St Albans Roadworks This Week: A414 Both Ways and M1 J6-J8

The A414 at Park Street is booked shut in both directions on the nights of Monday 9, Tuesday 10 and Wednesday 11 November, 8pm to 6am, between Breakspear Junction and Park Street Roundabout, then westbound only on Thursday 12 November. Nothing is booked on it for the nights of Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 November. All of it is in the National Highways report updated on 6 November.

The M1 northbound between junctions 6 and 8 is booked shut on Tuesday 10 and Thursday 12 November, 10pm to 5am. Thursday is new in this edition.

In the city, Manor Road shuts for about 30m near Hillside Road from Monday 9 November for electrical connection works, and Holywell Hill southbound is proposed for four days from Saturday 14 November. The county has not yet made that order.

Eastbound A414 drivers are sent through the middle of St Albans: Breakspear Way, Leverstock Green Way, Hemel Hempstead Road, Bluehouse Hill, Verulam Road, the High Street and London Road to London Colney Roundabout.

The motorways close on some of the same nights:

• M25 at junction 25, the clockwise “up and over” carriageway and the anti-clockwise entry slip road, 10pm to 5.30am every night from Monday 9 to Thursday 12 November, for carriageway repairs
• M1 southbound, junction 5 to junction 1, with the junction 5 entry slip road, 10pm to 5.30am on Monday 9, Tuesday 10 and Wednesday 11 November, for routine maintenance
• M25 clockwise junction 22 exit slip road, the London Colney turn off, 10pm to 5.30am on Thursday 12 November, for urgent carriageway repairs
• M1 northbound junction 6 entry slip road, 10pm to 5.30am on Wednesday 11 November, for electrical works

Updated 7 November: the National Highways report updated on 6 November at 16:43, covering Friday 6 to Thursday 12 November, adds a third both-ways A414 night on Wednesday 11 November, a westbound night on Thursday 12, a second M1 junction 6 to 8 night on 12 November and the M25 junction 22 exit slip closure. The A1(M) Hatfield tunnel and M25 junction 25 to 26 tunnel closures have finished. Hertfordshire County Council’s Herts Advertiser notice of 5 November has made the orders for Manor Road, High Ridge, Meadow Close, Summerlands Road, Kirkwick Avenue, Goldring Way and Butterfield Road, and proposes a new set from 23 November. It does not make the Holywell Hill or College Place orders. The short closures of St Michael’s Street, Tuffnells Way, The Slype, Stanmount Road and the Sopwell roads were scheduled to end by 7 November and have been taken off this page; we could not confirm from a first party source that each has reopened.

In the district, the closures that will be felt longest are the six-month B653 Lower Luton Road closure between Harpenden and East Hyde, in force since 7 October, and the eleven-week gas main closure of Ayres End Lane and East Common in Harpenden, which began on 26 October and is scheduled to run until about 11 January 2027. Below: every closure booked in and around the district, what is coming next, the rail changes and the council’s parking tariffs.

What is closed this week

National Highways updates its closure report on working days, and each edition covers seven days. The edition we read on 7 November 2026 was updated on 6 November at 16:43 and covers Friday 6 to Thursday 12 November. These are the closures it books in and around St Albans district from Monday night. It books none in the area for the weekend.

The A414 closure is the one most St Albans drivers will meet. The report files it under the same “S278/bypass works on behalf of Galldris Group” heading as every A414 closure since September. Nothing is booked on the nights of Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 November. Both directions are then booked on Monday 9, Tuesday 10 and Wednesday 11 November, and the westbound side alone on Thursday 12 November, all 8pm to 6am.

Tuesday 10 and Thursday 12 November are the awkward nights. The A414 is booked shut from 8pm, and the M1 northbound between junctions 6 and 8 shuts from 10pm, so the motorway route round the A414 closure is cut too.

London Colney drivers: the M25 clockwise exit at junction 22 shuts on Thursday 12 November, 10pm to 5.30am. The report files it under “M25 Clockwise Jct 21A to Jct 22”, for urgent carriageway repairs, and gives no diversion.

What the report still does not show: the M1 southbound between junctions 6a and 5. A National Highways order advertised in the Watford Observer said those overnight closures would start on 26 September and last about two weeks. No edition since has booked a single night of it, including the one updated on 6 November, which runs to 12 November. The junction 5 to junction 1 nights from 9 to 11 November are a different stretch, under a different heading. The order is in force, so the work could still be booked at short notice. We cover it in the M1 section below.

