Black Cat Roundabout

Black Cat Roundabout
Aerial view of the roundabout looking south
Location
Roxton, Bedfordshire
Coordinates	52°11′05″N 0°18′19″W / 52.1846°N 0.3054°W / 52.1846; -0.3054
Roads at junction	A1 A421
Construction
Type	Roundabout
Maintained by	National Highways

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Location in Bedfordshire

Black Cat Roundabout is on the junction between the A1 and A421 (formerly A428) just south of St Neots. It has been reconstructed twice since 2000 and, as of 2024^[update], a third reconstruction is underway to completely replace it with a free-flowing junction.

It takes its name from the garage and car repair workshop which opened in the 1920s at the junction called the Black Cat Garage. In later years the garage was converted to a nightclub and then a restaurant, before becoming derelict for many years. In the 1980s a covered petrol station and hotel was opened on the site. All the buildings in this northwest quadrant of the junction were demolished during the 2024 upgrade.^[1]

A metal black cat sign was installed on the roundabout in January 2004, taking its shape from the cat on the original garage clock tower. During construction of the Great Barford bypass the black cat was temporarily relocated to the construction site office, before a second larger cat was returned to the roundabout upon completion in 2006. However, this sign was stolen during the summer of 2007. On 12 August 2008 it was announced that a third replacement Black Cat had been installed on the roundabout. In April 2009 the original sign was returned (albeit to a different location), accompanied by a note saying it had been found in a ditch.^[2]

The roundabout can regularly be heard being referred to on traffic reports because of the major traffic jams that it causes on the A1.