The A421 eastbound to Black Cat shuts 8pm to 6am every weeknight to 20 November, after the A1 weekend closure ends. Manor Road stays shut until 27 November.

The A421 eastbound from Renhold to the Black Cat roundabout is shut every weeknight from 8pm to 6am, Monday 9 to Friday 20 November, for central reservation work on the A428 scheme. The A1 northbound between Tempsford and Wyboston closes on the same weeknights, 9pm to 5am. Both come straight after this weekend’s big closure, which ends at 5am on Monday 9 November.

This weekend, until 5am Monday: National Highways has the A1 shut both ways between Tempsford, Black Cat and Wyboston, the A421 westbound from Black Cat back to Renhold, and Bedford Road from Roxton Road to Black Cat. The signed diversion uses the A603, the A1 northbound, St Neots Road and the A428.

Next weekend, 13 to 16 November: the A1 southbound between Wyboston and Tempsford is shut from 9pm Friday to 5am Monday.

Manor Road, Kempston Hardwick, stays shut to through traffic until Friday 27 November for Universal’s earthworks, 24 hours a day. Kempston Hardwick station is reached from the Woburn Road end only.

Remembrance Sunday closes the Embankment from 9am on Sunday 8 November for the 10.30am service at the war memorial; details are on our Remembrance Sunday page.

This page covers what is genuinely current, then the parts that stay true between updates: the routes worth knowing, where to check live closures yourself, and the parking rules most people in Bedford get wrong.

Last checked against National Highways, Bedford Borough Council and Universal on 7 November 2026. Thameslink’s engineering page loaded on 7 November but showed only that day’s work, none of it at the Bedford end; see the trains section.

Greyfriars: overnight closures were due to end 28 October

The council published the dates on 17 September, and its project page still gave 28 October as the end date when we re-read it on 7 November. Neither the project page nor the council’s news page has said whether the closures ended on time or were extended. The works ran between 9pm and 5am from 27 September to 28 October, the council’s “final phase” of the scheme, and were needed, in the council’s words, to complete “resurfacing, installation of road markings and associated works safely and efficiently”.

What the council has said about them:

  • closures are overnight only, to keep daytime disruption down
  • pedestrian access is maintained at all times, though temporary walkways or short diversions may be in place
  • the Bus Station Hub stops next to the roundabout will be paused, with services re-routed via the Bus Station
  • signs at each end of the site carry the latest position if the programme moves

If the closures do run on past 28 October, the council’s Greyfriars project page gives these diversions for drivers:

Coming from Diversion
River Street Midland Road, Ashburnham Road, Bromham Road
Dame Alice Street or Union Street Bromham Road, Ashburnham Road, Midland Road
Any direction, on nights the Midland Road / River Street junction is also shut Rope Walk, Longholme Way, Newnham Avenue, Goldington Road, St Peter’s Street, Bromham Road

The council has not said which nights needed the longer route. During the closure hours, buses that terminate at Bedford Bus Station were redirected to stops on St Paul’s Square. The project page dates the closures from 29 September; the council’s news release said 27 September. Both give 28 October as the end.

Why the junction is being rebuilt

This is the tail end of Transporting Bedford 2030, one of the projects paid for out of Bedford’s £22.6 million Towns Fund award. The council puts the Greyfriars scheme at £2.31m plus a £0.25m contribution, and the contribution comes from Bedfordshire Police, whose former station site next door is being opened up for housing.

The change itself is a big one for anyone who drives through town. The existing roundabout is being converted into a signal-controlled junction, with new cycle lanes and new pedestrian crossings, and the road layout shrunk to free up land at the old police station site. The council’s own reasoning is that the roundabout “occupies a substantial amount of valuable land in the town centre”.

One detail that has been asked about repeatedly: the Italian statue on the roundabout is going into storage once the work begins. The council says fine art specialists found it needs restoration after years of exposure, and that it is still looking for a new home for it.