The A414 order: what it does, and where it sends you

The order is now made. National Highways advertised its intention in the Herts Advertiser on 27 August 2026, and published notice in the same paper on 10 September 2026 that it “has made” the order. The made version is titled the No.2 Order 2026 and it revokes the earlier Order 2026 No 0145 covering the same stretch. Its purpose is to allow “infrastructure works to Park Street Roundabout and a section of the A414” to be carried out in safety.

The terms did not change between the two notices. The order allows National Highways to:

• close the A414 eastbound from the point it diverges from the entry slip to the M1 southbound at junction 8, through to Park Street Roundabout
• close the A414 westbound from Park Street Roundabout to the point it merges with the exit slip from the M1 northbound at junction 8
• run those closures overnight, 8pm to 6am, and for full weekends, 8pm Friday to 6am Monday
• impose a 40mph limit for 24 hours a day: eastbound from 1,400m west of Park Street Roundabout up to the roundabout, and westbound for 500m from the western side of it
• impose a 2.4 metre vehicle width restriction at times in the offside lane, eastbound from 700m west of the roundabout and westbound for 500m from it

The order came into force on 11 September 2026 and may run until the works finish or for a maximum of 18 months, whichever comes first. The Public Notice Portal record gives an estimated end of 1 August 2027. Emergency service vehicles are exempt from the speed limit, and emergency, traffic officer, works and winter maintenance vehicles are exempt from the closures.

The eastbound diversion runs through the middle of St Albans. The published route leaves the M1 at junction 8 and takes the A414 Breakspear Way, the A4147 Leverstock Green Way, Hemel Hempstead Road, Bluehouse Hill, the A5183 Verulam Road, High Street and the A1081 London Road to London Colney Roundabout. That is Verulam Road and the High Street whenever the eastbound side shuts, potentially into next summer.

Westbound traffic gets a choice of two. The first is that route in reverse, again through St Albans. The second goes the long way round via Watford: the A405 North Orbital Road, the A41 North Western Avenue from Leavesden Green, the A41 Watford Road, then the A414 Two Waters Way, St Albans Road and Breakspear Way.

National Highways has not published a scheme page for the Park Street Roundabout work, and the notice does not say what is being built. General enquiries go to a manager at Galldris Services, a civil engineering contractor based at Innova Park in Enfield, and the National Highways closure report describes the current A414 closures as “S278/bypass works on behalf of Galldris Group”. A section 278 agreement is the mechanism by which a developer pays for changes to the public highway. Which development is paying, and what the finished junction will look like, has not been published.

The pattern keeps changing, so check the report before each one. Since September the closures have mostly run one direction at a time: the westbound side every night from 19 to 29 October, then the eastbound side from 30 October to 1 November. The first night booked in both directions was Wednesday 4 November. Bookings also move between editions: Friday 30 October was dropped from one report and put back in the next. The order only permits closures; it does not mean the road shuts every night or every weekend.

The M1: junctions 6 to 8 are back for two nights

The report updated on 6 November books the M1 northbound between junctions 6 and 8 for the nights of Tuesday 10 and Thursday 12 November, 10pm to 5am. It is filed under “M1/A414 both directions Jct 6 to Jct 8”, for carriageway reconstruction and renewal on behalf of National Highways. No edition we read between 20 October and 1 November had booked a night on this stretch; the 4 November edition booked only 10 November.

The M1 junction 6a to junction 8 maintenance page, reread on 7 November, does not explain it. That page describes resurfacing in both directions plus the A414 link road, at a cost of £4 million, running 20 July to October 2026. Its latest update is still dated 10 September, and its last listed closure date is 20 October. It mentions no November nights. We could not confirm whether the 10 and 12 November nights belong to that scheme, or whether more will follow.

The northbound diversion the scheme page published is long. Drivers leave the M1 at junction 6, run west on the A405 North Orbital Road, join Watford Road and then the A41 northbound, pick up the A414 eastbound and rejoin the M1 at junction 8. Anything northbound that misses junction 6 has to carry on to junction 9 and come back south to pick the diversion up. The report gives no diversion for the November nights, so check the signs.

