Construction to start on viaduct to extend road

The viaduct can be used by drivers when the new road opens in 2027

National Highways says construction is about to begin on a new viaduct over the River Great Ouse.

The work in Bedfordshire is part of plans to realign and extend the A428 between the Black Cat roundabout near Sandy and the Caxton Gibbet roundabout in Cambridgeshire.

The roads agency said it would be working closely with environmental organisations to protect the local eco-system.

National Highways added drivers would get to use the viaduct once the new dual carriageway opens to traffic in spring 2027.

The new A428 (orange) will link the Black Cat roundabout at Roxton with the Caxton Gibbet roundabout near Cambourne

Formal planning permission for the link, providing a new southern bypass for St Neots, was approved by the secretary of state for transport in August 2022.

It is hoped the new 10-mile (16km) dual carriageway will ease a bottlenecked route between Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire.

The existing St Neots southern bypass, which opened in the mid 1980s, would be retained for local use.

The new river viaduct is just to the east of the Black Cat roundabout at Roxton.

Conservative Bedford Mayor Tom Wootton said the new road would make Bedford "the centre of the universe".