Major highways projects
Contents
A43 Northampton to Kettering improvements
The A43 between Northampton and Kettering suffers from congestion hotspots, journey time delay and road safety issues due to vehicles trying to overtake. To tackle these problems, the Council is continuing a project commenced by the former County Council to dual the A43 outside Northampton towards the A14.
Phases
Due to the scale of the scheme it has been delivered in phases.
Improvements to the Round Spinney roundabout (phase 1a) were completed in 2015. These resulted in increased capacity at this junction and improved traffic flow.
Phase 2 was a dualling of the section north of the Moulton roundabout to a new junction near Overstone Grange. This was opened to traffic in early 2018.
Phase 1b was fully opened for traffic in June 2020. This provided a new road between the Round Spinney and Moulton roundabouts bypassing the existing road.
Phase 3 is intended to extend the dualling to the Holcot and Sywell roundabout. A bid for Government funding towards this phase was submitted in 2016 but was not successful.
Bidding
A bid for Major Road Network funding to construct this section was submitted in August 2019 and a Strategic Outline Business Case has been submitted to support this.
As at the start of 2025 we are still awaiting a decision on this from the Department for Transport, which will enable further work on the scheme design and business case to proceed.
Public consultation
Consultation and examination hearings for the West Northamptonshire Joint Core Strategy highlighted the view of the local community. Improvements to the A43, among other measures, are necessary to support the proposed development at Northampton North.
Scheme cost and funding
Phase 2 was constructed within its budget of £9.25m. It was comprised of:
- £6.5m of government funding secured through the South East Midlands Local Enterprise Partnership (SEMLEP) and
- £2.75m of Section 106 funding from the Overstone Leys development
Phase 1b was constructed within its budget of £17.5m. This included:
- £7.9m of government funding through the SEMLEP Local Growth Deal, and
- £4.1m of Section 106 funding
Phase 3 will cost in excess of £23m.
This section will be updated as the scheme progresses.
Last updated 08 April 2025