£24m plans to ease A1 congestion

Work continues to remove roundabouts on the A1

Two schemes to tackle congestion and improve safety on the A1 through the East Midlands have been announced.

The plans include altering roundabouts and adding new slip roads at sites near Stamford and Grantham in Lincs.

The £15m Gonerby Moor scheme will see a new one mile (1.5 km) dual-carriageway plus a new bridge and link roads.

The preferred route for the £9m Carpenters Lodge junction will see the roundabout removed, and left turns out of Racecourse Road banned.

Roads Minister David Jamieson said: "These highlight the government's commitment to tackling congestion, improving safety and journey times on the road network.

"The new junctions will make these parts of the A1 safer for road users by separating through traffic from local traffic, and improve traffic flows on both of these busy sections of the A1."

Motorway standards

The proposed schemes have been drawn up after public consultations in 2003. Both include planting and environmental measures to reduce the impact of the new stretches of road.

Sections of the A1 London to Newcastle and Edinburgh road have been improved to motorway standards in parts of Cambridgeshire and Yorkshire.

The Notts and Lincs section - linking the upgraded A1 stretches - are part of the A1 Peterborough to Blyth Grade Separated Junctions project, aiming to replace roundabouts on the A1.

The idea is to keep traffic moving and cut accidents. Details to changes to the junctions at Markham Moor and Colsterworth are both set to be announced in the next few weeks.

The new schemes can be seen at libraries in Grantham, Stamford and Peterborough, plus Great Gonerby Post Office, and the offices of Lincolnshire County Council, South Kesteven District Council and Peterborough City Council.