History
When the Bedfordshire sub unit of the Eastern Road Construction Units was established its original design briefs included the M11 Cambridge Western Bypass, the A45 Cambridge Northern Bypass, the A45 Bury St Edmunds bypass and with a lowly priority the A45/A11 bypass of Newmarket. At that time the concept was perceived of a series of local bypasses on the A45. The emphasis to the west of Cambridge was on the improvement of the existing A45 towards St Neots.

The traffic work associated with the M11 and A45 in the Cambridge area however identified a strong demand for better northbound links with the A1 and the Sub Unit were given a brief to investigate the dualling of the A604 County Road between Cambridge and Huntingdon where Stirling Maynard and Partners on behalf of the then Ministry of Transport were developing proposals for a Huntingdon Bypass which would improve the connections to the A1 significantly. The A604 was already a problematic route for the local authority. Substantial commuter flows between Cambridge and Huntingdon caused peak hour delays which were exacerbated following the establishment of the new community of Bar Hill to the north of Cambridge.

Following Traffic Studies and a public consultation, the final decision identified the Green Corridor as the preferred corridor. Shortly afterwards the Bedfordshire Sub unit was appointed to undertake the identification and design of routes within the corridor.

Thus the final piece was put in place and the scene set for the implementation of a strategic trunk route linking the industrial Midlands to the East Coast ports.

The geometric standards have evolved, including those associated with the design of all forms of junctions, from at grade priority junctions to roundabouts and grade separated interchanges. In particular the operational aspects of weaving and merges and diverges are now better set out in the standards.

The applications of the design standards has resulted in a route which has similar characteristics along its length.

Apart from Newmarket and Cambridge Northern bypasses which were designed to Motorway design standards with provision for hardshoulders the rest of the route was designed to trunk road standards. The great majority of the length is a dual carriageway with full grade separation with a design speed of 120kph.

This west-east route, some 127 miles in length, forms part of the Ireland-UK-Benelux Link of the Trans-European Road Network. There are four distinct lengths of what is now the A14.

A14. M1 to Felixstowe

 Construction dates

 A14. M1 to Felixstowe

The full archive for this scheme is stored at the Northamptonshire CC Record Office.  Click to see details of this record office, then delete the popup window to return.  Its reference number is MA/ER/A14/ and its Accession number is: 2003/86

Motorway Archive/Eastern Region/A14/

MA/ER/A14/

• Pamphlet, M1-A1 The Missing Link, We need your views, Description of the developing problem of transport between the industrial Midlands and the East Anglian ports, showing four different ways of providing a link between the M1 and the A1, Department of the Environment, 1974, 7 sided folded sheet with questionnaire (The first Public Consultation in England on possible routes for a new road)

• Excerpts, Cross Country Run Contracts for M1-A1 link road, New Civil Engineer Roads Supplement, May 1990, p36,37,39,41 and 42, 5pp

• Journal, The evolution of the A14 Trunk Route, C J Darling, East Midlands Special Issue of the Highways andTransportation Journal, September 1996, p13 tol6, 4pp

• Cutting, Suggestion for East - West route, (A14?), Cambridge will be at junctiaon of new and important routes, Rodney Tibbs, I P (?), 2 April 1965, lp

• Cutting, Common Market Highway, F Gillespie and D Oliver, "Cambridge, Huntingdon and Newmarket face complete traffic thrombosis unless the Ministry of Transport agree to a Midlands - East Anglia motorway", Cambridge Evening News, 23 March 1967, lp

• Recollection of the M1 - A1 study, M H Davis, December 1991 2pp

• Cutting," Boom clogs Cambridge, every msjor road contractor between Newcastle and Felixstowe has chosen the A45 (now A14) as the most direct route to the docks", Cambridge Evening News, 28 March 1967, lp

• Map, M1 - A1 Link Road and Proposed Route of A45, 1 no

• Map, M1 -A1 Link Road showing Contracts 1 to 9, 1 no

• Report, M1 - A1 Link Road, A43 Kettering Northern Bypass, Inspector's Report on the Public Local Inquiries held at Wicksteed Park, Kettering between 11 September 1984 and 19 June 1985, 734pp

• Statement by the Department of Transport's Representative, M1 -A1 Link Road, Kettering Northern Bypass; Public Inquiries to be opened on 11 September 1984, 103pp

• List of documents, M1 -A1 Link Road, Thrapston to Brampton Section, Public Local Inquiries held at St Peter's School, Huntingdon, 11 January 1990 to 6 February 1990, 4pp

• Closing Submissions of Counsel for the Department of Transport at M1 - A1 Link Road Public Local Inquiries in12 above, 34pp

• Site Brochure, M1 - A1 Link Road, Contract 5(S) Kettering Southern Bypass Department of Transport/Colquhoun/Balfour Beatty, 8 sides 4 folds

• Site Brochure, M1 - A1 Link Road, Contract 6 Kettering to Thrapston Section, Department of Transport/ Colquhoun/Budge, , 8 sides 4 folds

