was an RTC it was even worse. As a driver its more simple to go around town even avoiding the ring road at some points to get to places like coming from Brampton going towards hartford you no longer need to go around the ring road you go up to the next left turning on the A1307 and go through the town centre on the 1 way street. Saving minutes and less stop start with the traffic lights.
Thanks for this,in 77 78 i used to come up the A10 and past the water tower up to the a1 via the american airbase but these last few years i was really confused as now everythibg is different,youve cleared it all up in a way i couldnt understand by going on google maps and trying to get my head round where the flyover was and the strange new road layout thats there now in its place
I was up that way 2 years ago, I was amazed that it was knocked down. The A14 from Huntington is now been bypassed again.
As you pointed out, the bridge was crumbling, and existing weight restrictions were only to have become more restrictive to the "heavy" lorries that use this important road link.
The new bypass has much less negative affects on the town and a good opportunity to retire the bridge before it collapsed.
Fantastic Jon thank you
Adore this channel. Love the music editing at the end. It’s brilliant. How do you keep finding them? Just an infinite bank of nostalgic sounds
Love the way you make your videos, my ADHD and Autism feel satisfied
So does mine too there.
I have a suggestion for a video if you're interested. The Kingskerswell bypass in South Devon, just outside of Newton Abbott. It took many years of planning to get it done, I do believe they started in the 90's to start and get it through. It was completed a few years ago. It's a good piece of engineering as it involves a flyover over a railway and a busy roundabout.
Yes, but is there anything wrong with it? If not then this guy has nothing to make a video of.
Thanks for explaining why when I visit Huntington the road just stops with a weird connect.
More exciting than the previous vlog John how do you do it 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂❤
Brilliant! Love Huntingdon / St Ives / Godmanchester and often drive up the A1(M) and pick up on the A14 towards the gorgeous town of Corby.......not!
awesome video, love this sort of thing
I do miss the A14 flyover. It was so mesmerising before the new A14 bypass was built to take traffic away from Huntingdon. But it guess it looks lot better now than it was before.
..
Do you know Jesus Christ can set you free from sins and save you from hell today
Jesus Christ is the only hope in this world no other gods will lead you to heaven
There is no security or hope with out Jesus Christ in this world come and repent of all sins today
Today is the day of salvation come to the loving savior Today repent and do not go to hell
Come to Jesus Christ today
Jesus Christ is only way to heaven
Repent and follow him today seek his heart Jesus Christ can fill the emptiness he can fill the void
Heaven and hell is real cone to the loving savior today
Today is the day of salvation tomorrow might be to late come to the loving savior today
Romans 6.23
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
John 3:16-21
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
Mark 1.15
15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.
2 Peter 3:9
The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
Hebrews 11:6
6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Jesus
Quite unusually for this sort of thing it's a massive improvement. Even the old bits of the A14 are now basically an express lane almost right up to the train station (outisde of rush hour). Before all of this there wasn't an exit and you'd have to drive through slower, more residential roads to get there.
Call Sidney Central engineer would sure that the build the structure was checked periodically for things like rust except a course in the USA where they wait until the structure falls over to to do replacement
A side effect will to be stopping as much traffic using the old A14 infrastructure as a rat-run through huntingdon. I expect part of the cost of removal was the requirement to keep the railway line operational pretty much throughout. It is the east coast main line after all.
Having lived in The Huntingdon area for the last 25 years I can only say that the A14 "Upgrade" is only that in name. While the benefits to the town are very apparent the rest of the upgrade is a horrendous piece of planning (or lack thereof).
Now, to go south on the A1 from the westbound A14 you have to leave the A14 and join the northbound A1 At Buckden, Travel a mile north to Brampton hut roundabout, then use the roundabout to reverse direction to go back the way you came from to go south.
Also to go south on the A1 from the eastbound A14, you now have to negotiate a tight series of extra roundabouts in order to do so.
To go north from the A1 onto the eastbound A14 you have to do the same thing round an extra two tight roundabouts which for heavy goods vehicles is not an easy thing to negotiate especially in bad weather at rush hour. These extra roundabouts have already had to be resurfaced due to the wear placed on them by the heavy traffic and has been the site of many accidents since opening in 2017.This could have been easlily avoided by incorperating an extra slip road from the northbound A1 directly on to the eastbound A14 which would bypass the busy Brampton hut roundabout completely and ease a lot of the congestion there. the design of the junctions where the A14 and A1 roads meet, north and south, have also been the site of numourous accdents as four lanes of flowing traffic are funneled into two and in the case of the southbound A1 the traffic joining from brampton Hut has to try to fight its way across the traffic leaving for the A14 at Buckden. It's the worst road plan you can imagine and accidents are all too common!
The only benefit to motorists has been to smooth out the transition past Huntingdon for A14 traffic which is now seamless but for the rest, its been a right balls-up!
The fun part is to go from the A14 eastbound, decide you want to stop off at Brampton Hut services for a delicious Wendy's, and then continue your journey eastbound. Good luck finding the A14 again
It annoys me EVERY time I travel to/from Cambridge to Buckden how I have to drive North up the A1 to go back South.and visa versa especially when you can see a nice little ‘service road’ which is for use by.. who knows! 🤨
John doing his Ridge Racer thing again 👍
The gap looks perfect for a remake of Speed.
Another good Wednesday of Transport content
The new roundabout which was built where the northern end of the viaduct would have joined onto the old a14 is a bit, odd, but I think it opens up opportunities for any development.
I visit Huntingdon regularly, traffic is so much better and prevents massive bottlenecks at Brampton Hut services and interchange.
Still a bit weird how there is NO DIRECT SOUTHBOUND LINK from A14W to A1S and viseversa for A1N to A14E. Cars have to go up to the "new" Brampton Hut services, navigate the junction and double back. Corners cut...
I left Huntingdon (and the whole country) in 2013 and still haven't been able to see all the changes. But my guess would be that this is an improvement for the town.
Cutting corner always works out for the building company. When the bridge only lasts 30 years instead of 50 to 70 years it is too late to demand compensation.
I grew up near Huntington and a few years back, I got out of the train station and genuinely thought I got out at the wrong station when I couldn't see the viaduct.
Drove through there recently to visit the hospital and was wondering why the road layout was like that! What would we do without these explainer vids.
we still get loads of older cars coming though HntGdn cos their sat navs haven't updated. The always end up near the train station or in Tesco car oark
I suspect as it was literally falling down in the nineties and had considerable works completed to save it with long term temporary repairs left no options but to remove it. Only the 25+ years delay to the A14 gave it the stay of execution.
Hi Jon, great video a bit of a waste of good road , have a good one
The a1307 being slapped onto the random road is brilliant. Means I don’t have to go around the silly ring road when I go to Tesco
Anecdote ‼️alert
I bought a new van ( french basically) with sat nav and was travelling from Yorkshire down to The Bury St Edmonds area three years ago and the new bypass which had just opened which I was totally ignorant about and was blindly following the already out of date nav..
The nav guided me off on the old A14 and I must admit I saw the contradiction in the signage!
The road simply ran out and was guided off into Huntingdon and the signs were removed or contradictory.. I drove round in circles a couple of times and just stopped at a convenient place. My nav was useless The map out of date .. google not correct and just in the middle of disruption and roadworks.. I have never felt so lost..
In the end I knew I wanted to go east and the Sun was out.. I ignored the signs and headed east till I picked up the Cambridge signs- 😢😅