New Junction on the A1 at Grantham 

I'm a lorry driver. Our yard is right next to the junction and can be seen in the aerial footage. This junction sees a lot of use from us and external drivers accessing our yard, prior to opening if we were coming from thd North or west, we would either have to drive through the town centre or take a 12 mile detour on the A1 to colsterworth. I'd argue that this has already taken a lot of vehicles out of Grantham.

Thanks for covering this one John, just spent 3 years of my life on the construction of Phase 2 and 3, of which has been good learning curve to be honest. Phase 3 was due to open this year but due to ground failure on the east side where the abutment was due to be constructed, the bridge has now undergone a redesign and will be another 80m longer than the original design, with many many piles to support the abutment rather than relying on the strength of the ground. I've got many photos of various stages of construction if you were interested, including exposed piles supporting the A1 overbridge itself.

Genuinely quality reporting on the facts we need to know. Also I have a feeling know where the next meeting of "Cars without exhuasts" will be held :)

They seem to be doing better than Newark's southern link road which is also part of a growth point scheme. So far it's taken them 1.6 billion years to build part of the first phase. Currently it looks like they're starting on the roundabout that will finally link it to the A1 flyover next to the new (exciting!) service area. The developers have managed to build a bunch of houses* though. * The kind of brand-new houses where the curtain poles fall off the wall if you try and hang curtains from them (genuinely, this is true)

I live in Grantham and can’t wait for this project to be completed, it will make a huge difference to take out all the passing lorries and trucks from going through the town. It really needed it and will be really good. Love the channel and a fan btw.

This is definitively the most important channel on all of RU-vid. All the other content pales by comparison. Becoming a subscriber to AUTO SHAGGINTONS was truly the proudest moment of my life. We celebrated with our extended family at the village hall. The cider flowed and the merriment was sublime. The event cost me thousands, but it was worth every farthing. This chap must be made a Knight of the Realm for his devoted, unselfish service to humanity. As I sit and type this I weep tears of gratitude. In all my life I never knew I could obtain such a profound understanding of the UK motorway system.

Thanks about the first Diesel (oil) engined road vehicles ( or off road for the little tractor unit ). something I didnt know about, or know that I needed to know about.

Love the 'Phase 1 &2 - Completed it mate' never change your sense of humour in these videos, John!

I did my motorbike test in Grantham back around '06 and it was already a nightmare then. Last time I drove down the A1 there had been alot of improvements had been made already and was another world away from the old road. Good on Grantham and good on a government actually allocating funds to things that aren't in London (or peoples back pockets).

@2:40 I'm glad I wasn't the only one thinking it'd make a sweet racetrack.

We have also been in the top 10 for lorry bridge strikes since i can remember. The 3 bridges we have are popular with lorry drivers. The bypass will help divert traffic away from the bridges.

Any reduction of traffic between the A52 and the A1 will be replaced by traffic from the 10,000 new homes the council wants built. The area where they want the housing only has 2 routes into the town which is regularly grid locked as it is. By the way the name’s nothing to do with a farm, the area was called Spitalgate (Spittlegate) before being incorporated into the town. It’s from (Ho)Spitalgate with gate being a corruption of “gata”, the Danish for “route to” and the “hospital” being a religious house of “hospitality” on the Great North Road which became a leper hospital.

phase 3 already changed so much , a 5th bridge pillar added as the ground is a bit wet. Delayed as they found plans for the road when dug up so roman stuff, the last time anyone knew how to build a road properly :)

I used to go through Grantham a lot and this will be a plus for anyone trying to get around it.

Coincidently drove past this today on the A1 and wondered what it was all about so thanks very much for the explanation 🙂

I like this sort of snappy info type shorter video. Also like the fact someone might have got an E36 compact sideways.

An little factoid for you - Richard Hornsby & Sons never built a engine. Hornsby made "heavy oil" engines as developed by Herbert Akroyd Stuart, based on paraffin. It just so happens that Dr. Diesel developed his "heavy oil" engine around the same time. Hornsby & Son, and latterly Ruston-Hornsby, staunchily labelled their engines as "heavy oil" despite burning the same fuel as we now call diesel oil.

Excellent video Jon. Hopefully keeping the traffic out of Graham and away from the low railway bridge will massively reduce congestion.

