Cambridgeshire faces major roadworks and diversions in 2026

Key Points

• Significant roadworks and closures are planned on key routes serving St Neots and the wider Cambridgeshire area during February 2026 and beyond, with signed diversion routes in place for drivers.
• Potton Road and the B1046 (St Neots Road) are due to shut for extended periods in February 2026 to allow drainage, kerb, resurfacing and new alignment works linked to the A428 Black Cat to Caxton Gibbet upgrade.
• National Highways will close stretches of the A1 northbound and A421 westbound over a February weekend to install bridge beams as part of the £1 billion A428 Black Cat to Caxton Gibbet scheme, with long-distance diversions for strategic traffic.
• Further closures of Potton Road and the B1046 later in February will allow the new local road layout to be tied into the upgraded A428 corridor, affecting access to St Neots and nearby villages.
• Cambridgeshire County Council’s capital maintenance programme for 2025–26 includes overnight closures and diversions on key Cambridge city routes such as Jesus Lane, East Road, Magdalene Street and Gonville Place, as well as a series of rural closures across the county.​
• Parish-level notices highlight additional local disruption, including daytime closures and diversions on High Street in Melbourn for drainage, trial holes and pipe repairs later in February.​
• The A428 Black Cat to Caxton Gibbet scheme will create a new 10‑mile dual carriageway between Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire, upgrade major junctions and add a new junction at Cambridge Road for St Neots, with the route expected to open in 2027.​
• National Highways says the completed A428 scheme should cut peak‑time journeys by around 10 minutes and improve safety and reliability on a currently congested and accident‑prone corridor.
• Drivers are being urged to check closures in advance, follow signed diversions and allow extra time, as multiple overlapping schemes mean simultaneous disruption on local, regional and strategic routes.
• Local councils and National Highways are directing residents and motorists to online information pages for the latest details on closures, timings and diversion routes.

Cambridgeshire (Cambridge Tribune) February 11, 2026– Major roadworks and a series of planned closures on key routes in and around St Neots and across Cambridgeshire are set to disrupt journeys throughout February 2026, as local councils and National Highways push ahead with long‑planned upgrades, safety works and resurfacing schemes backed by extensive diversion routes.

What road closures are planned around St Neots and Potton Road?

A key focus for residents near St Neots will be the phased closures and realignment works on Potton Road and the B1046 (St Neots Road), which sit within the wider A428 Black Cat to Caxton Gibbet project area. As outlined by National Highways in its detailed closures and diversions update, Potton Road is due to shut from Rectory Farm to the south of Eynesbury Plant Hire to allow new drainage, kerbs and resurfacing to be installed for the realigned route. The closure is scheduled between 09:30 on Monday 2 February and 21:00 on Friday 13 February 2026, with traffic diverted via the B1046 towards Abbotsley before continuing south on Pitsdean Road.

Later in the month, National Highways explains that a further phase will see both Potton Road and the B1046 closed concurrently, while engineers “tie in” the new Potton Road and B1046 layout with the existing local network. According to the same National Highways diversion notice, between 21:00 on Friday 13 February and 06:00 on Monday 23 February the closure will extend from the B1046 junction to south of Eynesbury Plant Hire on Potton Road, and from Potton Road rail bridge to Lansbury Farm on the B1046. Traffic will be sent south on Barford Road, then onto the A428 eastbound towards St Neots before rejoining the B1046 at Eltisley via Gransden Road and St Neots Road.​

Separately, Abbotsley Parish Council has flagged the same February works to residents under the heading “Upcoming Road Closures and New Road Alignment: Potton Road and B1046 (St Neots Road) – February 2026”, underlining that from Monday 23 February Potton Road will run directly north to connect to the B1046 at a newly built junction. As set out by the parish council, this represents a permanent change to the local road layout designed to interface with the reconfigured A428 corridor and the upgraded junction arrangements east of St Neots.

How will the A1 and A421 be affected by February weekend works?

Alongside the local road changes, National Highways has also scheduled a major weekend closure affecting strategic traffic using the A1 and A421 near the Black Cat junction. In its closures and diversions bulletin, the agency states that from 21:00 on Friday 6 February to 05:00 on Monday 9 February 2026 the A1 northbound between Tempsford and Black Cat junction, and the A421 westbound from Black Cat junction to Renhold, will both be closed. National Highways says these restrictions are needed so that teams can lift beams into place on a new bridge at Kelpie Marine over the A1, which forms part of the structures portfolio for the A428 scheme.​

A National Highways social media update dedicated to the A428 project reinforces the message that “signed diversion routes will be in place” during these weekend closures, and lists the A421 westbound between Black Cat junction and Renhold as one of four roads affected. Although the precise long‑distance diversion alignment is not set out in full in that post, a separate BBC report on previous A428 closures noted that, for earlier phases, National Highways diverted A428 traffic towards St Neots to join the A1 and then sent drivers via the A14 eastbound and A1198 Ermine Street to reach Caxton Gibbet.

The scale of the scheme means that some drivers may encounter multiple sets of works over the coming months. National Highways describes the A428 Black Cat to Caxton Gibbet project as a “new 10‑mile dual carriageway” linking the A1 and A421 Black Cat roundabout in Bedfordshire to the A428 Caxton Gibbet roundabout in Cambridgeshire, with both existing roundabouts upgraded to “modern, free‑flowing junctions”. The agency emphasises that the existing A428 will in future become a local road serving communities between St Neots and Caxton Gibbet, while a new junction at Cambridge Road will improve access to St Neots town centre and the railway station.​

What wider road improvements are planned across Cambridgeshire?

