St Neots A428 road upgrade: Legal challenge delays construction

National Highways says the work, including to the Black Cat roundabout, will help tackle one of the region's most notorious congestion areas

Work on a £950m road project will not begin this month as planned because of a legal challenge by campaigners.

National Highways was due to begin building a new 10-mile dual carriageway linking the A1 Black Cat Roundabout near St Neots and the A428 Caxton Gibbet near Cambridge.

The Transport Action Network (TAN), however, submitted a judicial review application to the High Court.

TAN said it was one of the government's "biggest carbon-emitting schemes".

The proposed route follows a public consultation in 2017

"We are disappointed to let you know that we won't be starting construction," said a National Highways spokesman.

"We know the improvements are very much wanted by local people, commuters and businesses.

"We are continuing our surveys of land, water, ecology and finalising the design of junctions and bridges to minimise impact when we start building the road."

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National Highways said the project, more than six years in the making, would "transform" journeys between Cambridge and Milton Keynes.

It said TAN submitted an application for permission for judicial review of the government's granting of planning permission "on the grounds of biodiversity, need for the scheme and climate change".

A decision, it said, was expected in early 2023.

On its Crowd Justice webpage, a TAN spokesman said: "The government's hypocrisy in approving high-carbon infrastructure, such as new roads, while saying it is committed to tackling climate change, needs exposing and stopping."

A Department for Transport (DoT) spokesman said: "We have made ambitious pledges to achieve net-zero transport and better connect communities.

"This includes plans to decarbonise road vehicles, boost public transport and active travel and cut carbon from road construction, maintenance and operations."