The A428 road is a major road in central and eastern England. It connects the cities of Coventry

Coventry

Coventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham, with a population of 300,848, although...

 and Cambridge

Cambridge

The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...

 by way of the county town

County town

A county town is a county's administrative centre in the United Kingdom or Ireland. County towns are usually the location of administrative or judicial functions, or established over time as the de facto main town of a county. The concept of a county town eventually became detached from its...

s of Northampton

Northampton

Northampton is a large market town and local government district in the East Midlands region of England. Situated about north-west of London and around south-east of Birmingham, Northampton lies on the River Nene and is the county town of Northamptonshire. The demonym of Northampton is...

 and Bedford

Bedford

Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire, in the East of England. It is a large town and the administrative centre for the wider Borough of Bedford. According to the former Bedfordshire County Council's estimates, the town had a population of 79,190 in mid 2005, with 19,720 in the adjacent town...

.

Coventry - Northampton

The road starts on the A4600 Sky Blue Way in Coventry, heading Eastbound out of the city meeting the A444 and A4082 roads before crossing the A46 Eastern Bypass and into Warwickshire

Warwickshire

Warwickshire is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare...

. The road then passes through the village of Binley Woods

Binley Woods

Binley Woods is a village and civil parish in the Rugby borough of Warwickshire, England. However, it is sometimes wrongly considered part of suburban Coventry . In the 2001 census the parish had a population of 2,607....

 before becoming more rural in nature, meeting the Fosse Way

Fosse Way

The Fosse Way was a Roman road in England that linked Exeter in South West England to Lincoln in Lincolnshire, via Ilchester , Bath , Cirencester and Leicester .It joined Akeman Street and Ermin Way at Cirencester, crossed Watling Street at Venonis south...

 and crossing the River Avon

River Avon, Warwickshire

The River Avon or Avon is a river in or adjoining the counties of Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire in the Midlands of England...

 at Bretford

Bretford

Bretford is a small hamlet in Warwickshire, England. It is part of the parish of Brandon and Bretford.Bretford lies at a junction between the A428 road and the old Fosse Way. The name of the village comes from the old ford crossing point over the River Avon which runs just south of the village...

. 3.8 miles (6.1 km) further along, the road enters Rugby

Rugby, Warwickshire

Rugby is a market town in Warwickshire, England, located on the River Avon. The town has a population of 61,988 making it the second largest town in the county...

 where it meets the A4071 and A426 and passes Rugby School

Rugby School

Rugby School is a co-educational day and boarding school located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire, England. It is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain.-History:...

. It then continues out of the town to the east through the suburb of Hillmorton

Hillmorton

Hillmorton is an area of the town of Rugby, Warwickshire, it comprises most of the eastern half of the town.Hillmorton was historically a village in its own right, and was mentioned in the Domesday Book as land that belonged to Hugh de Grandmesnil, at one time a market was held in Hillmorton, and...

 and crosses the A5 near Daventry International Railfreight Terminal

Daventry International Railfreight Terminal

Daventry International Rail Freight Terminal is a rail port and logistics centre located near Rugby, Warwickshire and Crick, Northamptonshire just south of the beginning of the M6 Motorway and near junction 18 of the M1 motorway...

 (DIRFT). It meets the M1 at its original terminus, junction 18 and bypasses the towns of Crick

Crick, Northamptonshire

Crick is a village in the Daventry district of the county of Northamptonshire in England. It is close to the border with Warwickshire, west of Rugby and north-west of Northampton. The villages of Crick and West Haddon were by-passed by the A428 main road from Rugby to Northampton when the...

 and West Haddon

West Haddon

West Haddon is a village in the Daventry district of the county of Northamptonshire, England about north-west of Northampton and east of Rugby and just off the A428 road which by-passes the village...

. The road passes the Althorp

Althorp

Althorp is a country estate of about and a stately home in Northamptonshire, England. It is about north-west of the county town of Northampton. The late Diana, Princess of Wales is buried in the estate.-History:...

 family estate, eventually entering the Town of Northampton

Northampton

Northampton is a large market town and local government district in the East Midlands region of England. Situated about north-west of London and around south-east of Birmingham, Northampton lies on the River Nene and is the county town of Northamptonshire. The demonym of Northampton is...

