New Bypass Designed by Jacobs and Atkins in UK Opens a Year Early

A new 12-mile bypass designed by Jacobs and Atkins has opened in Cambridgeshire, U.K., a year ahead of schedule. The bypass forms part of Highways England’s A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon improvement scheme, that Jacobs and Atkins have provided detailed design services on since June 2015.

With a total of 21 miles of improvements to the A14, the $1.98 billion (£1.5 billion) scheme aims to reduce journey times between Huntingdon and Cambridge by 20 minutes, add capacity to the route with a minimum of three lanes in each direction and boost the region’s economy.

Serious about sustainability, the A14 team has planted two trees for each one removed in the construction of the new route and has also provided facilities for non-motorized users such as cyclists and pedestrians, including two new bridges to enable access to both sides of the road.

During the development of the scheme, the archeological team found evidence of three settlements from the Anglo-Saxon period, which lasted 600 years in the U.K. between 410 A.D. and 1066 A.D., as well as seven Bronze Age burial mounds that date back to 2000 B.C. Sensitively managed, these and other archaeological discoveries help to paint a picture of the local history.

The completion of the bypass counts for approximately two thirds of the route improvements, with the rest of the scheme on track to be finished as planned by the end of 2020.

You can read Highways England’s announcement for the opening of the bypass here.