History
Prior to the construction of the current A14 road the main route from the Birmingham to the Haven ports followed the old A45 road route via Coventry, Rugby, Northampton, St Neots, Cambridge and then through all the towns on the current route A14 from there to Felixstowe. Prior to its use for the current route the A14 designation had been used for a section of road between the A10 at Royston and the A1 at Alconbury following part of the route of Ermine Street which is now most designated as the A1198 road.
The M45 motorway was constructed in 1959 parallel to part of the old A45 route in the Midlands and opened on the same day as the M1 motorway and was soon one of the busiest sections of motorway. The M6 opened in the late 1960s and early 1970s after which more traffic to the ports used a route from junction 1 of the M6 via the A427 road to Market Harborough followed by a short section of the A6 road to Kettering and then the A604 to Cambridge before joining the old A45 to the ports as above. The M45 now carries little traffic.
The sections from Huntingdon east to the ports were upgraded first, starting with the Huntingdon bypass in 1973, followed by the Girton to Bar Hill section in 1975/76 and the Cambridge northern bypass and Cambridge/Newmarket section in 1976/77. The Bar Hill to Huntington section opened in 1979 prior to the M11 which was fully opened in 1980. The Ipswich southern bypass including the Orwell Bridge opened in 1982.
The 'M1-A1 Link Road' which was to complete the current route was constructed between 1989 and 1991 following a lengthy period of consultation. The first inquiry was in 1974 and then a series of inquiries for sections of the preferred route from September 1984 until June 1985, during which objections came from some 1,130 sources. Subsequent public inquiries were held regarding Supplementary Orders. The route of the road close to the site of the Battle of Naseby was particularly difficult and was taken to the High Court.
The final section of the modern A14 (the A1-M1 link) was opened by John MacGregor, Transport Secretary on 15 July 1994.
Work to create a compact grade-separated junction (Junction 45/Rougham) and to re-align a 2-mile (3.2 km) stretch of carriageway was completed in 2006.
Vehicles over 7.5 tonnes traveling east were banned from using the outside lane on a 2-mile (3.2 km) steep climb to Welford summit on a dual 2-lane section close to Junction 1 (A5199) from spring 2007; a similar scheme covered 2 miles (3.2 km) of the westbound carriageway from Junction 2 including a particularly steep climb to Naseby summit. The bans are active between 6am and 8pm and are intended to reduce delays to other traffic from lorries attempting to pass on these climbs.
Between 2007 and 2008 a new section of two-lane dual carriageway was constructed at the Haughley Bends, one of Suffolk's most notorious accident blackspots, to rationalise access using a new grade-separated junction. The road opened in the summer of 2008 with some associated local works being completed early in 2009.
Read more about this topic: A14 Road (England)
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