.

Northampton - Cambridge

East of Northampton the road passes Little Houghton

Little Houghton, Northamptonshire

Little Houghton is a village and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England, located about east of Northampton. At the time of the 2001 census, the parish's population was 367 people....

 (the 2 miles (3.2 km) £1.4 million bypass opened in December 1979), Brafield-on-the-Green

Brafield-on-the-green

Brafield-on-the-Green is a civil parish and small village in South Northamptonshire.-Location:Brafield is about south-east of Northampton, in the shire county of Northamptonshire known as "Northants" along the A428 road about north-west of Bedford....

, Yardley Hastings

Yardley Hastings

Yardley Hastings is a village in the English county of Northamptonshire. It is located south-east of the county town of Northampton and is skirted on its south side by the main A428 road to Bedford.-History:...

. After here it enters Bedfordshire

Bedfordshire

Bedfordshire is a ceremonial county of historic origin in England that forms part of the East of England region.It borders Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Northamptonshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the west and Hertfordshire to the south-east....

 and the district of Bedford

Bedford (borough)

Bedford is a unitary authority with the status of a borough in the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire, England. Its council is based at Bedford, which is also the county town of Bedfordshire. The borough contains a single urban area, the 69th largest in the United Kingdom that comprises Bedford and...

 then meets the A509

A509 road

The A509 is a short A-class road for north-south journeys in south central England, forming the route from Kettering in Northamptonshire to the M1 and A5 in Milton Keynes....

 at a roundabout. Continuing towards Bedford the road passes Lavendon

Lavendon

Lavendon is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Milton Keynes and ceremonial county of Buckinghamshire, England. It is the northernmost village in the Borough, near Olney, eight miles WNW of Bedford, eight miles NNE of Newport Pagnell....

, Cold Brayfield

Cold Brayfield

Cold Brayfield is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. It is about three miles east of Olney, on the Bedfordshire border. Nearby places are Lavendon and Turvey .Cold Brayfield is probably the place named as 'Bragenfelda' in a charter of 967...

, Turvey, Bromham

Bromham, Bedfordshire

Bromham is a village and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England, west of the town of Bedford. It is within commuting distance to London via Bedford railway station.-Notable features:...

 (the 2 miles (3.2 km) £4.8 million bypass opened in September 1986). It meets the A422

A422 road

The A422 is an "A" road for east-west journeys in south central England, connecting the county towns of Bedford and Worcester by way of Milton Keynes, Buckingham, Banbury and Stratford-upon-Avon. For most of its length, is a narrow single carriageway....

 (for Milton Keynes

Milton Keynes

Milton Keynes , sometimes abbreviated MK, is a large town in Buckinghamshire, in the south east of England, about north-west of London. It is the administrative centre of the Borough of Milton Keynes...

 north) at a roundabout entering Bedford.

The first section of the Bedford Western Bypass opened December 2009. The route is some 3.2 miles (5.1 km) in length commences at the Bromham Bypass on the east side of the river for approximately 1 miles (1.6 km). The route then passes southwards crossing the River Great Ouse

River Great Ouse

The Great Ouse is a river in the east of England. At long, it is the fourth-longest river in the United Kingdom. The river has been important for navigation, and for draining the low-lying region through which it flows. Its course has been modified several times, with the first recorded being in...

 flood plain and bypasses Kempston

Kempston

Kempston is a town and civil parish located in Bedfordshire, England. Once known as the largest village in England, Kempston is now a town with its own town council. It has a population of about 20,000, and together with Bedford, it forms an urban area with around 100,000 inhabitants, which is the...

 to meet the A421

A421 road

The A421 is an important road for east/west journeys across England. Together with the A428, the A43 and A34, it forms the route from Cambridge through Milton Keynes to Oxford...

 (A1-M1 link). The A428 route here is a concurrency

Concurrency (road)

A concurrency, overlap, or coincidence in a road network is an instance of one physical road bearing two or more different highway, motorway, or other route numbers...

 with the A421, bypassing Bedford, Great Barford

Great Barford

Great Barford is a village and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England, a few miles north-east of Bedford. It lies on the River Great Ouse at . It is twinned with Wöllstein, Germany...

 and Roxton

Roxton, Bedfordshire

Roxton is a small village and civil parish located in the Bedford Borough of Bedfordshire, England.The village has two churches, the Royal Oak public house and a garden centre. There is a post office to the rear of the public house...

