The A428 road is a major road in central and eastern England. It runs between the cities of Coventry and Cambridge by way of the county towns of Northampton and Bedford. Together with the A421,, the eastern section of the A428 forms the route between Cambridge and Oxford. The A428 was formerly part of the main route from Birmingham to Felixstowe before the A14 was fully opened in 1993.
East of Northampton, the road passes Little Houghton, Brafield-on-the-Green and Yardley Hastings. After here it enters the borough of Milton Keynes where it meets the A509 at Warrington roundabout. Continuing towards Bedford, the road passes Lavendon and Cold Brayfield. Crossing the Great Ouse it enters Bedfordshire at Turvey, on to Bromham. It meets the A422 at a roundabout outside Bromham. The road bypasses Bromham and, leaving behind its former route east-bound through Bedford, swings southwards on a new alignment then, via a new bridge over the Great Ouse, merges with the A421 south of Kempston. The A428 loses its identity here: the route continues as the A421 as it bypasses Bedford, Great Barford and Roxton and goes on to become the dual-carriageway A1 at the Black Cat Roundabout. Heading north, the route leaves the A1 via a grade separated junction just south of St Neots and regains its identity. Crossed by the East Coast Main Line, it leaves Bedfordshire for Cambridgeshire. The A428 from here to Cambridge follows the former A45, which became the A428 when the A14 opened. It meets the A1198 at Caxton Gibbet roundabout near Papworth Everard. From here the road is dual carriageway, bypassing the existing single carriageway section near Hardwick. The route terminates, merging into the A14 at Girton interchange, where traffic joins first from the M11 junction 14 and then from the trunk A14 road junction 31.
Proposed developments
Oxford to Cambridge Expressway
In the "Road investment strategy" announced to Parliament by the Department for Transport and Secretary of State for Transport on 1 December 2014, planning will begin to dual the section between the A1 and the A1198 at Caxton Gibbet. The announcement said that the A1/A421 Black Cat Roundabout would be replaced with a grade-separated junction, just a few years after this roundabout was expensively upgraded. The link would provide an uninterrupted dual carriageway route between the M1 at Junction 13 and the A14 near Cambridge, part of a longer-term proposal to establish an "Oxford to Cambridge Expressway", via Milton Keynes. On 18 February 2019, Highways England announced final route selection for the new road between Caxton Gibbet and the Black Cat junction. In September 2019, geological survey work began on the route.
History
The section between Cambridge and the A1 was originally part of the A45.
Bypasses and realignments
Crick
West Haddon
Little Houghton
Bromham
Bedford - The first section of the Bedford Western Bypass opened December 2009. The route, in length, commences at the Bromham Bypass on the east side of the river for approximately. It then passes southwards crossing the River Great Ouse flood plain and bypasses Kempston to meet the A421. The original route through Bedford was reclassified as the A4280.
Cambourne: Bypassed by a stretch of dual carriageway opened in May 2003.
Caxton Gibbet: A two-lane £55 million dual carriageway section opened on 24 May 2007 after widening works started by the Highways Agency in August 2005, linking this point to a grade-separated junction at Hardwick.
