National Highways plans a 24-hour 40 or 50mph limit between junctions 7 and 8 from 30 September, with hard shoulder running, for about five months.

The stretch of the A1(M) that serves Stevenage is about to spend five months at 40 or 50mph, in both directions, around the clock.

National Highways has published its intention to make an order under section 14 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 covering the motorway between junctions 7 and 8. The works are for safety barrier and drainage repairs. (National Highways notice, published 3 September 2026)

What the order would do:

  • impose a temporary speed limit of 40mph or 50mph, for 24 hours daily
  • allow hard shoulder running
  • apply northbound from the exit slip road at junction 7 to the entry slip road at junction 8
  • apply southbound from the exit slip road at junction 8 to the entry slip road at junction 7

The dates in the notice:

  • the order comes into force on Monday 21 September 2026
  • the works start on or after Wednesday 30 September 2026
  • they are expected to take approximately five months
  • the order itself lasts until the work finishes, to a maximum of 18 months

The speed limit would not apply to emergency service or special forces vehicles, and would be signed on site. Enquiries go to Steve Cox at National Highways in Bedford, on 07764 971192.

Diagram of the A1(M) between junction 7 and junction 8 at Stevenage, showing a 24-hour 40 or 50mph limit and hard shoulder running in both directions, in force from 21 September with works from 30 September for about five months
Both carriageways between the town's two junctions are covered.
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Why this one bites

Junctions 7 and 8 are Stevenage’s junctions. Junction 7 is the southern one, reached along the A602 Broadhall Way. Junction 8 is the northern one, on the A602 Hitchin Road. Almost every motorway journey that starts or ends in the town joins or leaves at one of them, so a limit that sits between the two covers the through-run past the entire town.

Two details make it worse than a normal set of roadworks.

It is 24 hours a day, not overnight. The motorway work near Stevenage through the summer has been confined to 21:00 to 05:00, which is why it has been invisible to daytime traffic. A round-the-clock 40 or 50mph limit will not be.

This section is already two lanes. The A1(M) runs three lanes each way either side of here, but narrows to two between junction 6 at Welwyn and junction 8. National Highways had planned a smart motorway upgrade to widen it; Stevenage Borough Council’s Infrastructure Delivery Plan records that new smart motorway schemes were dropped from government road plans, so the ones earmarked for the 2025 to 2030 investment period “will now not go ahead”. The same document puts the cost of improving the slip roads at junctions 7 and 8 at £16 million, £8 million each, with £0 secured. (Stevenage Borough Council Infrastructure Delivery Plan, October 2025)

The notice describes the location as the A1(M) “at Stevenage in the District of North Hertfordshire”, which is how National Highways records a stretch that runs along the western edge of the town rather than inside the borough. It is the Stevenage junctions either end of it that matter to drivers here.

What it means for you

  • Journey times will lengthen from 30 September, in both directions, at every hour of the day rather than only at night. Add time rather than assuming the old run.
  • The hard shoulder becomes a running lane, so there is no refuge on that section. Leave more space in front.
  • The alternative is the B197 and the A602, the roads the motorway was built to relieve. Expect them to fill first at peak. Our roadworks and travel page tracks what is shut on those.
  • If you commute by train instead, the direct services are covered on our Stevenage train times page. Great Northern’s next planned line closure is 14 and 15 November.
  • This is an intention, not a decision. The dates can move, and the signs on site govern.

The other work still running

The night closures a junction further north continue in the meantime. National Highways’ own closure report for 4 to 10 September lists the A1(M) northbound exit slip road at junction 9, the Letchworth junction, shut 21:00 to 05:00 on Friday 4, Monday 7, Tuesday 8, Wednesday 9 and Thursday 10 September, as part of an electrical scheme running between junctions 8 and 9. (National Highways 7-day closure report)

Nothing on that report closes junction 6, 7 or 8 this week.

Update, 19 September 2026: the order has been made

When this page was first published, National Highways had given notice that it intended to make the order. A further notice published on 17 September confirms the order has been made. Three things are now fixed:

  • the order comes into force on Monday 21 September 2026
  • it can run until the works are finished or for a maximum of eighteen months, whichever is sooner
  • the works still start on or after Wednesday 30 September and are expected to take approximately five months

So the order and the works start nine days apart. A temporary speed limit is only enforceable once the signs are in place, so watch for the signs rather than the date.

The nightly junction 9 closures described below have also finished. National Highways’ closure report for 18 to 24 September, downloaded on 19 September, lists the junction 9 northbound exit slip shut on the night of Friday 18 September only, ending at 05:00 on Saturday 19 September, and no closure at all at junctions 6, 7, 8 or 9 for the rest of that week.

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