 (bypass opened on 24 August 2006), then joins the dual-carriageway A1 bypassing Wyboston

Wyboston

Wyboston is a village in the English county of Bedfordshire.The eastern part of the village is dominated by the A1 Great North Road which at this point also carries the traffic of the A428 east–west road. The northern junction of these roads is grade-separated, while the southern junction is a...

. This £120,000 section of dual-carriageway opened in 1959. The route leaves the A1 just south of St Neots and regains its identity at the 3 miles (4.8 km) St Neots bypass (opened in December 1985, originally designated as the A45

A45 road

The A45 is a major road in England. It runs east from Birmingham past the National Exhibition Centre and the M42, then bypasses Coventry and Rugby, where it briefly merges with the M45 until it continues to Daventry...

. The former route through the town is now the B1428). The first mile (1.6 km) of the bypass is also the boundary between Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire. Where it is crossed by the East Coast Main Line

East Coast Main Line

The East Coast Main Line is a long electrified high-speed railway link between London, Peterborough, Doncaster, Wakefield, Leeds, York, Darlington, Newcastle and Edinburgh...

, it enters Cambridgeshire and the district of Huntingdonshire

Huntingdonshire

Huntingdonshire is a local government district of Cambridgeshire, covering the area around Huntingdon. Traditionally it is a county in its own right...

. The A428 from here to Cambridge follows the former A45, which became the A428 when the A14 opened. The road enters the district of South Cambridgeshire

South Cambridgeshire

South Cambridgeshire is a mostly rural local government district of Cambridgeshire, England. It was formed on 1 April 1974 by the merger of Chesterton Rural District and South Cambridgeshire Rural District. It surrounds the city of Cambridge, which is administered separately from the district by...

. It meets the A1198

A1198 road

The A1198 is a road in Cambridgeshire, England, following the route of Ermine Street between the A505 at Royston, Hertfordshire and Godmanchester, near Huntingdon....

 (former A14) at a roundabout near Papworth Everard

Papworth Everard

Papworth Everard is a village in Cambridgeshire, England. It lies ten miles west of Cambridge and six miles south of Huntingdon, having along its centre Ermine Street, the old North Road, the Roman highway that for centuries served as a major artery from London to York, which is now the A1198...

. From here the road is dual carriageway, bypassing the existing single carriageway section near Hardwick

Hardwick, Cambridgeshire

Hardwick is a village in the county of Cambridgeshire, England with a large housing estate located about west of the city of Cambridge and immediately south of the A428 Cambridge-St Neots road. It is about east of the newly developed village of Cambourne. The Village is nearly on the Greenwich...

. The road terminates at Girton

Girton, Cambridgeshire

Girton is a village of about 1,600 households, and 4,500 people in Cambridgeshire, England. It lies about two miles to the northwest of Cambridge, and is the home of Cambridge University's Girton College, a pioneer in women's education, which was moved there from a previous site in Hertfordshire in...

 interchange, where traffic joins first from the M11 junction 14 and then from the trunk A14 road junction 31; the A428 then ends, merging into the A14.

Bypasses and realignments

• Crick (Bypassed, now unclassified)
• West Haddon (Bypassed, now unclassified)
• Little Houghton (Bypassed, now unclassified)
• Bedford (now classified as A4280)

Recent

• Cambourne: Bypassed by a 1.2 miles (1.9 km) stretch of dual carriageway opened in May 2003.
• Caxton Gibbet
  Caxton Gibbet
  Caxton Gibbet is a small knoll on Ermine Street in England, running between London and Huntingdon, near its crossing with the road between Oxford and Cambridge. There are tales of murderers being hanged and displayed at the nearby village of Caxton in the 1670s, and records in a court case that...
  
  : A two-lane £55 million dual carriageway
  Dual carriageway
  A dual carriageway is a class of highway with two carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation...
  
  section opened on 24 May 2007 after widening works started by the Highways Agency in August 2005, linking this point to a grade-separated junction at Hardwick (about 5 miles (8 km) further east).