John hope you are do well. Thank you for continuing to make videos when everyone else seems to be taking a break. Your definitely making my days better in a bit of a low point in my life. So thanks man!

My Grandad bought a VW Passat from Spitalgate Motors in Grantham in 1983. Brings back memories…

It's nice to find out that the southern parts of Lincolnshire are getting some new and upgraded infrastructure. Shame about the north of the county where it is just a question of building thousands of horrid boxlike houses and McMansions on every patch of AONB land the government can bully out of the district councils. Schools, roads, hospitals be damned.

Thanks for this! I semi regularly drive between Norfolk and Nottingham. Sometimes I take the A17 and A52 and thus have to drive through Grantham town centre. Sometimes I take the A47 and A1 and as such noticed this new junction being made. It baffled me, seemingly being in the middle of nowhere and serving no purpose, I figured it was going to be a new industrial area, which I see is somewhat true but not the whole story. This also explains the work and new junction at the roundabout south of Grantham, which will connect the two. Although with all the signs for "quarry traffic" I had just assumed that was all just quarry related. Had no idea about the new southern bypass. I look forward to its completion!

I've seen this road being constructed when I've been on the train to and from London. I often wondered what it was about so thanks for that

Didn't expect this! I'm quite local and desperately need phase 3 to be finished so I don't have to go all the way to Colsterworth to get onto the A1 northbound safely (the Ponton junctions are ridiculously dangerous) and Grantham takes ages to get through at rush hour. Have already been down the junction even though it's a bit pointless in its current state. Also Grantham taking credit for Isaac Newton is a bit cheeky, he lived in Colsterworth, not Grantham.

it's by far the highest standard junction on that stretch of the A1 - the rest of it is like going back in time to 1960, when tiny grade separated junctions with 90 degree sliproads, right turns across the central reservation, and property accesses on the main carriageway were considered acceptable on trunk roads (I've driven it many times en route between Yorkshire and Ipswich, both in a car and on a 600 cc bike; it's the most stressful part of the drive)

Not far down the road from me in Newark, driven past the works countless times. Re Spittlegate, that was also the name of the RAF base there too, now home to an Army Reserve base.

Love this ❤ would absolutely love to see a video on the absolutely chaotic roundabout in rushden Northamptonshire that crosses the a6 and a45. Would love to see your take on it 😊

Thanks for this. I watched the construction from inception as I drove lorries down to London at least twice a week. After retiring in October. I didn't get to see the final result but may well take a run down. That bit of hill up to there heading south will always hold a place in my heart, as it's where my Turbo decided to eat itself, and I had an interesting couple of minutes careering down the other side running on engine oil!

Rotten Borough is a superb satire about local authority. By Oliver Anderson, pen name Julian Pine, 1937. Based on Grantham, when Thatcher's father would have been a substantial local figure. Banned shortly after publication. Republished in the 1980s when I got it and gave it to my father-in-law who absolutely loved it - he came from Grantham, would have been late 20s when it came out, so he remembered the scenario clearly. Nearly bust a gut laughing and recalling related incidents and individuals

Today I had a trundle down the A1 from the M62, 84 miles of unadulterated dual carriageway to Stamford. Now I’m in a Hilton travel lodge on the A14 near Colchester for the night. JPH thank you for these facts, you’re the dogs 👍🏼

By far the best channel on RU-vid.... love this guy!

It's to help with the flow of traffic going through Grantham. Yes there were doubts about this,but it's coming along nicely.I am from Grantham as I was born here in 1979. That's also why the M.O.D had sold Grantham's Army base,Prince William of Glocester Barraks

Thanks for covering this, didn't expect it given it's fairly local to me. Living in around the Sleaford area for years and going south on the A1 to London has always involved me going on the B6403 to get to the A1, once the entire link road is complete then maybe I'll take the new A52 route. Although the views and scenery probably wont be as good, but maybe, just maybe faster.

