Stephen McPartland, Member of Parliament for Stevenage, met with Highways England to discuss the A1(M) widening scheme and receive the latest progress update.

Stephen, said "I have met with Highways England several times to discuss the scheme, which will upgrade the A1(M) at Stevenage to a Smart Motorway. This includes widening of the two lane section to dual three lane and hard shoulder running between Junctions 6 and 8, Welwyn to Stevenage. It costs £8million a mile and I was delighted to secure the funding in the first ever Road Investment Strategy back in autumn 2014.

"A huge amount of work has already been undertaken by Highways England, as they will be responsible for the full design and delivery of the scheme. I have now seen the latest plans that have been developed from this exhaustive preliminary planning work and we are very close to beginning the detailed design work. It is important that the planning and design stages are as comprehensive as possible, because it will prevent any delays when construction begins.

"I am grateful to Highways England for the work they have done and take into consideration a number of points I have raised on behalf of local people. The latest progress meeting was an exciting discussion as the scheme is starting to take shape. It did raise a few more questions, but by working closely together we are making excellent progress and are on schedule for construction in 2019/20."

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