Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the planned timetable is for completion of National Highways' upgrades of the M1 between junctions 13 and 16.

National Highways expects to fully open the M1 J13-16 upgrade before the end of the year.

National Highways is opening the M1 upgrade in links, each of which is opening in phases. Link 1 is between junction 13 and Newport Pagnell Services. It began its phased opening in November 2021 and fully opened on Monday 7 March 2022. Link 2 runs between Newport Pagnell Services and junction 15 (Northampton) and Link 3 runs between junction 15 and junction 16 (Upper Heyford Interchange). National Highways expects both of these links to begin their phased opening early this autumn and to be fully open before the end of the year.

Safety is National Highways’ top priority and it opens all motorway upgrades in a phased way to ensure they are fully tested and operational before they go live and there is a smooth handover from roadworks teams to on and off-road traffic officers.