Black Cat and the A428: the A1 underpass slips to mid-summer 2027

The A421 runs along the south of the town from the M1 at Junction 13 to the A1 at the Black Cat roundabout, and almost every longer journey out of the borough joins it somewhere. National Highways’ largest project in construction is being built at the far end of it.

National Highways is building a 10-mile dual carriageway between the Black Cat roundabout and Caxton Gibbet, rebuilding both junctions on the way. It is a £1 billion scheme and the largest infrastructure project the agency currently has in construction. When it is finished it expects to cut average journey times on the route by up to 10 minutes.

The opening has now been split in two.

  • Spring 2027: the majority of the scheme opens, including the new 10-mile A421 dual carriageway, the new A421 flyover at Black Cat, the new Cambridge Road junction and the fully upgraded Caxton Gibbet junction.
  • Mid-summer 2027: the final phase, the new A1 underpass at Black Cat, comes into use.

Until that underpass opens, A1 traffic keeps using the Black Cat roundabout. That is the practical point for anyone driving from Bedford towards Peterborough or Cambridge: the roundabout is not going away this year.

National Highways attributes the delay on the underpass to a higher than expected number of unrecorded underground services, water, gas and telecoms, which the utility companies themselves have had to move before construction could safely continue. It says it will confirm firm opening dates in early 2027.

Progress so far, in the agency’s own figures: 7.1 million tonnes of earth moved, 60,000 tonnes of asphalt laid, over 27 miles of utilities diverted and 84 bridge beams lifted into place across 13 structures, out of 18 new bridges in total.

Current closures on the scheme

Closures on a project this size change weekly, and National Highways warns they can move at short notice.

When we read the agency’s closures page on 7 November it listed these still to come or still running on the Bedford side of the scheme, in date order:

Dates What closes Diversion
9pm Fri 6 to 5am Mon 9 Nov A1 both ways between Tempsford, Black Cat and Wyboston; A421 westbound Black Cat to Renhold; Bedford Road, Roxton Road to Black Cat A603, A1 northbound, St Neots Road, A428
Weeknights Mon 9 to Fri 20 Nov, 8pm to 6am A421 eastbound, Renhold to Black Cat (central reserve work) A603, A1 north, St Neots Road, A428
Weeknights Mon 9 to Fri 20 Nov, 9pm to 5am A1 northbound, Tempsford to Wyboston (central reserve work) St Neots Road and A428
9pm Fri 13 to 5am Mon 16 Nov A1 southbound, Wyboston to Tempsford A428 and St Neots Road
9pm Fri 20 to 5am Mon 23 Nov A421 westbound, Black Cat to Renhold A1 southbound and A603

No new closures on the Bedford side have been added since our check on 24 October; the October A421 eastbound, Dove Farm Lane, Roxton Road and Baron Way closures have all finished. The next one listed after 23 November is at the Cambridgeshire end, the A1198 at Caxton Gibbet over the weekend of 4 to 7 December. The two lanes of the November A421 and A1 night closures run to different hours, 8pm to 6am on the A421 and 9pm to 5am on the A1, so check which road you are on.

Black Cat is about eight miles north east of Bedford town centre. For most Bedford drivers the one that matters is the A421 eastbound night closure: on weeknights to 20 November, anyone heading for the A1 after 8pm is sent round by the A603 instead.

The Barford Road closure has still not reappeared. On 8 September, National Highways was advertising Barford Road at Little Barford as shut from 25 September to 19 October. It then vanished from the list without a notice of cancellation, and it was not on the list on 7 November either. If you use that road, check the closures page before you set off.

A temporary 40mph limit applies throughout the roadworks. National Highways says it set the limit at that speed so junctions keep working and it has to close roads less often.

Check National Highways’ closures page before you set off, because that page is updated as the programme moves and this one is not.

The layout has already changed twice

Two permanent changes are already in force and still catch people out.

