St Albans Roadworks This Week: A414 Shut to 9 Oct and M1 J8

The biggest item on the St Albans roadworks list this week is the A414 eastbound between Breakspear Junction and Park Street Roundabout. National Highways has now booked it shut from 8pm to 6am on every night up to and including Friday 9 October, two nights more than its previous report showed. The published eastbound diversion runs through the middle of St Albans, on Verulam Road, the High Street and the A1081 London Road.

The M1 shuts on both sides of the city on the same nights:

• M1 northbound, junction 6 to junction 8, 10pm to 5am on Tuesday 6, Wednesday 7 and Thursday 8 October, as the resurfacing block that the scheme page says runs to 20 October
• M1 southbound, junction 9 to junction 8, 9pm to 5am every night to Friday 9 October, for sign work

Junction 9 is the A5183 turning for Redbourn and Harpenden, and junction 8 is the A414. So on those nights, drivers from Harpenden heading south on the M1 and drivers from London heading north both lose their usual route, and so does anyone driving east towards Park Street.

Updated 6 October: the National Highways report uploaded on 5 October adds Thursday and Friday nights to both the A414 eastbound and the M1 southbound junction 9 to 8 closures. Hertfordshire County Council has now made the order closing the B653 Lower Luton Road from 7 October. The Park Street footpath and Sandringham Crescent closures have finished. This page covers Tuesday 6 October onwards.

In the city, Drovers Way and Chiswell Green Lane are in the last days of their 10-day and 12-day closures. From Wednesday 7 October the county’s made order shuts the B653 Lower Luton Road between Harpenden and East Hyde, along with Conquerors Hill in Wheathampstead and three residential roads in St Albans, for works scheduled to take six months. From 19 October four more closures start in Harpenden and Wheathampstead. Below: every closure booked in and around St Albans district, what is coming in the fortnight after, the rail changes and the council’s parking tariffs.

What is closed this week

National Highways uploads its closure report every day, covering that evening and the next six. The edition we read on 6 October 2026, uploaded at 15:33 on 5 October, covers Monday 5 to Sunday 11 October. These are the closures it books in and around St Albans district from Tuesday night onwards.

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. The edition we read on 2 October booked it for three nights, Monday to Wednesday; the 5 October upload makes it five, running to the night of Friday 9 October.

The M1 southbound between junctions 9 and 8 has grown the same way. It closes from 9pm, an hour before the northbound closure, for the erection of signs, and now runs to Friday night. The report says there is a diversion route but does not name the roads.

The M25 clockwise between junctions 22 and 23 is new. That is the London Colney to South Mimms stretch, closed on Thursday and Friday nights for what the report calls cyclical maintenance. It closes “carriageway and slip road” but does not say which slip. On those two nights the A414 eastbound diversion ends at London Colney Roundabout, next to junction 22, so anyone following it towards the M25 clockwise should allow for a second diversion.

The M25 anti-clockwise from junction 25 to junction 23 closes on Tuesday and Wednesday nights for testing, then again on Saturday night for resurfacing. It ends at South Mimms, so drivers coming round the M25 from the A10 at Enfield have to leave it at junction 25.

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 5 October upload, which runs to 11 October. 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, every weekend, 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. The westbound carriageway shut on the Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights of the week from 21 September, then for a whole weekend, from 8pm on Friday 25 September to 6am on Monday 28 September. Nothing was booked from 28 September to 4 October. Now it is the eastbound carriageway, on five nights in a row from 5 to 9 October, 8pm to 6am, which grew from three nights between one day’s report and the next. The order only permits closures; it does not mean the road shuts every night or every weekend.

The M1: resurfacing runs to 20 October

The overnight closures between junctions 6 and 8 are part of M1 junction 6a to junction 8 maintenance: resurfacing in both directions plus the A414 link road, at a cost of £4 million, running 20 July to October 2026. We checked the scheme page again on 6 October. It still carries the update dated 10 September, which sets out:

• M1 northbound, junction 6 to junction 8: closed overnight 10pm to 5am, Monday to Thursday only, from 7 to 18 September and again from 5 to 20 October
• M1 junction 8 north and southbound exit slips, and the A414 westbound from Park Street to junction 8: closed overnight 10pm to 5am on Friday 11 September, Friday 18 September and Monday 21 September
• M1 junction 8 north and southbound entry slips, and the A414 eastbound junction 8 entry slip: closed overnight 10pm to 5am on Sunday 20 and Sunday 27 September

Every date in the September part of that list has now passed. The October block is on the closure report: the M1 northbound between junctions 6 and 8 is booked shut on the nights of Monday 5 to Thursday 8 October, 10pm to 5am, with nothing on the Friday to Sunday nights, which matches the scheme page’s Monday to Thursday pattern. The scheme page says the block runs until 20 October. That would leave the nights of 12 to 15 October and 19 and 20 October; the current report runs only to 11 October, so it does not show them yet.

