Environment

Protecting the environment is central to both the design and construction of our scheme.

Protecting the environment

Our scheme fully supports our corporate environmental commitments.

We strive to build roads that exist harmoniously alongside:

local communities
the surrounding natural, built, and historic environment

Since 2017 we’ve conducted extensive environmental surveys covering:

water quality
wildlife
noise
air quality
climate change impacts

Through these surveys, we've built a deep understanding of the local environment and its wildlife.

This has helped us reduce negative effects on the environment during construction and beyond.

Building foundations for the Great Ouse viaduct

Now work is underway, we continue monitoring sites to protect wildlife and make sure our environmental measures work as planned.

Carbon and net zero

We regularly assess our scheme's carbon impact to spot opportunities for low-carbon solutions at every stage of its life-cycle:

during construction
when the new road is open to traffic

Our scheme fully supports our carbon commitments:

reaching net zero corporate emissions by 2030
cutting construction and maintenance emissions by 2040
and helping road users reduce their emissions by 2050

One of our Black Cat construction sites at dusk — We continuously monitor our activities for opportunities to reduce carbon impact

Archaeology

Since 2021, we’ve worked with Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA). Together we've uncovered and recorded archaeology along the route in Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire.

Our discoveries show people have lived in this area dating back to the Neolithic period (around 4000–2200 BC)

Our richest finds come from the Iron Age (800 BC – AD 43) and the Roman period (AD 43 – 410).

Explore some of the fascinating discoveries on our archaeology page.

Iron age wattle panel — A wattle panel, used in Iron Age buildings. A rare find from our A428 site.

The black cat statue

The Black Cat statue has been a beloved local landmark since it was first installed on the Black Cat roundabout in 2004.

Over the years, it's faced challenges, disappearing several times and falling victim to vandalism.

By early 2024, just before construction began, we’d reached the third version of the statue. We carefully moved it to one of our site offices for safekeeping.

The Black Cat is now enjoying a well-earned rest and is being well looked after.

It’ll return to its rightful place on the roundabout when we open the new road to traffic in spring 2027.

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