BREAKING: Highways England to suspend A1(M) works at Peterborough

The works have been scheduled to take place between Peterborough and Huntingdon, and were due to finish in August.

The first phase of the works started two weeks ago on the southbound slip road at junction 17. The works saw traffic unable to access the A1(M) southbound at the junction, and diverted through Hampton and Yaxley on the A15, causing lengthy delays and queues across the city.

The first phase was due to finish at 5am tomorrow (Friday), with the second phase, which would have seen the slip road leading from the southbound carriageway of the A1 to Norman Cross shut for two weeks, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

However, this afternoon Highways England have confirmed the scheme will be suspended at the end of the first phase of works.

The remainder of the works will be carried out at a later date.

Simon Amor, Highways England asset development manager said: “We have listened to what people have told us about our work on the A1(M) near Peterborough.

“The disruption that people experienced last week was unacceptable and, although we worked quickly to improve things, we want to make sure that nothing like it happens again.

“For this reason, we have decided that we will not proceed to the next phases of the work at this time.

“We will reschedule the work for later this year when we have been able to completely review the plans and make sure that we carry out the work in the best possible way. On behalf of Highways England I’d like to reiterate our apology to people caught up in the delays last week.”