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. Neither the 25 September edition, nor the one we read on 2 October, nor the 5 October upload, which runs to 11 October, books an M1 southbound closure between junctions 6a and 5. Either the start has slipped or the nights have not been filed. If it runs for two weeks from a later start, it will overlap the northbound resurfacing. Both diversions use the A405.

The A405 itself is due a closure in Watford. A Hertfordshire County Council notice dated 25 September proposes closing about 2,306m of the A405 North Orbital Road between the A412 St Albans Road and the A41 North Western Avenue roundabout, from 12 October, for works scheduled to take five days. The alternative route is the A412 St Albans Road and the A41 North Western Avenue. It is an intended order, so treat 12 October as the earliest it can start.

The northbound diversion 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.

A414 westbound traffic caught by the junction 8 slip nights is sent the same way: south on the A405 from Park Street Roundabout, Watford Road, then the A41 northbound to rejoin the A414.

Closures change daily. Check the current list on the National Highways road closure report, which is now uploaded every day, 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 1 October 2026; the next is not yet on the Public Notice Portal as of 6 October. 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.

Running now: the last days of two September orders

Drovers Way is where one of the two multi-storey car parks is, so check before driving in. The published alternatives loop round Catherine Street, Etna Road, Worley Road, Stapley Road, Upton Avenue and Russell Avenue, or round Russell Avenue, Britton Avenue, Verulam Road and Folly Lane. The contractor contact is TBF Traffic.

Chiswell Green Lane is diverted via Furzebushes Lane, Ragged Hall Lane and the B4630 Watford Road. At the scheduled lengths, Drovers Way should reopen around 7 October and Chiswell Green Lane around 9 October. Neither the council nor the contractor has published a confirmed reopening.

From 7 October: five roads, now a made order, scheduled to take six months

The county first advertised this order as an intention on 17 September. The notice dated 1 October 2026 says the council has made it. It comes 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.

From 12 October: six rural roads, including 1.1km of Bell Lane

The 24 September batch set out a further intended order, starting on 12 October 2026; the 1 October batch did not confirm it as made. It covers six roads across Wheathampstead, Flamstead, Harpenden, London Colney and St Albans, closed except for access, with no waiting on either side while work is under way. The notice says the works are scheduled to take five days. It does not give the reason beyond “works”.

Bell Lane is the one to watch in London Colney. It is the B556 through the village between its two roundabouts, and the diversion takes traffic round on the London Colney Bypass and the North Orbital Road.

The same notice proposes a 26m closure of Station Road, Smallford, near No.49, from 12 October for about 12 days of water connection work. The diversion runs via the A1057 Hatfield Road, Colney Heath Lane, the A414 Colney Heath Roundabout and Smallford Lane.

From 19 October: four in Harpenden and Wheathampstead, then Bricket Wood

The 1 October batch adds five intended orders in the district. All are proposals, valid for eighteen months, so treat each date as the earliest start.

Little Cutts Road comes off Bower Heath Lane, the same junction where the six-month B653 closure begins, so anyone living there will have both at once if it goes ahead.

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, for highway maintenance. The way round is along Butt Field View, Gillian Avenue and Watling Street.

Also proposed: Porters End Lane, 15 October

A separate county notice dated 30 September proposes closing about 1,532m of Porters End Lane, Wheathampstead/Kimpton, from Sauncey Wood Lane to Kimpton Road, from 15 October. The works are scheduled to take one day. The alternative route is Sauncey Wood Lane, Holly Lane, Common Lane, the B652 Kimpton Bottom and Coopers Hill.

The same notice proposes 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, which can be viewed at Farnham House or at hertfordshire.gov.uk/trafficorders. Objections go to tro.team@hertfordshire.gov.uk. The two printed versions disagree on the deadline: the Welwyn Hatfield Times notice of 30 September says 21 October 2026, the Herts Advertiser notice of 1 October says 22 October. Send by 21 October to be safe.