The second motorway job is the M1 southbound between junction 6a and junction 5. National Highways has made an order under section 14 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 to close that carriageway, along with every slip road on that length. Its notice, reference NH/SE/2026/M1/72, was published in the Watford Observer and says the work is surveys and resurfacing.

• it said the work was expected to start on 26 September 2026 and last about two weeks
• all closures run 9pm to 6am
• the order came into force on 29 August 2026 for a maximum of eighteen months, ceasing when the works finish
• traffic already on the M1 is diverted anticlockwise on the M25 to junction 20, then east on the A41 to M1 junction 5
• traffic wanting to join the M1 at junction 6, the A405 turning, is sent south on the A405 to Leavesden Green roundabout and onto that same diversion

It has still not appeared on the closure report. No edition from 25 September to the one uploaded on 4 November books an M1 southbound closure between junctions 6a and 5. Nor does the one updated on 6 November, which runs to 12 November. Either the start has slipped or the nights have not been filed. Both diversions use the A405.

Closures change daily. Check the current list on the National Highways road closure report, which is updated on working days, and Hertfordshire County Council’s roadworks map for county and utility works.

The local roads: what is shut now and what is coming

Hertfordshire County Council advertises its temporary closures in the Herts Advertiser. The latest batch is dated 5 November 2026, and we read it on the Public Notice Portal on 7 November. Orders the council has made are fixed. Orders it intends to make are proposals, and can move or be dropped, so treat those dates as the earliest they can start. Every order says it will only take effect on the days and times shown by signs on or near the road, so the signs on the street are the final word.

Running now: Ayres End Lane and East Common, for eleven weeks

The notice dated 22 October 2026 made a gas main replacement order closing about 415m of Ayres End Lane, Harpenden, from 180m north east of the A1081, and about 400m of East Common, from 26 October for a scheduled eleven weeks. On that schedule it runs to about 11 January. The alternative route is the A1081, Walkers Road, Southdown Road, Grove Road and Pipers Lane; for East Common, the A1081 and Cross Lane.

Since 7 October: five roads, scheduled to take six months

The county’s notice dated 1 October 2026 made this order. It came into effect on 7 October 2026, is valid for eighteen months, and the notice says the works are scheduled to take six months to complete. All five roads are closed to vehicles except for access, and three of them have no diversion at all. The notice gives no reason beyond “works”.

The B653 closure is the one that will be felt furthest. Lower Luton Road is the direct road between Harpenden and Luton along the Lea valley. The published diversion sends that traffic back through Harpenden itself, on the B652 Station Road and the A1081. Six months of it would be the longest closure the district has seen this year.

Downedge, Downes Road and Packhorse Close are residential and have no way round. Downedge runs off Batchwood Drive; Downes Road and Packhorse Close both run off The Ridgeway on the Marshalswick side. The notice says only that access will be maintained wherever possible. Queries go to Ringway, the county’s highways contractor, on 0300 123 4047.

Running now: Sleapshyde, to about 13 November

The county’s notice dated 29 October 2026 made an order closing two short stretches of Sleapshyde, Smallford, for a water connection, from 2 November for a scheduled length that runs to about 13 November. The alternative route is Sleapshyde Lane, Smallford Lane and the A414. We could not confirm from a first party source that the job started on time.

The other closures in that notice, on St Michael’s Street, Tuffnells Way, The Slype and its neighbours in Gustard Wood, Stanmount Road and the Sopwell roads, were all scheduled to finish by 7 November.

From 9 November: Manor Road, The Ridgeway side roads and Goldring Way

The notice dated 5 November 2026 says the county has made these orders. Each has a scheduled length, so the end dates below are the start date plus that length.

The made order measures Kirkwick Avenue from Longcroft Avenue; the 22 October notice that proposed it said Topcroft Avenue. Both say the whole length is closed.

From 14 November: Holywell Hill southbound and College Place

The notice dated 29 October 2026 proposes these. The 5 November notice did not make them, so they are still intended orders: treat each date as the earliest start. The next Herts Advertiser batch is due on Thursday 12 November.

Holywell Hill is the one to plan for. Southbound drivers leaving the city centre for St Stephens Hill and Watling Street would be sent round by London Road and the A414 North Orbital Road, a long loop, for a scheduled four days.