At Black Cat, since 24 November 2025, the A1 southbound runs on a new stretch of road passing under the new east bridge, and the A1 northbound uses a new on-slip. Get in lane early: southbound, the left lane is A1 south, A421 or M1 and the right lane is A1 north, A421 or M1; northbound, the left lane is A421 west and Bedford Road, right lane A1 north.

At Caxton Gibbet, since 27 April 2026, A428 traffic in both directions east of the junction has been moved onto a new stretch of road while the upgraded junction and its flyover are built.

The main roads out of Bedford and what is happening on each Schematic of the roads radiating from Bedford. West on the A421 to the M1 at Junction 13. East on the A421 to the Black Cat roundabout and the A1, where the £1 billion Black Cat to Caxton Gibbet scheme opens mostly in spring 2027 with the A1 underpass following in mid-summer 2027. North on the A6 towards Rushden and Kettering. South on the A6 towards Barton-le-Clay and Luton. South east on the A600 towards Shefford and Hitchin. North east on the A428 towards St Neots and Cambridge. Where Bedford's roads go, and which one is being rebuilt Approximate directions from Bedford town centre. Only the eastern A421 has major works of any scale on it. BEDFORD town centre A6 north Rushden, Kettering A421 west M1 J13, Milton Keynes A421 east to Black Cat and the A1 Major works. Most of the new road opens spring 2027; the A1 underpass mid-summer 2027. A6 south Barton-le-Clay, Luton A600 south east Shefford, Hitchin A428 north east St Neots, Cambridge Check before you drive: National Highways for the A1, A421 and A428. Bedford Borough's roadworks map for everything else. Report a pothole or a road problem to the borough council, not to National Highways, unless it is on the A421 or the A1.
Five roads out, one big project. The eastern A421 towards the A1 is the only stretch with works of any scale on it.

Roadworks inside the borough

For anything that is not the A1, A421 or A428, the highway authority is Bedford Borough Council, and it publishes a live map.

  • Bedford Borough Council’s roadworks and road closures map shows current works and closures across the borough.
  • Anyone digging up a borough road needs a permit from the council’s street works team, and any closure affecting a bus stop has to come with a bus stop suspension application, which is why some works appear on the map with an odd amount of notice and others with almost none.
  • The council asks that A421 problems go to National Highways, not to it.
  • Flood-related closures are handled separately, on the council’s emergency flooding page. Bedford sits on the Great Ouse and this matters more here than in most towns.

Manor Road, Kempston Hardwick: shut until 27 November

Manor Road stays closed to through traffic until Friday 27 November, for Universal’s earthworks. It was due to reopen on 5 October. Universal’s community updates page, read on 7 November, still gives 27 November and adds that “further traffic management on Manor Road will be required after this date”, details to follow. Night work at the Ampthill Road and Manor Road junction under three-way lights, listed for 26 to 30 October, has dropped off the page. Universal wrote to neighbours on 18 September, and council officers say they are content with the extension. Kempston Hardwick station stays open, reached from the Woburn Road end only. From 28 November the road should reopen with traffic management for about three months, and another closure may follow from March 2027. The full detail is in our Manor Road report.

What the council is consulting on now

Changes to Bedford’s roads start as a traffic regulation order, and the council puts each one out to consultation before it is made. Three were open on 7 November, all dated 29 October and all closing on Thursday 19 November 2026:

Where What the council proposes Its reason
College Street, Kempston Replace the Monday to Saturday 7am to 7pm waiting ban on the north kerb with a ban at any time, running about 95 metres east from No 14 Visibility and safety at the crossing point and for vehicles using local businesses
Marlborough Road, Bedford Remove 16 metres of double yellow lines on the east kerb, north from No 87 More on-street parking
Avon Drive, Bedford A new zebra crossing beside the roundabout with Kimbolton Road Not stated in the notice; a statement of reasons is on deposit

Sources: the council’s public notices for College Street, Marlborough Road and Avon Drive.