The old northbound entry from Foston was fantastic - first the mad dash across the southbound lane to the central reservation, and then pull directly into the northbound lanes - no slip, just wheels spinning and hoping your first-car shitbox doesn't stall out as you take off. I've nearly died several times with my Gran, who would take art least 15 minutes to get up to her maximum motorway speed of ~60mph. Deadly! Local Molly Marshall (a school mates Mum) campaigned successfully for a road between Long Bennington and Foston in order to get rid of this dangerous section, and the crossing (along with the old slip road to Foston) was closed off. This new road was named "Marshall Way" in her honour. You can still see the remnants of both the old slip road off the A1 to Foston and the A1 crossing, sadly can’t share the link. One summer night during construction of the new road I was cycling back from The Reindeer in Bennington to our then-home in Foston. I took the new road rather than riding down the A1, and good job too as clearly I'd had one too many - one of those plastic orange meshes/nets appeared out of the dark, which I promptly crashed into and painfully sprawled myself across the part-completed road surface.

You're such a lefty, I wondered how you'd manage to stay nice when covering Grantham. You did it in a acceptable manner 👏

Looks a reasonably well-designed junction unlike the existing A52 junction which looks like it was designed in the days when people learnt how to double declutch and minis were small, British and the latest thing on the road. When phase 3 opens more traffic is likely to be routed via a section of the A1 which already suffers from congestion. I see below Great Ponton mentioned. Whatever happened to the plans to convert the A1 to D3M which stopped at Peterborough. I've heard it said that the anti-road protestors' aim to make road building as difficult and expensive as possible is one reason for this. Did anyone consider public safety and sections like that at Great Ponton?

I live just south of here in Stamford, will have to check this out 😀 Also Stamford's 3 slip roads onto the A1 (B1081-new bridge but still short slip road, A6121 & A606) are old from the 1960's and very short and dangerous in rush hour!

Glad you covered this, when travelling up the A1, or any major road I always have a curiosity what a large construction project is, but by the time I arrive at my destination, forget to look it up. This is just one of those, many thanks for answering.

A new junction has opened on the M11 too, between Harlow and Stansted Airport, it confused the heck out of me! I panicked trying to figure out where I was, thinking I was about to miss my exit while also thinking how can I be there already!?

Its to ease the traffic congestion in Grantham that are heading from Nottingham to Skegness and vice versa, make it easier for large goods vehicles too, for them to get through they are met by awkward train bridges(about 3), some sometimes get stuck as they don't read the height of the bridges, the bypass will let them avoid all that and also allowing holiday makers going to skeggy not block the roads in the town up so much with there caravans. At some point in the future the A52 between nottingham and skegness will be all dual carriageway

Spittal in a place name usually signifies a place where lepers were living and cared for in medieval times .Usually away from towns etc. May have been a hospital site run by monks .

So many roundabouts on such a short length of road (the southern Bypass) and a further two at the A1 junction itself! Almost any other European country, even former communist ones, would have had all grade separated junctions and a free flow junction with the A1; but not Britain. We always adopt euphemistically called 'value engineering' i.e. as cheap as possible, regardless of the long term inconvenience and, in this mad period of obsession with 'net zero', the inevitably increased fuel consumption in negotiating the roundabouts.

Once the new link road cut across to the a52 from said junction it’ll be sweet 👍🏻👍🏻

As a trucker myself, this is a very welcome solution for any traffic travelling East/West along the A52 (as I have done myself - recently too!) Doubly so as it will bypass the low bridges in Grantham (for any double stacker drivers) and make their town centre far safer and quieter.

I have been working on this site for well over 2 years. been interesting to see it grow from a hole in the ground to what it is now

Yep, driving phase 1 and 2 are a bit quiet. Apparently additional funding for phase 3, the bridge over the valley, is being debated soon, as it needs an extra £20million or so, because initial start of one side of the bridge was found to be less safe than originally 'found', so it needs moving slightly.

Woah there!!! Isaac Newton was from 'Woolsthorpe by Colsterworth'. I can see his house from my bedroom window. Please, let us not sully his good name with any association with Grantham!

well needed junction. in the past i have spent years just getting through grantham to get to nottingham.

Visited this evening. Great little junction.

All the roundabouts north of Peterborough to Newcastle have been removed on the A1 now. None of them to the south!