From 23 November: Bride Hall Lane, Gaddesden Lane and eleven side roads

The notice dated 5 November 2026 proposes another set, all from 23 November. These are intended orders, not yet made.

• Bride Hall Lane, Wheathampstead: about 1,680m from Codicote Road, utility works, 5 days. Alternative: Codicote Road, the B652 Codicote Road, the B651, Bibbs Hall Lane and Bride Hall Lane. With Codicote Road itself proposed from 16 November, the lanes north east of Wheathampstead could see two closures in a row.
• Gaddesden Lane, Redbourn: about 1,386m from Holtsmere End Lane to Hemel Hempstead Lane, utility works, 5 days. Alternative: Cupid Green Lane, St Agnells Lane, the B487 and Hemel Hempstead Road.
• Watling View, St Albans: about 522m from Vesta Avenue to Connigsby Bank, 5 days.
• Grosvenor Road, St Albans: about 50m from Ridgmont Road, utility works, 3 days. Alternative: the B6426 Alma Road and the A1081 London Road.
• Eleven lengths in one order, 5 days: Southdown Road, Harpenden (about 229m from Bull Road); Windermere Avenue, St Albans; Spooners Drive, Park Street (about 37m to How Wood); the Haddon Court service road and The Cedars, Harpenden; Spencer Place, Sandridge; Clarence Road, Harpenden (Luton Road to Hollybush Lane); Grasmere Road and Lyndhurst Close, Harpenden; Longacres, St Albans (about 255m from Hatfield Road); and Selby Avenue, St Albans (Britton Avenue to Upton Avenue). Most have no alternative route.
• Footpath St Michael Rural 008: about 70m, for highway maintenance, for up to six months from 23 November. Walkers are sent along Ragged Hall Lane and across the A414.

Still running

Footpath St Albans City 042, between Butt Field View and Watling Street, has been closed to pedestrians for about 280m since 18 September, for up to two months, so to about 18 November at the latest, for highway maintenance. The way round is along Butt Field View, Gillian Avenue and Watling Street.

Clearways: objections have closed

A county notice dated 30 September proposed permanent clearways, meaning no stopping at any time, on parts of several main roads in the county. The schedule names the A5183 Watling Street, the A1081 at St Albans and Harpenden, the A405 at Watford, Garston and St Albans and the A414 at St Albans, London Colney and Hatfield, among others. It does not say which stretches; those are in the order and scheme plans, reference J00226, at hertfordshire.gov.uk/trafficorders. The objection period closed on 21 or 22 October, depending on which printed notice you read. None of the county notices up to 5 November announces a decision.

The papers for all of these can be inspected free of charge at Farnham House in Stevenage, 9am to 5pm on weekdays.

The four roads that carry St Albans

St Albans has no bypass and no ring road, which means through traffic goes through it. Four routes do nearly all the work, and knowing which one is blocked tells you what your journey is about to become.

• M1, junctions 6 to 9. Junction 6 (M25), 6a, 7 (A414 to Hemel), 8 (A414 to St Albans) and 9 (A5183 for Redbourn and Harpenden). The A414 at junction 8 is the main road in and out of the district’s south west.
• M25, junctions 21a to 23. The southern edge of the district, and the route to Heathrow one way and the A1(M) the other.
• A414 and A405 North Orbital Road. The east-west route across the bottom of the city, linking the M1 at junction 8 to London Colney, the M25 and Hatfield. It carries the Park Street roundabout, which is the pinch point.
• A1081 and A5183. The old Roman roads. The A1081 runs Harpenden to St Albans to the M25; the A5183 Watling Street runs Redbourn to St Albans and out towards Radlett. Both go straight through the middle of St Albans on St Peters Street, Chequer Street, Verulam Road and High Street, which is why a closure on either of them has no easy diversion.

The council’s own temporary closure orders show how tightly wound that is. A Hertfordshire County Council order made in 2026 for works on the A5183 between the Batchwood Drive roundabout and Chequer Street, a stretch of about 1,263 metres, diverted traffic via Batchwood Drive and the A1081, and the matching order for the A4147 Catherine Street diverted it back the other way, onto the A5183. In central St Albans one route is always the diversion for the other.

