New £40m Kettering A14 junction still in the pipeline as highways chiefs work on proposal

A new £40m A14 junction remains in the pipeline after a warning that Kettering would grind to a halt without it.

Plans for junction 10A, between Barton Seagrave and Cranford, have been discussed for years as part of the 5,500-home Kettering East development, now known as Hanwood Park.

At one point it had been hoped that work would start in 2021, but its cash allocation was deferred and then it was excluded from the Government’s all-important road investment strategy RIS2, which determined major road projects to be funded from 2020 to 2025.

Its inclusion in RIS3 – covering schemes from 2025 to 2030 – is yet to be confirmed but is vital because of the number of extra vehicles Hanwood Park will bring.

Kettering’s Conservative MP Philip Hollobone recently raised the issue in the House of Commons and was told by the roads minister that the proposed junction continues to be developed.

Mr Hollobone told the Northants Telegraph: “Residents in Kettering, Barton Seagrave, Burton Latimer and Cranford need junction 10A to be included in RIS3 because with 5,500 new homes being built on the Hanwood Park development, local traffic will grind to a halt if this junction is not put in place.

"The size of the Hanwood Park development is equivalent to bolting a town the size of Desborough onto the side of Kettering. I believe it is the fourth largest Sustainable Urban Extension in the country which means it is a flagship residential development.

"[These] 5,500 new homes will probably mean 11,000 new cars on local roads so improvements to our local roads infrastructure are required. If J10a isn’t built this will simply mean all these extra vehicles accessing the A14 at J10 at Barton Seagrave/Burton Latimer or driving through Cranford to access the A14 at J11. Existing local road capacity is not big enough to cope with these extra traffic flows.”

The Department for Transport (DfT) has been studying options and costings for the design of the new junction since spring 2021.

Of the junction’s estimated £40m cost, half would be pledged by the DfT with Hanwood Park developers stumping up the remaining cash.

If it is not included in RIS3 then a planning condition means the Hanwood Park development will have to pause once 2,700 homes are built.

Mr Hollobone said: "I am urging National Highways to continue to work up its plans for the new J10a together with detailed costings so that the junction is in the best possible place to win approval for inclusion in RIS3 when the DfT makes its final decision in 2024 about which major road schemes to include in RIS3.

"In answer to my question on the floor of the House of Commons thankfully the roads minister confirmed that National Highways continues to work up the scheme and this is good news.”

Dave Stones, National Highways’ network planning director, said: “The proposed junction 10A of the A14 to the east of Kettering continues to be developed by National Highways and developers Hanwood Park Ltd to be considered as part of a pipeline of potential future investment schemes for 2025 to 2030.”