And RAF Spittlegate was where I did the 5/6 day (rain stopped some play) glider training course as a 16-yo ATC cadet. DId my 3 solo flights launched from a bungee. Thought I'd get that in. Only remarkable point for Grantham imo

I think that the new A52 Grantham Southern Bypass is scheduled to be completed next year with a new bridge to pass over the ECML and River Witham. You could do A508 Roade as it’s to have a new bypass and is schedule to be completed by the end of this year.

2:39 Nope, definitely wasn't thinking that... 👀

Never mind this. When are they going to remove the 50mph stretch on the A1 at Elkesley? And preferably the village itself, as punishment.

I can confirm, Grantham's transport links heavily need improving. I can't drive I'm just interested in tis sort of stuff, however having lived nearby sort of for 7 years growing up from yer 8 to uni, my god was it difficult to get anywhere in one of the biggest counties going. So it should be getting better, and I hope it does. Also this A52 extension will be so handy because we use the B6403 I think it is so often just to get to the A1 going south, Very fun road to drive swerving all the potholes but not great as a main route, and heading through Grantham just makes it even worse so yeah

Short and sweet (like my pool game ) two shot game over lol .excellent as usual Chris x

This is for a new secret Highways Agency depot so they can deploy very quickly to the scene and cone off lanes if someone has thrown an empty Coke can and Crisp packet

Love your channel. Can I give you a couple of ideas for future material? The m62 at Liverpool. It ends at what is known as the Rocket because of the pub that is there. It ends at j4 because it was meant to go right into the city of Liverpool. That would be a good video for you to cover possibly. Also the similar story of the m23 which also ends prematurely.

One of the most important reasons for taking traffic out of the town are the 3 low railway bridges, there is a bridge strike every month without fail.

And they are building the NEW Grantham Designer Outlet

Keep them coming John!!

Top marks for using the theme from "North City" in Gran Turismo 2!

Great video as always

Having been up and down the A1 a lot, I was wondering about this junction, too.

Yes you did read my mind thinking it would be a perfect place to go sideways in an e36 😂😂

I wondered what they was building there. Every time I've driven past usually late at night it has been blocked off. Didn't know it opened up recently and it was lit up and I wondered what it was all about. Well now I know

Another bonus episode! The A1 has massively changed / improved during my lifetime and now very few roundabouts remain on the major dual carriageway sections however I wasn’t aware of this new junction… clearly I haven’t travelled that way much in recent years!

1:46 this new junction has already removed the need of driving through town. Instead of getting off the A1 at Barrowby and driving through town to join the A52 you get off the A1 at the new junction and drive down the B1174 to join the A52.

A piece on the A30 Exeter to Lands End would be cool one day.

Great work John. Very enjoyable 👍

The best part was when the street lights flashed to say hello. They are happy you are telling their story. Don't drive on any b-roads at night though. Because they angry. :)

Oh My! Definitely looks like a good Motorsports venue. A much better use use of the otherwise wasted fresh tarmac! 😻

Recent initiative by the labour government.....pah what bollox, Granthams been campaigning for an east west by pass for over 40 years, and all that was needed was a road, not 4000 homes and industrial and commercial districts, and as for routing A52 traffic onto the already congested A1 for a couple of miles to facilitate it is ridiculous

Another excellent and informative Video Mate.

Went over that junction today heading from Peterborough up to Dunfermline. Always wondered the exact reason/why/wherefore/layouts etc for these sorts of projects.. I get about a bit so have seen the ongoing progress of this very project from beginning to ‘end’(ish)

Does that politician (name escapes me!) at 0:37 look a lot like Tom Scott? Oh, thanks for not mentioning the Iron Lady either!! ;-)

Down our way, in the great county of Essex we pronounce the stream of letters quoted as Wit-ham, just a local anomaly! Thanks for otherwise great content Dave

20 years planning to build 6,000 houses- enough to house perhaps 24,000 people. About the number who land their inflatables at Dover every 5 months.

nice unexpected interlude! Many thanks John

Great video and I would love if you could make more about road projects around the country, maybe one about the Worcester southern link road or however unlikely a video about a Hereford bypass that’s been continuously proposed and cancelled for a couple decades now?