The long-term change: the rail freight terminal

The largest construction site in the district is at Park Street, where the Strategic Rail Freight Interchange on the former Radlett aerodrome is being built out. It was granted permission by the government in July 2014 for 331,665 square metres of employment floorspace, and the Local Plan records that development has commenced and there is now “a reasonable prospect” it will be delivered within the plan period.

For drivers the relevant part is not the warehouses. The 2014 permission requires a Park Street and Frogmore relief road, along with country parks and a community forest, and the Local Plan’s Policy EMP2 states that all of those public benefits “must be delivered”. The site sits south of the North Orbital Road, north of the M25 and east of Frogmore, between the Abbey Line and the West Coast Main Line, so its construction traffic uses exactly the roads listed above.

Every council car park, and what it costs

The council runs twelve car parks in St Albans and more in Harpenden. Tariffs below are the council’s published charges, which rose on 1 January 2026 for off-street parking and on 6 April 2026 for on-street bays and permits.

Most of them share one tariff: £2.20 for an hour, £3.90 for two (£3.80 at Gombards), £4.70 for three, £6.20 for four, £9.50 for six and £17.50 for 24 hours, Monday to Saturday until 6.30pm, then a flat £2.00 from 6.30pm to 10pm any night, and £2.70 on Sundays and bank holidays. A week costs £55.00.

Two car parks break the pattern and both are worth knowing about.

Clarence Park is free for up to three hours on weekdays and free all day at weekends and on bank holidays. It has 31 spaces and opens 07:30 to 18:30. It is the cheapest legal parking near the city centre by a wide margin.

Westminster Lodge charges £1.50 for two hours, £3.20 for three and £5.90 for four, which undercuts the town centre tariff, and it has 325 spaces plus leisure centre member concessions. It requires a registration number when you take a ticket. It is the obvious choice for Verulamium Park, the leisure centre and the lake, and the Verulamium car park next door charges £2.80 for three hours against Westminster Lodge’s £3.20.

The council consulted in early 2026 on changing both: adding a four-hour tariff at Clarence Park at £5.90, dropping the five-hour, and raising the 24-hour charge to £16.30, while at Westminster Lodge introducing a £1.00 hour and raising the two-hour to £1.90. That consultation closed on 26 February 2026 and no decision had been published at the time of writing, so check the machine.

Coaches pay £31.50 for 24 hours at Verulamium and Westminster Lodge.

Parking practicalities

Drovers Way and Russell Avenue are now ticketless and cashless. New machines mean no paper ticket on arrival and card or mobile payment only, at the machine or at the barrier on the way out. If you carry cash, use a surface car park instead.

The lifts at Drovers Way and Russell Avenue only run from 8am to 6pm, every day. Outside those hours there is no lift access in either multi-storey, which the council flags specifically for anyone who needs step-free access.

PayByPhone works in all council car parks. Every surface car park has a location code on the sign; Adelaide Street is 802739, Gombards 802741, Verulamium 802745 for cars and 802746 for coaches.

Getting there without driving

We could not confirm the Thameslink picture for the next fortnight. National Rail’s St Albans City station page, read on 7 November, lists no engineering work, and its engineering work listing that day shows nothing for Thameslink, St Albans, Harpenden or Radlett. Thameslink’s own engineering works page refused our request again on 7 November. Check the journey planner before a weekend trip.

The Abbey Line loses its first trains on Monday 9, Wednesday 11 and Friday 13 November. National Rail’s notice for London Northwestern Railway, reread on 7 November, says buses replace the 05:51 Watford Junction to St Albans Abbey and the 06:09 St Albans Abbey to Watford Junction on those three days, with extended journey times. The same notice also covered the first trains on Saturday 7 November.

The notice gives no bus times; National Rail points to its journey planner for those.

For London the answer is still the train: St Albans City reaches St Pancras in 21 minutes and contactless costs £13.50 at peak times. Full times, fares and season ticket prices are on St Albans train times to London.

We could not confirm whether the Thameslink lifts at St Pancras are back. The lift refurbishment started on 15 June and Thameslink’s notice said it would run to “mid-September”. When we last read it, on 23 October, it still said mid-September and gave no reopening day; on 29 October, 1, 5 and 7 November Thameslink’s site refused our request. National Rail’s St Pancras station page, read on 7 November, carries no lift notice and says one escalator at a time will be out of service until mid-December, but that is not a statement from Thameslink that its lift work is finished. If you need step-free access, ask staff before you travel.

