Skip to main content

Work to begin on M1 improvements

Work on the M1 Junction 19 improvement scheme near Catthorpe, Leicestershire, will start in January, UK roads minster Robert Goodwill has announced today. The US$312.7 million scheme will reduce congestion and improve journey time reliability and safety by replacing the existing junction with a three-level junction and improving roads between the villages of Catthorpe and Swinford so local traffic can avoid the junction.
December 11, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
Work on the M1 Junction 19 improvement scheme near Catthorpe, Leicestershire, will start in January, UK roads minster Robert Goodwill has announced today.

The US$312.7 million scheme will reduce congestion and improve journey time reliability and safety by replacing the existing junction with a three-level junction and improving roads between the villages of Catthorpe and Swinford so local traffic can avoid the junction.

Goodwill said: “The 142,000 vehicles that pass through Catthorpe junction every day demonstrate how important this route is. However, the current layout of Catthorpe is unable to meet this demand, giving rise to congestion, delays, accidents and conflict between local and longer-distance traffic. Without improvement these problems will get worse. “I am delighted to announce that construction will start in January, showing our commitment to deliver much need improvements to England’s infrastructure.”

The M1 Junction 19 Improvement Scheme will provide several direct free-flow links: A14 to M1 northbound; M1 southbound to A14; M6 to A14 in both directions; M6 to M1 southbound; and M1 northbound to M6. The M1 will remain on its current alignment. Improvements to the local road network will include: a new link between Rugby Road and Shawell Lane north of the M6; a local route under the junction between Swinford and Catthorpe; and improvements to Shawell Lane/Catthorpe Lane, between Catthorpe Road and the M6 to the east and towards the A5 to the west.

Related Content

  • April 7, 2017
    Highways England announces funding to improve major motorway junction
    Highways England has announced plans to invest total of US$3.7 million (£3 million) for major improvements to Switch Island in Merseyside, one of the north-west’s busiest motorway junctions where the M57, M58 and three A roads connect. Construction work at the junction, which is used by over 90,000 vehicles every day, is expected to start next year. The scheme is designed to improve the flow of traffic and enhance safety, following 49 collisions at the junction in the past two years. New traffic light
  • January 23, 2012
    Hard shoulder running aids uniform traffic flow and safer driving
    David Crawford detects a market for European experience. Well-established now in at least three European countries, Hard Shoulder Running (HSR) on motorways is exciting growing interest in the US. A November 2010 Report to Congress by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), on the Efficient Use of Highway Capacity, notes the role of HSR in the European-style Active Traffic Management (ATM) strategies now being recommended for implementation in the US where, until recently, they were virtually unknown.
  • July 9, 2014
    Work starts on more UK smart motorways
    Three new major motorway schemes on the M1 and M3 will cut congestion and give Britain's drivers smoother, quicker journeys, Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin has announced. Construction will now start on the M1 junctions 28-31 in Derbyshire, M1 junctions 32-35a in South Yorkshire and on the M3 at junction 2-4a in Surrey. The new schemes are central to the Government's long term economic plan and part of US$41 billion of investment in the road network by 2021, which will see spending tripled to U
  • December 20, 2017
    Mott MacDonald designed M2M metering scheme begins testing
    Mott MacDonald (MM) has designed a Highways England scheme to smooth traffic flows, reduce queues and to combat eastbound congestion on the M62's junction 10 and 11 as well as traffic joining the motorway from the M6 northbound and southbound link roads. The project will operate during 2018 and be monitored to evaluate the benefits. Called The Motorway to Motorway (M2M) metering pilot scheme, it combines variable mandatory speed limits on the M62 and metering using traffic signals between the M6 to M62