Combined Authority Clears Way for Removal of King’s Dyke Level Crossing

Combined Authority Clears Way for Removal of King’s Dyke Level Crossing

The Combined Authority Board has agreed £1million of subject-to-approval funding from the Medium-Term Financial Plan for the eagerly-awaited closure and removal of the Kings Dyke level crossing.

The MTFP has a subject to approval amount of £2.1m for Kings Dyke level crossing closure and the drawdown will be spent in the current financial year.

A crucial east-west link between the Fens and Peterborough, the A605 connects to the A1(M) and the A47 via the Peterborough Parkway Network. But it suffers significant congestion at the A605 King’s Dyke level crossing which services approximately 120 daily train movements.

The King’s Dyke scheme’s objective is to remove this level crossing entirely and by doing so, end the road-rail conflict and the delays and misery endured by local people from the traffic jams it causes.

The project is on target to complete in December 2022.  Construction has forged ahead, the new bridge and Ralph Butcher Causeway road are already open to traffic, and the last phase of work is beginning.

This includes part filling-in the Star Pit to support the bridge embankment – a complex engineering challenge which will need more additional work than originally envisaged by Cambridgeshire County Council and their contractor and hence require booster funding.

The current forecast is within the revised budget of £33.5m, compared to the original budget of £29.980,000 for the project. The Combined Authority Board agreed split of 40 / 60 of any under or overspend against the budget between Cambridgeshire County Council – 40% – and the Combined Authority – 60%.

Within the existing approved budget there is £1.1m and the drawdown of £1m with the existing approved £1.1m enables the Combined Authority to meet its obligations under the funding agreement and honour the current forecast value of the Combined Authority portion.