Comments go by email to highway.consultations@bedford.gov.uk, stating your grounds. The Barkers Lane and Haylands Way zebra crossing consultations closed on 5 November.

The full list, with the drawings and the statement of reasons for each one, is on the council’s proposed traffic regulation orders page. Orders already made since 1 April 2018 are listed separately.

Potholes and road defects are reported to the borough council through its report a pothole form. Highways inspectors check the council’s roads on a rota, but a report is the fastest way to get one looked at.

Parking in Bedford, and the rules people miss

Bedford’s parking is more generous than most towns its size, and the free allowances are not well advertised.

  • Two hours free every Saturday in every council town-centre car park, single-deck and multi-storey. This does not apply to on-street parking.
  • Two hours free Monday to Saturday at Queen Street car park.
  • Free on-street parking after 6pm, Monday to Saturday, except Castle Lane, which is 11pm.
  • Free all day Sunday, except Prebend Street, Ashburnham Road, Robinson Pool and Foster Hill Road.
  • Free for Blue Badge holders in all Bedford Borough Council car parks, with the badge displayed.

You still need to display a pay and display ticket even when the first two hours are free. The council is explicit about this, and it is the most common way to pick up a fine in Bedford: not overstaying, but parking free and not taking a ticket.

Allhallows, Lurke Street and River Street multi-storeys are open 24 hours, seven days a week. Overnight it is £2.50 from 6pm to 8am at Allhallows and Lurke Street, and £4 from 8pm to 6am at River Street, St Marys and Riverside. The first floor of River Street has a Changing Places toilet, open during car park hours.

If you park in town often, the council sells car park season tickets, which work out cheaper than paying daily and save the trip to the machine.

Getting around without the car

Trains. Bedford is on the Midland Main Line with fast East Midlands Railway services and frequent Thameslink services to London, and the Marston Vale line runs west to Bletchley for Milton Keynes. Times and fares are in our Bedford to London trains page.

One thing to plan around at the London end: there is still no step-free access to or from the Thameslink platforms at St Pancras International while the lifts are refurbished. Thameslink gave the window as Monday 15 June to mid-September 2026. That window ran out over a month ago. When we last read the page, on 24 October, it still said only “mid-September”, with no completion date and no note that the lifts are back. Treat the work as ongoing until Thameslink says otherwise. The accessible toilet on platform B is out of service too. Escalators and stairs to platforms A and B are unaffected.

Bedford has a way round this that most of the route does not. East Midlands Railway trains from Bedford use different platforms at St Pancras, which are not affected, and Thameslink names them as an option in its own advice. The other route it gives is to stay on the Thameslink to Farringdon and change there onto the Circle, Hammersmith and City or Metropolitan line back to King’s Cross St Pancras; Thameslink tickets are accepted on the Underground between King’s Cross St Pancras and Farringdon for anyone who needs step-free access.

Rail engineering: check before a weekend trip. Thameslink’s engineering page loaded for us on 7 November but showed only that day’s work, which was in south London, not at the Bedford end. It lists weekend works by date, so look up your own day before you travel.

Buses. Bedford Borough Council publishes bus timetables and maps for the borough, and also lists disruption to bus services during works and bad weather. It runs the bus pass scheme for the area.

On foot and by bike. The Embankment and the Great Ouse give Bedford an unusually good walking spine right through the middle of town, and the borough maintains public rights of way out into the villages. The council’s walking and cycling pages have the routes, and the stretch worth doing first, along with the two country parks at either end of the borough, is in our guide to things to do in Bedford.

What is coming

Two projects will change how Bedford moves, and both are years rather than months away. East West Rail proposes to expand the railway corridor through the town, with highway alterations, bridge works and a new viaduct north of Bedford, and expects to submit its consent application in January 2027. The Universal resort at Kempston Hardwick, permitted by a special development order that came into force on 12 January 2026, comes with its own rail and road works, including a four-platform station at Wixams. Both are covered in our Bedford planning page.

Sources