Drone footage first highlighted by BBC Beds, Herts & Bucks shows clear progress on the new 10-mile dual carriageway being built between Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire. The £1 billion scheme is the A428 Black Cat to Caxton Gibbet upgrade, and it remains one of the largest road projects under way in the region.
For readers following Universal United Kingdom Resort, the connection is indirect but worth watching: this is part of the wider Bedfordshire transport network that will shape future access across the area. No direct link to the resort has been confirmed, but any major change to the corridor between Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire will be relevant to how the region handles traffic in the years ahead.
What the scheme is changing
National Highways says the project will replace the last stretch of single carriageway on the route with a new 10-mile dual carriageway, alongside junction upgrades at Black Cat and Caxton Gibbet. The road sits on a busy east-west corridor that already sees heavy traffic and frequent delays, and the official case for the scheme is that it will make journeys quicker, safer and more reliable.
The government says work on the route started on 12 December 2023, following £1 billion of investment. In its planning material, National Highways describes the scheme as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project, which required a Development Consent Order before construction could begin.
How far work has progressed
The latest National Highways update says the scheme reached its halfway point in October 2025, with work continuing at key locations including the Black Cat junction upgrade and Caxton Gibbet roundabout. It also says a new junction at Cambridge Road in St Neots has opened, giving a further sign that the project is now well past the early earthworks stage.
That update gives some scale to what the drone footage is showing from above. National Highways says it has already moved 7.1 million tonnes of earth, laid 60,000 tonnes of asphalt and lifted 84 bridge beams into place across the scheme, with 18 new bridges due to be built once the project is complete.
What happens next
National Highways says the scheme remains on track to open in spring 2027. For Bedfordshire residents, that means the visible build-out is likely to continue for another year or so, while the road’s long-term value will depend on how well it takes pressure off the existing network and links up with the rest of the region. Any effect on Universal United Kingdom Resort will come through that wider transport picture rather than through a confirmed direct link.
