A421 road (Great Britain)

A421
Major junctions
East end:	A1 Black Cat Roundabout near St Neots
	A1 road A428 road A6 road M1 motorway A5130 road A5 road A413 road A4421 road A43 road
West end:	A43 near Brackley
Location
Primary destinations:	Bedford Milton Keynes
Road network
Roads in the United Kingdom Motorways A and B road zones

Proposed A421 Improvements

The route of the proposed A421 widening scheme, between the M1 Junction 13 and Milton Keynes.
Location	Central Bedfordshire, Milton Keynes
Proposer	Bedfordshire County Council
Status	Commenced
Type	Road
Cost estimate	£34.5 million
Start date	2014 (phase 1)
Supporters	Milton Keynes Council, SEMLEP

The A421 is an important road for east/west journeys across south central England. Together with the A428, the A43 and A34, it forms the route from Cambridge through Milton Keynes to Oxford. The section between the A1 near St Neots and the A5 in Milton Keynes is a national primary route.

The road begins at the A1, just south of St Neots (and the junction with the A428 from Cambridge), at the Black Cat Roundabout. The road bypasses both Great Barford and Bedford to the south to reach the M1 at junction 13. From there, it swings up through the southern part of Milton Keynes, doubling as the local grid road H8 Standing Way. During this time it crosses the A5 (and connects to it via a short spur which is part of the V6 Grafton Street).

Continuing westwards as the route approaches Buckingham the road passes close by to the 14th century Thornborough Bridge, the only surviving mediaeval bridge in Buckinghamshire which was bypassed by the new bridge in 1974. Close to here, it then forms the Buckingham by-pass before joining the A43 (Northampton — M40 junction 10) near Brackley. (On crossing the A43, the route due westward becomes the B4031 through Croughton, Aynho and Deddington to join the A361 to Chipping Norton).