Road transport in Peterborough
The City of Peterborough in East Anglia has an extensive and well integrated road network, owing partly to its status as a new town. Since the 1960s, the city has seen considerable expansion and its various suburbs are linked by a system of parkways.
Despite its large-scale growth, Peterborough has the fastest peak and off-peak travel times for a city of its size in the United Kingdom, due to the construction of the parkways. The Local Transport Plan anticipates expenditure totalling around £180 million for the period up to 2010 on major road schemes to accommodate future development.
The A1/A1 broadly follows the path of the historic Great North Road from London, through Peterborough, continuing north a further 335 miles to central Edinburgh.
Numbered Junctions
has so many roundabouts and grade separated junctions within its roads and parkway system that junctions are numbered using the same system as is used to number British motorway and major A road junctions to guide and help drivers. Peterborough is to date the only city within the United Kingdom to use the system in this way and has been using this system since the 1970s.Parkways and major roads
The parkways were constructed under guidelines from the Peterborough Development Corporation as a system of high speed roads to connect the new townships which housed London's post-war overspill population and were mostly built from the early 1970s to the late 1980sThe majority of Peterborough's parkways are dual carriageways, to accommodate the large quantity of local traffic within the city, and national and regional traffic bypassing it. However, due to their age, many of the parkways do not have hard-shoulders. Most of the parkways that bypass the city have graded roundabout junctions.
A1 road
Wittering to Norman Cross
The A1 is located just to the west of Peterborough. The road does not play a major part in Peterborough's road network itself although it is a major route. The road goes past RAF Wittering before meeting the A47 at Wansford on a grade separated junction. The A1 then moves south passing very close to the Nene Valley Railway line before reaching the city section of the A605 at another grade separated junction before reaching the A1139/A605 Oundle Section grade separated junction. This is also where the A1 starts and as a motorway the road quickly moves southward to reach the A15 at Norman Cross where the motorway moves out of the Peterborough area.A15 road
Glinton to New England (Werrington Parkway)
The Werrington Parkway runs from the south of Glinton, where the A15 forks into the Peterborough east bypass and main road into the city centre. The road is dual carriageway from Glinton to the centre of Peterborough. There are no grade separated junctions along its route but does contain a number of smaller roundabouts which give direct and easy access to Werrington and its industrial estates. The Parkway then becomes less and standard dual-carriageway to which speed limits are in place to pass through New England and its retail park along with a major supermarket just prior to reaching the junction with the A47 at a major junction. Because of the speed restrictions along the majority of its route traffic coming into Peterborough are now encouraged to use the Paston Parkway instead to access the city centre and in the past few years signposts have been changed to reflect this.Glinton to Eye (Paston Parkway/A15 Spur Road)
The Paston Parkway bypasses the eastern edge of Peterborough, terminating at a roundabout with the A1139, where the city bypass becomes the Frank Perkins Parkway. The road starts at the southernmost roundabout of the Glinton and heads eastward as a single carriageway before coming to a roundabout for local traffic. The road then becomes a major dual carriageway, although it has only one grade separated junction, with the other junctions being roundabouts. In 2008, Peterborough City Council funded the dualling of the northernmost stretch of the Paston Parkway between two roundabouts east of Gunthorpe. This has significantly reduced congestion, as the route is used as a commuter run between the city's Eastern Industry development in Fengate and settlements north of the city.City Centre
The A15 moves southward as a minor dual carriageway from its junction with the A47 with several more roundabouts lining its route. The road goes past some rail sidings that are rarely used and also goes past a retail shopping area on the site of the city's former Parcel Force depot. After passing the city's Toys R Us store the A15 reaches Queensgate Shopping Centre. The road passes the shopping centre between two of the centre's major Car Parks with a 1980s style footbridge crossing over the top. Two roundabouts are located at either end of the complex. The southern roundabout is a junction with the A1179 and gives access to the city's Bus Station. The A15 then passes through the Westgate shopping area and the city's courts before reaching a roundabout where the dual carriageway part of the road ends.City Centre to Norman Cross
The A15 moves out of Peterborough heading southwards as a single carriageway road going past Peterborough United Football Ground. After some traffic light junctions the A15 goes under the A1139 before coming to a roundabout for a business estate. Then the A15 quickly comes to a second roundabout with the A1260 near to Serpentine Green. Then the A15 moves into open countryside before touching the outermost part of Yaxley where it meets the B1091. The A15 again moves into countryside before reaching the A1 at a major junction at Norman Cross.A1139 road
Eye
The A1139 starts as a single carriageway road at a minor roundabout with the A47 at Eye. After a second small roundabout the road passes through some housing before meeting the A15 on a major roundabout near Paston.Frank Perkins Parkway
The Frank Perkins Parkway is named after Frank Perkins, local founder of Perkins Engines and is the main Eastern Bypass for Peterborough. The parkway has access to the Perkins Engines site. The Parkway heads south as a major dual carriageway from a major roundabout with the A15 near Eye and quickly passes its first junction, which is restricted to southbound traffic and the Perkins Factory before reaching to junction 5 which is a major inlet for city bound traffic. The road then passes over the River Nene and quickly reaches junction 4 where it meets the A605, which runs parallel to junction 3a and the new Stanground bypass out of Peterborough and the old A605, now the B1092. The Frank Perkins Parkway also becomes the Fletton Parkway here.The first section started construction in January 1983, which opened in December 1984, costing £9million, being. The northern extension, costing £1.9million, started construction in 1986 by Clugston, from Oxney Road to Eye Road, being. Another section of the northern extension was built by Norwest Holst, being, to open in May 1987, but there was cold weather that year, so the section would open in mid-June 1987. There was more bad weather in April, May and June 1987, and the £4.2million road would not open until late September 1987. It was opened on 16 October 1987 by Conservative MP Marion Roe.
Fletton Parkway
Fletton Parkway comprises the entire southern bypass of Peterborough and terminates westbound at the A1. The Fletton Parkway officially starts at junction 4 as a dual carriageway before which it is named the Frank Perkins Parkway due to them being constructed at different times. The later construction of junction 3A, an access road for the Kingston Park distribution centres large IKEA depot and the new A605 Stanground Bypass, meant a major re-design of junction 4 and a new single carriageway road running parallel with the Fletton Parkway from junctions 3A to 4 providing the only link from junction 4 to the Fletton Parkway. This follows the closure to traffic of the original junction 4 on slip road and removal of the off slip road on safety grounds. At the same time the original on slip road to the Frank Perkins Parkway which actually joined the Fletton Parkway was closed and a new direct on slip road constructed to the north of junction 4. The dual carriageway quickly passes over the A15 before reaching the grade separated junction with the A1260 which links up with the A15 and the A47. The on slip road then forms a third lane and it moves very quickly to junction two, which is a local access road to the Orton and Hampton townships, before reaching its final junction with the Orton Parkway where it reverts to two lanes before the on slip road again forms a third lane.. The Fletton Parkway then meets the A1, the A1 and the A605 at Junction 17.The first stage opened on 19 July 1976, six months early, built by Mears Construction. The second stage, costing £5million, opened on 20 April 1983.
When first opened in 1976 the Fletton Parkway went from the A1 at Haddon to junction 3 where it joined Peterborough's western and northern bypass roads, the Nene Parkway, Soke Parkway and Paston Parkway. A single carriageway road, Phorpres Way, running parallel to the future course of the Fletton Parkway providing a link to the A15. Around 1979 when the eastern bypass, the Frank Perkins Parkway, was completed the Fletton Parkway was extended to junction 4 to join it and complete the ring road