Well this is a surprise, I live less than a mile from the new junction. Some extra information for you. Grantham town centre has 2 bridges (the East Coast Mainline) that are in the top 20 most struck (by lorries) bridges in the country, 1 came 3rd on the list and the other came 19th, obviously this fluctuates year on year, but it's the only location in the UK to consistently see 2 bridges in the top 20. This has played a part in the remit for the Grantham southern relief road, as there's no other way for A52 from Boston and Norfolk freight traffic to get across to other side towards Nottingham or Leicester, east to west. We also regularly see lorry breakdowns close to or on the Barrowby Road bridge (the northern one of the two bridges), which causes huge traffic congestion across town. The viaduct you spoke about and showed, that got delayed last year when the abutment ramp foundations on the eastern side had slipped due to softer ground than expected, and a new survey had to be conducted and new plans submitted that involved extending the bridge and bringing back the abutment ramp. The road was supposed to have been completed this year, but the extra work needed to the viaduct costing an additional estimated £15m to the £133m project and delaying it another 18 month, with 2025 now pencilled in. I've used the new junction once when coming back from going down south, I suspect this new junction will be pushed/sign posted as the main entrance to Grantham south, but unless they close the exit before the new junction when approaching from the south, I can't see that happening as it should split A1 north and south traffic, the B1174 exit (only slip roads in a southerly direction) will be the faster route to and from the A1 when going to or coming from the South. Personally I would've liked to have seen the junction slightly further south for better future proofing, that would've directed the new A52 road south of the industrial area completely rather than going through it, as I can envisage once the planned Retail Village gets built we will see congestion build up from the conflict of leisure consumers and freight traffic on and between the two roundabouts east of the dumbbell roundabouts. However I suspect that didn't happen due to the alignment of Geo's Little Ponton quarry and Anglian Water's Saltersford Water Treatment Works, as well as consultation with Network Rail who own the strip of land in the valley.

Wait! Erm... What? It's not Sunday is it? Where am I? What day is it? I only had an afternoon nap I thought... (Checks day on 'phone) ... Phew! It's a midweek upload. Thanks John mate! But steady on old chap. I nearly had kittens!

What a lot of work for something that may never happen. Nice report Bob

Very factual and well presented Jon, your not auditioning to bring back old factual top gear by any chance?! As always fantastic video, footage and editing too.

No chance, the first diesel engine was invented by Rudolph Diesel in Paris in 1858, and the first tractor was made in 1892 in northwest Iowa USA by John Froelich.

Looks like a great bit of road - thanks for the info

I’m a UK trucker based in Felixstowe. They should finish the M11 off through Lincolnshire. It was supposed to finish at the humber bridge. Maybe you could do a video about the matter. A lot of freight goes back and forth to Lincs, most of which is food. It would pay for itself in no time. 🤷🏼‍♂️

Grantham keep building houses but unfortunately don’t have fully running hospital with only minor injury open till 6pm schooling a big issue with lot of children going to schools a hour away from grantham . Grantham is lacking and need to build schools doctors and have a running hospital Before building more homes .

Getting from the Midlands to the East coast holiday areas is a nightmare. I can get to Lanzaroti quicker.

From the look of the signs there will be a new weight restriction implemented through grantham after phase 2 is completed Also there are a fair few low bridges in grantham that get hit alot

Lived here all my life and this bypass has been on the cards for more than that. I live south of Grantham and the accidents caused by lorries doing u turns at Ponton, haxs increased so hopefully this will stop these idiots.

Down the road from me this, it seems an age since its started. 70mph now tho, average cameras have gone, until you hit great ponton/ colsterworth. Im sure at some point theres gonna be huge retail outlet.

Did you know the groundworks put down in Phase 3 started moving towards the end of next year so it’s had a large time and money extension again…

thats so funny as i was lit thinking that slip road off the a1 has a sick angle and id love to see someone go side ways on it haha

Probably a good place to ask what the new Harlow junction on the M11 is all about???? Never seen it busy....unless it has certain times...

According to the 'internet', the population of Grantham in 2022 was 35,000. You could fit the WHOLE town into Arsenal's old Highbury Stadium, and STILL have 3,500 spare seats!!

Thatch! I knew the joke was coming but still enjoyed it.

😂 exactly that I was thinking - will make a great drift track!

I like a good dumbbell junction, almost as good as a trumpet junction ! Thanks for that !

It'll be for that A1-A52 relief road and the Spitalgate Heath Garden Village development. Or was your question rhetorical??