Transport Insights

The BBC reports that half of the work on a £1bn National Highways road improvement project is being taken up with improving one roundabout.

In fact, National Highways senior project manager Paul Salmon clarifies, the Black Cat roundabout is also taking up “half of the scheme cost”.

“With everything linking into the flyover at the Black Cat and the A421 and the underpass of the A1 it is just not feasible to open sections” at the moment, Mr Salmon said.

As the site is also on a high water table near the River Great Ouse, “we have put in around 450 piles, which build a wall to stop ingress of water and silt in preparation of the underpass,” he said.

Following flooding on the A421 at Marston Moretaine last year, Mr Salmon said: “We have taken learnings over that unfortunate event and we have changed some of the designs of the water tanks.”

It will please many people, Borat included, that learnings have been taken, but is Salmon right that the scheme “will be able to cope” with “any major flooding event” as his company continues to contributed to the climate emergency?

I’ve written recently about how £1bn announced in June will be shared between the structures fund and the Major Road Network/Large Local Majors programme.

In the circumstances, half a billion on a single roundabout seems a bit excessive, particularly as National Highways is supposedly being weaned off its addiction to major enhancements.