Beyond the St Neots area and the A428 corridor, Cambridgeshire County Council’s capital maintenance programme shows a packed schedule of repairs, resurfacing and improvement works across the county’s road network in 2025–26. The council’s published table of schemes confirms that in Cambridge city, for example, Jesus Lane (Phase 1) is programmed from 16 February 2026 for two weeks with a road closure and diversion between 20:00 and 06:00. East Road is set to follow from 12 March 2026 for two weeks with evening and overnight working hours between 18:00 and 06:00, while Magdalene Street, Gonville Place and Round Church Street are due for closures with diversions or restricted access in late March and April.​

The same schedule lists a range of rural schemes that will affect drivers elsewhere in Cambridgeshire during the early part of 2026. Sixteen Foot Bank at Chatteris is due to close for eight weeks from 2 February 2026, with a 24‑hour closure in place. Holme’s Long Drove is set for a nine‑week 24‑hour road closure and diversion starting 25 January 2026, while Yaxley’s Main Street will close for a week with daytime working hours between 08:00 and 17:00. Further closures with diversions or restricted hours are planned at locations including Gorefield Road in Leverington, City Road and High Street in March and Chatteris, and Ollard Avenue in Wisbech as winter turns to spring.​

For some sites, the council notes that dates remain “to be confirmed”, such as Cambridge Road in Godmanchester and Spittals Way in The Stukeleys. However, the published programme underscores that even beyond the high‑profile A428 construction, motorists across Cambridgeshire can expect periodic disruption from resurfacing and maintenance projects intended to tackle wear, improve safety and extend the life of the county’s roads.​

Which local high streets and village roads will face disruption?

While major strategic works tend to attract most attention, parish‑level notices reveal a series of more localised interventions that will still be keenly felt by residents and businesses. In Melbourn, a notice from Cambridgeshire County Council shared by Melbourn Parish Council confirms that a Temporary Traffic Regulation Order (TTRO) – numbered 26‑10243 – is expected to take effect on 16 February, with a High Street road closure and diversion in place between 09:30 and 15:30. The listed reasons for the closure include drainage works, trial holes, pipe repairs and associated works, indicating that the activity is focused on underlying utilities and water management infrastructure rather than surface resurfacing alone.

Abbotsley Parish Council’s local news page, meanwhile, highlights the Potton Road and B1046 changes as being significant for residents’ day‑to‑day travel, signalling not just temporary closures but a fundamental change in how the local network connects with the major A428 corridor. The parish communication notes that, from Monday 23 February, Potton Road will run directly north to a newly built junction with the B1046, altering familiar patterns of movement for those travelling between Abbotsley, St Neots and surrounding areas. Local councils are encouraging residents to familiarise themselves with the new alignment and the diversion routes, particularly during the transitional period when old and new layouts overlap with construction zones.

What is the overall A428 scheme and when will it open?

The roadworks around St Neots and along the A428 are part of a long‑running plan by National Highways to upgrade a route it describes as “vital” for journeys between Milton Keynes, Bedford and Cambridge. On its project information pages, National Highways explains that the Black Cat to Caxton Gibbet scheme involves building a brand new, approximately 10‑mile dual carriageway linking the Black Cat roundabout on the A1 and A421 in Bedfordshire to the A428 Caxton Gibbet roundabout near Cambourne in Cambridgeshire. Both these roundabouts are to be transformed into modern, free‑flowing junctions, and a new junction will be created at Cambridge Road to improve access to St Neots and its railway station.​

The agency records that the Secretary of State for Transport granted the Development Consent Order for the scheme on 18 August 2022, following the Planning Inspectorate’s decision to accept the application for examination in March 2021. National Highways states that the scheme is expected to open to traffic in 2027, once complex construction stages – including structures like the bridge at Kelpie Marine over the A1, various flyovers such as at Caxton Gibbet, and local road re‑links such as Potton Road and the B1046 – have been completed.

A BBC article on earlier weekend closures linked to the same scheme put the project cost at around £1 billion and reported that National Highways estimated it would reduce peak‑time travel by around 10 minutes on the upgraded corridor when complete. That report also explained that the scheme includes a 10‑mile dual carriageway and routine weekend shutdowns of the A428 between the Tithe Farm roundabout (Loves Farm/Cambridge Road roundabout) near St Neots and Caxton Gibbet to allow connections between the old route and the new carriageway to be made.​

How are drivers being advised to manage diversions and delays?

National Highways and Cambridgeshire County Council are urging drivers to plan ahead as overlapping works risk cumulative disruption for those travelling in and out of St Neots and across the county. The National Highways A428 Black Cat to Caxton Gibbet “Diversions, closures and speed restrictions” page sets out specific closure windows and clearly labelled diversion routes for each phase, including the February Potton Road and B1046 works and the A1/A421 weekend shutdown. A separate National Highways “Latest updates” page provides broader context and timeline details, including the expected 2027 opening date for the scheme.

For local schemes, Cambridgeshire County Council’s capital maintenance programme gives advance notice of which roads will be closed, when, and whether diversions will be in place or access retained for pedestrians. Parish councils such as Melbourn and Abbotsley are amplifying this information for their communities through local news posts and notices, highlighting daytime closures on high streets and permanent realignments of rural roads. Drivers are being encouraged to follow signed routes on the ground, respect temporary speed limits and traffic management measures, and allow additional time for regular journeys during the periods when works are at their most intensive.

Taken together, the February 2026 roadworks and associated schemes illustrate how a mix of strategic national projects and local maintenance programmes are reshaping key routes into and around St Neots and across Cambridgeshire, bringing long‑term connectivity and safety benefits at the cost of short‑term disruption for motorists, residents and businesses.