• Report, The Impact of the A1/M1 Link, Crossroads to Europe? Cambridgeshire Community Council, Report No 2, 1992, 61pp

• Public Information Leaflet, A14 Thrapston to Brampton Grade Separation, Trunk Road Improvements, Proposed Schemes Announcement, Highways Agency, September 1998, 6 sides 3 folds

• News Release, Safety Improvements for the A14 in Cambridgehire and Northants (between Thrapston and Brampton), Highways Agency, 10 September 1998, 2pp

• Cutting, Major plans are under way for A14, The Villager, 2 October 1998, lp

• Booklet and Questionnaire, M1 Junction 19 (with A14) Road Based Study, Junction Improvement Proposals, Government Office for the East Midlands and Highways Agency, July 2002, llpp

• Leaflet, A14 Route Management Study, route description, problems, objectives, priorities for action, comments; Highways Agency, 14 December 1999, 6 sides 3 folds

• Leaflet, Major New Strategy for A14, Highways Agency EHA/160/99, 14 December 1999, app

• Press Notice, Cambridge to Huntingdon multi-Modal Study (CHUMMS) Launched, GO-East Government Office for the East of England GO/2/99, 14 December 1999, 2pp

• Newsletter, CHUMMS, What's going on?, January 2000, lp

• Newsletter, CHUMMS, Issue 1, February 2000, 4pp

• Newsletter, CHUMMS, Issue 2, June 2000, 4pp

• Newsletter, CHUMMS, Issue 4,November 2000, 4pp

• Newsletter, CHUMMS, Issue 7,July 2001, 8 sides 2 fold

• Information Pack, Cambridge to Huntingdon Multi-Modal Study, GO-East, Public Consultation - Exhibition Programme etc, November 2000, 23pp

• Folio, Photos of Construction of Kentford to Bury St Edmunds section of A14, Contractor, Higgs and Hill, July 1975 to July 1977, Contributed by Peter Kimber, 12 photos 2 plates

• Folio, Newspaper cuttings of Public Inquiry, Bury St Edmunds Bypass A45 (now A14), 1970, 20 no approx

• Excerpt from Contractor French Kier's magazine of progress on construction of Stowmarket-Claydon Bypass A14, app

• Folio, A14 Ipswich Bypass, mini-archive, C D Lewis,25 January, 1999. Recollections (16pp) of the more important issues, programme, early history, shipping and navigation, interruptions to project and remedial measures, principal comtracts, traffic forecasts, aesthetic features of Orwell Bridge and its approaches, bridge costs, Orwell Bridge - concrete versus steel, brief details of authors, list of supporting documents (below), 16 pp plus 10 documents

• Documents relevant to Orwell Bridge, provided by W W Hulbert, Sir William Halcrow and Partners, 8 June 1998,(list below), 14 no

• Recollections about Orwell Bridge, G Younghusband, June, 1998, 4pp

• Article on "Timpson's Travels in East Anglia" which includes the Orwell Bridge, Eastern Daily Press, 13November 1990, lp

• Discussion on Papers 8729 and 8730, Orwell Bridge - design and construction by C D Lewis, A I Robertson and M S Fletcher, J Van Loenen and S Felford, Institution of Civil Engineers, Proceedings Partl Design and Construction, April 1985, Volume 78, p449 to 459, llpp

• Inspector's Report, Ipswich Southern Bypass, Public Inquiries held at Ipswich between 8 July and 25 September 1980, 211pp

• Photos of Orwell Bridge, 6 no and aerial view of Ipswich Bypass, 1 no, 1981 - 82

• Certificate, A14 Ipswich Western Bypass, Railway Arch at Bramford, Merit Award for Civil Engineering 1984, Institution of Civil,Engineers - East Anglian Association, Submission 8pp and Award Certificate

• Recollections of A14 Ipswich Bypass inc "Closing Hymn for the Inquiry" and "Ode to Donetta's T-shirt", J C Boyce, 12 March 1998, 5pp

Documents relating to Orwell Bridge (Contribution from W W Hulbert, Halcrow then Deputy Resident Engineer Contracts)

• Proceedings Paper for ICE : Orwell Bridge - design.

• Proceedings Paper for ICE : Orwell Bridge - design and construction.

• An Ipswich Bus poster.

• Menu cards for the 1St and 2"° Annual Dinner organised by the Contractor Stevin Construction.

• A copy of an article from 'Anglia Business'.

• The handout produced for "The Ipswich By Pass".

• A signed souvenir book of drawings prepared by a local artist Keith Pilling.

• A copy of the Ipswich Evening Star and East Anglian Daily Times reporting tire opening on Friday 17 December 1982.

• Black and White photographs of the Norsky passing the Pier 9 Cofferdam.

• Invitation to the opening ceremony.

• Miscellaneous extracts from various engineering publications

• A copy of the Site Procedure Agreement between Stevin the main contractor and the Operations Panel of the Civil Engineering Construction Conciliation Board.

• Publicity photographs courtesy of Ransomes & Rapier Ltd (3 No.)

• A copy of "The Shotley Peninsula" a local magazine.