Date: 02 April 2007 19:44

ON THE ROAD TO PAPWORTH EVERARD BYPASS

The £8.7 million Papworth Everard Bypass, designed to reduce the amount of 
traffic using the village and improve safety, will officially open on 
Friday, March 30.

 The first car to officially travel on the much-needed bypass will be a 1934 
vintage Morris 8 classic car. The road will then be open to traffic from 
around 3pm.

 When opened the bypass will take around 7,800 vehicles away from the centre 
of the accident-hit village every day.

 Papworth Everard, which is split by the A1198, currently sees 1,300 lorries 
travelling through the village every day. Between 2000 and 2005 there were 
28 accidents on the stretch of the road that is now bypassed.

The bypass has been managed from inception through to delivery by 
Cambridgeshire County Council. WS Atkins designed the bypass and it was 
built by Jackson Civil Engineering.

 Local people from the village are being invited to a specially set up 
viewing platform near to the site, to take a look at the proceedings.

The 1.7-mile (2.7km) stretch of road has been built using 230,000 tonnes of 
soil, which were dug out and recycled to help form the base of the road. 
When the road surface that formed part of the old B1040 was dug up, 3,500 
tonnes of this surfacing was then recycled and used to build part of the new 
bridleway. It took 70,000 man hours to build the bypass.

A new bridleway has also been built as part of the scheme, to improve access 
for horse riders, cyclists and pedestrians.

The bypass branches off the A1198 at a new roundabout just south of the 
village and curves to the west of the village before joining the B1040 at a 
mid-way roundabout to the north-east of the Yelling junction.

An upgraded B1040 opened in November 2006, which joins the existing A1198 
via a new roundabout to the north of Papworth Everard village.

Cambridgeshire County Councillor John Reynolds, Cabinet Member for 
Environment and Community Services, who will open the new road, said: "The 
bypass will be a great asset to the village and improve considerably the 
quality of life for residents who, for years, have had to put up with 
thousands of vehicles travelling through their community.

"Cambridgeshire County Council is committed to providing improved transport 
choice and reducing congestion as well as the tragic number of people killed 
or seriously injured on our roads."

Cambridgeshire County Councillor Mandy Smith, who represents the village of 
Papworth Everard said: " This is great news and will mean that the villagers 
can breath a sigh of relief now that thousands of vehicles will be bypassing 
the village. This new stretch of road will bring big benefits to the village 
of Papworth Everard and to all those who use the area. It will especially 
improve safety for the children who use this busy route."

John Reynolds