when the A14 opened. It meets the A1198 (former A14) 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 A1M11/A14 link In the "Road investment strategy" announced to Parliament by the Department for Transport and Secretary of State for Transport on 1 December 2014, planning would 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 M11/A14 (at Junction 14 and 31) near Cambridge. On 18 February 2019, Highways England announced final route selection for the new road between Caxton Gibbet and the Black Cat junction (which will cease to be a roundabout and become a three-level GSJ). In September 2019, geological survey work began on the route. In March 2021, Highways England awarded contracts for construction of the Black CatCaxton Gibbet link. In September 2021, National Highways announced that this new section of dual carriageway will be designated A421 (and the bypassed sections will be renumbered as A1428 and B1428). The announcement does not say whether the section between the A1198 and the A14/M11 junction will also be renumbered, which would create a single designation for the entire route between these junctions. Oxford to Cambridge Expressway In March 2021, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps cancelled a proposed grade-separated dual carriageway between M1 J13 and the A34 near Oxford, citing analysis that showed that its costs would exceed its benefits. History The section between Cambridge and the A1 was originally part of the A45. Bypasses and realignments Crick (Bypassed, now unclassified) West Haddon (Bypassed, now unclassified) Little Houghton (Bypassed, now unclassified) (the £1.4 million bypass opened in December 1979) Bromham (the £4.8 million bypass opened in September 1986) 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