£9+ million vote paves way for A1260 upgrade and Peterborough growth

£9+ million vote paves way for A1260 upgrade and Peterborough growth

Recommending nearly £10 million to carry forward the A1260 Junction 32/3 upgrade, the Combined Authority’s transport committee brought the key Peterborough road scheme a step nearer construction this week.

Chaired by Deputy Mayor Coun Anna Smith, the Combined Authority’s Transport and Infrastructure Committee today voted to recommend that the Board signs off the A1260 improvement Full Business Case and approves £5,850,000 to crack on with construction to unclog a vital artery for Peterborough’s growth.

If agreed by the Board, the recommended funding would come from the subject-to-approval line of the Authority’s Medium Term Financial Plan.

In their unanimous vote, Members also decided to recommend the Board to approve £3,441,880 from the Transforming Cities Fund programme to get boots on the ground and building work off to a flying start.

Junction 3 is the gateway to south-west Peterborough, intersecting two of the city’s busiest strategic roads and serving eastbound, westbound, and northbound trips. Many homes and businesses are connected by the route.  Jct 3 is a keystone of the Parkway Network, linking the A1139 Fletton Parkway and A1260 Nene Parkway and The Serpentine approaches. It suffers dense rush hour traffic jams.

Freeing up such an important strategic junction will help Peterborough realise its potential and pursue aspirations for growth, at the same time as improving walking and cycling routes to help reduce unnecessary car journeys.

The final package of schemes:

• Creating a third southbound lane on Nene Parkway from Jct 31-3
• Adding a flare of 150m to A1139 Fletton Parkway westbound off-slip to create a third lane.
• Signalisation of the Nene Parkway approach to Junction 3, with a 4-lane approach.
• Signalisation of The Serpentine approach to Junction 3, with a 4-lane approach.
• Creating third lane on the A1260 The Serpentine northbound approach, extending around 200 metres back from Junction 3.
• Adding 220m of new footpath between Saltmarsh and the Phoenix School.
• Upgrading the Cycleway for approximately 450m between Shrewsbury Avenue and the gated access of the Nature Reserve.