Highways England has confirmed an opening date for the new 12-mile bypass on the A14 between Ellington and Swavesey.

The new bypass will open on Monday 09 December and forms part of a £1.5 billion project to upgrade 21 miles of the A14 between Cambridge and Huntingdon.

As well as revealing the official opening, Highways England also set out how the road layout will change, and what drivers can expect on the new road.

Highways England project director David Bray said: "Opening the Huntingdon Southern Bypass is a huge achievement in the delivery of this major road upgrade and I'd like to thank road users, residents and stakeholders for their patience and support during construction. Opening the new bypass will start to unlock many of the project's benefits and, together with the upgraded section of the A1 between Alconbury and Buckden which opened earlier this year, means that the western section of the transformed A14 is essentially complete. Like any new road, it will take some time for drivers to get used to driving on it, especially when the junctions have a new layout, and some have been renumbered. Please drive safely and enjoy the new road."

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When the new bypass opens to traffic, drivers travelling eastbound on the new bypass will still have to join a section of 40mph narrow lanes roadworks from the Swavesey junction.

Variable mandatory speed limits will help to manage traffic to reduce congestion and ensure safety. As with any major road, the main things to remember are to keep left unless overtaking, not to drive under a Red X, stick within the speed limit and know what to do if you breakdown. A red roundel around a speed limit mean it is mandatory.

Slow moving vehicles will be prohibited from the new bypass and will be directed to use alternative local access roads. Each junction has specific possible vehicle movements and it is not always possible to join or leave the new road in all directions, to ensure that A14 traffic uses the most appropriate junction for its destination, avoiding smaller roads through local communities.

Work on the rest of the project, between Swavesey and Milton, is continuing and on schedule to completed by December 2020.

(CM/JG)