Consent granted - A428 Black Cat to Caxton Gibbet given green light from Secretary of State

Today (18 August 2022) we welcomed the Secretary of State for Transport’s decision to grant planning permission (a Development Consent Order) to upgrade the route between the A1 Black Cat roundabout and A428 Caxton Gibbet roundabout with a brand new 10-mile dual carriageway. Both existing roundabouts will be upgraded to modern, free-flowing junctions with a new junction at Cambridge Road, improving access to St Neots town centre and train station.  

This announcement is a major milestone, not only for us but also for the many local communities who have long campaigned for improvements and our stakeholders who we’ve been working with for several years. 

The new road will fill in the missing link of dual carriageway on the strategic road network between Milton Keynes, Bedford and Cambridge, helping drivers save up to an hour-and-a-half on their journeys every week. 

What happens next? 

There is a process we need to follow over the next few months and construction is due to start at the end of this year, with the road opening in 2026.   

If you live or travel in the area you may have seen us over the last few months carrying out surveys and investigations, ahead of the decision. This is to help us prepare for construction. We will continue to do this until the end of the year before construction begins. 

To keep you fully up to date on what we are doing, we are planning some online Q&A sessions and face-to-face public information events later this year. We’ll be visiting venues around the local area and will be out and about with our mobile visitor centre. These events will provide information about the improvements and allow us to answer any questions you may have. We will provide you with more details on our online and face-to-face events on this page going forward.   

Find out more 

You can view the Secretary of State’s decision letter and find out more information on our Development Consent Order (DCO) on the Planning Inspectorate website.   

To make sure you know what’s coming up, sign up to our regular project updates here. 

To keep up to date with improvements and the work we’re doing, keep checking our website or follow us on social media: Facebook and Twitter.