A huge new road has opened connecting three counties as part of a national railway project.

HS2, the UK’s new high-speed railway currently under construction, has opened the first stretch of a 50-mile-long temporary access road that will connect construction sites across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire and South Warwickshire.

The road’s purpose is to alleviate traffic pressure and build up on existing roads that surround the sites.

READ MORE: HS2 hiring for around 50 jobs in Oxfordshire

Tracing the route of the controversial HS2 railway, the road is intended to carry around 400-500 vehicles every day.

Built by EKFB, HS2 Ltd’s main works contractor – a group made up of Eiffage, Kier, Ferrovial Construction and BAM Nuttall – the first 11-mile stretch of road will connect the major construction at Calvert with adjoining sites in Aylesbury and Greatworth, near the Oxfordshire-Northamptonshire border.

Future stretches, to the north and south, are expected to be completed in the coming weeks.

This will precede a sharp increase in earthworks activity over the summer as HS2’s focus turns to creating cuttings and embankments that will carry the railway.

EKFB plans to shift 30m cubic metres of material during construction of the central portion of HS2, with most of that material staying on site.

In a sustainability effort, material excavated from cuttings will be reused locally for embankments and landscaping.  

The road will be removed once construction is complete, and areas alongside the line planted with new grassland and woodland.

 

Read more from this author

This story was written by Matthew Norman, he joined the team in 2022 as a Facebook community reporter.

Matthew covers Bicester and focuses on finding stories from diverse communities.

Get in touch with him by emailing: Matthew.norman@newsquest.co.uk

Follow him on Twitter: @OxMailMattN1

A message from our Editor

Thank you for reading this story and supporting the Oxford Mail.

If you like what we do please consider getting a subscription for the Oxford Mail and in return we’ll give you unrestricted access with less adverts across our website from the latest news, investigations, features, and sport.

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Tik Tok for more. 

You can also join the conversation in our Facebook groups: stay ahead of traffic alerts here, keep up to date with the latest from court here, share your favourite memories of Oxford here, get your daily dose of celebrity news here and take some time out with news that will make you smile. 

If you’ve got a story for our reporters, send us your news here. You can also list an event for free here.