A14 Huntingdon bypass to open a year early

A 12-mile (19km) stretch of a £1.5bn road improvement scheme is to open a year ahead of schedule, the Department for Transport (DfT) has announced.

The new A14 Huntingdon bypass dual carriageway route in Cambridgeshire was not expected to be finished until late 2020, but drivers will be able to use it from this December.

The DfT said Highways England had made "excellent progress".

The full 21-mile project is expected to be completed by the end of 2020.

Work on the scheme between Cambridge and Huntingdon began in November 2016.

The newly-built bypass, which runs west of the A14 Swavesey junction to the A1 near Brampton, will take its first motorists from the end of this year.

Announcing the early opening of the bypass, Roads Minister Baroness Vere said: "This government is committed to delivering an infrastructure revolution and it's fantastic that a key section of this vital route will be delivered a year ahead of schedule, helping people travelling in the East of England get to their destination quickly and safely."

As well as the bypass, the full project includes widening the A1 between Brampton and Alconbury, widening the existing A14 between Swavesey and Milton and improving the junctions at Bar Hill, Swavesey, Girton, Histon and Milton.

When complete, Highways England says drivers travelling between Cambridge and Huntingdon will save about 20 minutes on their journeys.