A47 to be made dual carriageway between A1 at Wansford and Sutton near Peterborough

Plans to make the A47 dual carriageway have been given the go-ahead.

The Secretary of State for Transport, Mark Harper, rubber stamped recommendations put to him by the Planning Inspectorate, which scrutinised Highways England's scheme.

Today's decision means a single-lane, 1.6-mile section of the A47 from the A1 at Wansford to the Sutton roundabout near Peterborough will now be widened into dual carriageway.

A free-flow link road will be added from the A1 southbound to A47 eastbound and there will be a path included for walking and cycling.

Chris Griffin, programme leader for the A47 National Highways, said: “Those who regularly travel on this section of the A47 will know what a bottleneck it can be.

"Our plans will relieve that problem, make the road safer, and improve journey times.”

Traffic data suggests the section of the A47 between the Wansford junction with the A1 and the Nene Way roundabout near Sutton carries more than 34,000 vehicles each day.

Following the proposed improvements, casualty projections over the next 60 years indicate that as many as 42 fatal or serious injury collisions could be prevented, with up to 160 fewer accidents.

The work will include the conservation of the stone-built Wansford Road Station, which was open from 1869 until 1929.

Nene Valley Railway, a charity, applied to National Highways to save the station and will receive more than £200,000 from National Highways to help with its relocation.

Wansford Road Station will then become a boarding point for Nene Valley Railway services on its line between Wansford and Peterborough