If the lifts are still out, St Albans City is in the stretch between Harpenden and West Hampstead Thameslink, and Thameslink’s published alternative is to travel to Farringdon and change there for Circle, Hammersmith and City or Metropolitan line services to King’s Cross St Pancras. A Thameslink ticket is accepted on the Underground between King’s Cross St Pancras and Farringdon, Finsbury Park or Blackfriars, and a London Terminals ticket is valid to Farringdon. The escalators and stairs to platforms A and B are unaffected, but the accessible toilet on platform B is out of service for the duration. Thameslink says extra staff are at St Pancras to help anyone who can manage stairs with support.

For Watford, the Abbey Line runs from St Albans Abbey to Watford Junction in 17 minutes, roughly hourly, for £3.80 off peak on contactless.

Hertfordshire County Council administers bus passes and concessionary travel, and Intalink publishes the timetables and maps. Thameslink and Great Northern give discounted local rail fares to holders of Hertfordshire concessionary bus permits.

The council also runs a taxi voucher scheme worth £5 a voucher, up to £90 a year for existing users, for residents who have a permanent disability or are over 75, have no access to a car and receive Housing Benefit or Council Tax Support.

Frequently asked questions

Is the M1 or the M25 closed near St Albans?

At night, in places. The M1 northbound between junctions 6 and 8 is booked shut on Tuesday 10 and Thursday 12 November, 10pm to 5am, and the M1 southbound from junction 5 to junction 1 on Monday 9 to Wednesday 11 November, 10pm to 5.30am. On the M25, junction 25 has closures every night from Monday 9 to Thursday 12 November, and the clockwise exit slip at junction 22, for London Colney, shuts on Thursday 12 November. Nothing is booked on either motorway near St Albans on the nights of 7 and 8 November. A separate order allows the M1 southbound between junctions 6a and 5 to close overnight, but no closure report up to 12 November books any nights for it. Check the road closure report before travelling, because the schedule moves.

How long is the A414 shut at Park Street?

The order was made on 10 September 2026 and National Highways expects the works to last until August 2027. It allows overnight closures from 8pm to 6am, full weekend closures from 8pm Friday to 6am Monday, and a 40mph limit that applies 24 hours a day on the approaches to Park Street Roundabout. It does not mean the road shuts every night. The current bookings are both directions on the nights of Monday 9, Tuesday 10 and Wednesday 11 November, and the westbound carriageway from Park Street Roundabout to Breakspear Junction on Thursday 12 November, all 8pm to 6am. Nothing is booked for the weekend of 7 and 8 November. The eastbound diversion runs through the city centre on Verulam Road, the High Street and London Road. One westbound diversion uses the same streets in reverse; the other goes round by Watford on the A405 and the A41.

Where is the cheapest parking in St Albans?

Clarence Park, which is free for up to three hours Monday to Friday and free all day on Saturdays, Sundays and bank holidays. After that, Westminster Lodge at £1.50 for two hours. In the town centre proper every council car park charges £2.20 for the first hour.

How much is all-day parking in St Albans?

£17.50 for up to 24 hours in almost every council car park, or £15.50 at Clarence Park. A seven-day ticket is £55.00. Evening parking from 6.30pm to 10pm is £2.00.

Can I pay cash at St Albans car parks?

Not at Drovers Way or Russell Avenue, the two multi-storeys, which are now cashless and ticketless. Surface car park machines take coins, but they give no change.

Where do I check Hertfordshire roadworks?

Hertfordshire County Council publishes a map of current roadworks; motorway and trunk road closures are on the National Highways closure report. Statutory temporary closure notices are published in the Herts Advertiser.

Is there a park and ride in St Albans?

The council’s public transport page lists buses, trains and community transport but no park and ride site. For a day in London the cheapest approach is usually to walk, cycle or bus to St Albans City station rather than park in town first.

Sources

• National Highways 7-day road closure report, the spreadsheet updated on 6 November 2026 at 16:43 and read on 7 November, covering Friday 6 to Thursday 12 November, for every motorway and trunk road closure in the table above, including the A414 nights at Park Street. The edition uploaded on 4 November is the source for the earlier booking pattern.
• National Highways: M1 junction 6a to junction 8 maintenance, scheme page updated 10 September 2026 and rechecked 7 November, for the £4 million cost, the 20 July to October 2026 programme, and the northbound diversion route.
• National Highways notice of the made M1 junctions 6a to 5 order, reference NH/SE/2026/M1/72, published in the Watford Observer and carried on the Public Notice Portal, for the southbound overnight closure expected from 26 September, the 9pm to 6am hours, the two-week estimate, the 29 August start of the order and both diversion routes.
• National Highways notice of the made A414 order, The A414 Trunk Road (M1 Junction 8, Hemel Hempstead to Park Street Roundabout, St Albans) (Temporary Restriction and Prohibition of Traffic) No.2 Order 2026, published in the Herts Advertiser on 10 September 2026, for the closure times, the 40mph limit, the width restriction, both diversion routes, the 11 September start, the revocation of Order 2026 No 0145 and the estimated 1 August 2027 end.
• National Highways notice of intended order, published in the Herts Advertiser on 27 August 2026, for the earlier “intends to make” wording and for the fact that the terms did not change between the two notices.
• Hertfordshire County Council temporary closure notice dated 5 November 2026, published in the Herts Advertiser and read on the Public Notice Portal on 7 November, for the made orders from 9 to 12 November (Manor Road, High Ridge, Meadow Close, Summerlands Road, Kirkwick Avenue, footpath Harpenden 016, Goldring Way and Butterfield Road) and the intended orders from 23 November.
• Hertfordshire County Council temporary closure notice dated 29 October 2026, published in the Herts Advertiser, for the made orders covering Sleapshyde and the short closures that ended by 7 November, and the intended orders from 14 and 16 November (Holywell Hill southbound, College Place, Harpenden Rise, Fairmead Avenue and Codicote Road).
• Hertfordshire County Council temporary closure notice dated 22 October 2026, published in the Herts Advertiser, for the made order covering Ayres End Lane and East Common, and the first, intended, versions of the 9 to 12 November orders.
• Hertfordshire County Council notices published in the Watford Observer on 30 October 2026, the Welwyn Hatfield Times on 4 November 2026 and Hemel Today on 4 November 2026, all read on 5 November, which list no closures in St Albans district.
• National Rail station pages for St Albans City and St Albans Abbey, and its engineering work listing, all read on 7 November. Neither station page lists engineering work. Thameslink’s engineering works page refused our request on 7 November.
• Hertfordshire County Council temporary closure and clearway notice dated 1 October 2026, published in the Herts Advertiser, for the made order from 7 October covering the B653 Lower Luton Road, Conquerors Hill, Downedge, Downes Road and Packhorse Close, and the 22 October objection date it gives for clearway reference J00226.
• Hertfordshire County Council temporary closure notice dated 17 September 2026, published in the Herts Advertiser, for the Footpath St Albans City 042 closure and the first, intended, version of the five-road order from 7 October.
• Hertfordshire County Council traffic notice dated 30 September 2026, rechecked 6 October, for the county clearway proposal, reference J00226, with objections by 21 October.
• National Rail engineering work notice: Watford Junction to St Albans Abbey, 7 to 13 November, reread on 7 November 2026, for the replaced early trains and the bus replacement.
• Thameslink St Pancras International lift refurbishment notice, last read on 23 October 2026, still saying mid-September (it refused our requests on 29 October and 1, 5 and 7 November), for the 15 June to mid-September lift work, the Farringdon alternative for stations from Harpenden southwards, the Underground and London Terminals ticket acceptance and the platform B accessible toilet.
• National Rail: London St Pancras International station page, read on 7 November 2026, for the escalator renewal notice and the platform B accessible toilets.
• St Albans City and District Council: car parks and on-street pay and display for every car park’s capacity, opening hours, tariffs and PayByPhone codes.
• Hertfordshire County Council roadworks and road closures, read on 5 November 2026. The page names no individual closure and points to a map of current roadworks, which we did not read.
• St Albans Local Plan 2041 Main Modifications, Policy EMP2 (PDF) for the Strategic Rail Freight Interchange floorspace, the relief road requirement and the site’s location.
• St Albans City and District Council public and community transport for bus, rail concession and taxi voucher information.

Checked and updated on 7 November 2026. Roadworks and tariffs change without much notice. Check the linked sources before you set off. Train times and fares are on St Albans trains to London; what is being built along these roads is on St Albans planning news.