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

Thameslink runs fewer late trains through St Albans City on Saturday night, 10 October. National Rail’s notice says engineering work between Kentish Town and Bedford means a reduced number of trains at the end of Saturday service between Kentish Town or West Hampstead Thameslink and Bedford. It does not list which trains, so check the journey planner before a late Saturday trip home from London.

Later in October, the line closes overnight. From 23:59 on Saturday 24 October to 08:10 on Sunday 25 October, buses replace trains between Bedford and Luton or Mill Hill Broadway, which takes in St Albans City and Harpenden.

The other Thameslink notices in the next fortnight affect the far ends of the route:

• Friday 9 October: the 23:44 Bedford to Brighton terminates at Three Bridges
• Sunday 11 October: the 09:48 West Hampstead Thameslink to Sutton starts from London Blackfriars
• Monday 12 to Thursday 15 October: the 22:54 Luton to Sutton terminates at Wimbledon, with paper tickets accepted on London Underground and London Buses
• Tuesday 13 to Friday 16 October: buses replace late night and early morning trains between Three Bridges and Brighton

The Abbey Line loses its first trains on two Saturdays.

• Saturday 10 October: the 05:50 Watford Junction to St Albans Abbey and the 06:13 St Albans Abbey to Watford Junction do not run. Replacement buses leave up to 20 minutes earlier than the train would.
• Saturday 24 October: the same two trains are replaced. The bus leaves Watford Junction at 05:20 and reaches St Albans Abbey at 06:03; the return bus leaves St Albans Abbey at 06:05 and reaches Watford Junction at 06:48.
• Wednesday 28 October: the 22:45 Watford Junction to St Albans Abbey and the 23:08 St Albans Abbey to Watford Junction are replaced by buses.

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 2 October, it still said mid-September and gave no reopening day. On 6 October Thameslink’s site refused our request, so we could not read it again. National Rail’s St Pancras station page now lists step-free access to all platforms and carries no lift notice, only one for escalator renewals until mid-December, but that is not a statement from Thameslink that the 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. On the M1, the northbound carriageway between junctions 6 and 8 closes on Tuesday 6, Wednesday 7 and Thursday 8 October, 10pm to 5am, and the scheme page says that resurfacing block runs to 20 October. The southbound carriageway between junctions 9 and 8 closes every night to Friday 9 October from 9pm. On the M25, the clockwise carriageway between junctions 22 and 23, London Colney to South Mimms, closes on Thursday 8 and Friday 9 October, and the anti-clockwise carriageway from junction 25 to junction 23 on Tuesday 6, Wednesday 7 and Saturday 10 October. A separate order allows the M1 southbound between junctions 6a and 5 to close overnight, but no closure report up to 11 October 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 booking is the eastbound carriageway from Breakspear Junction to Park Street Roundabout, 8pm to 6am every night up to and including Friday 9 October. The published eastbound diversion runs through St Albans, along Verulam Road, the High Street and the A1081 London Road.

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 daily spreadsheet uploaded at 15:33 on 5 October 2026 and read on 6 October, covering Monday 5 to Sunday 11 October, for every motorway and trunk road closure listed above, its times and its scheme description, the five A414 eastbound nights and the absence of any M1 junction 6a to 5 southbound closure; the 2 October edition for the three nights it originally booked; and the 25 September edition for the A414 weekend closure of 25 to 28 September.
• National Highways: M1 junction 6a to junction 8 maintenance, scheme page updated 10 September 2026 and rechecked 6 October, for the £4 million cost, the 20 July to October 2026 programme, the 7 to 18 September and 5 to 20 October northbound blocks, the junction 8 slip road nights and the diversion routes.
• 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 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, the intended orders for Hyde Close, Cravells Road, Little Cutts Road, Drovers Lane and Lye Lane, and the 22 October objection date it gives for clearway reference J00226.
• Hertfordshire County Council temporary closure notice dated 24 September 2026, published in the Herts Advertiser, for the made Drovers Way and Chiswell Green Lane orders, and the intended orders from 12 October for Station Road, Smallford and the six roads including B556 Bell Lane.
• 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 notices dated 25 September 2026, rechecked 6 October, for the intended A405 North Orbital Road closure from 12 October, and dated 30 September 2026, rechecked 6 October, for the intended Porters End Lane closure from 15 October and the county clearway proposal, reference J00226, with objections by 21 October.
• National Rail engineering work notices, checked 6 October 2026: Kentish Town to Bedford, 10 October, Bedford to Luton and Mill Hill Broadway, 24 and 25 October, St Albans Abbey, 10 October, St Albans Abbey, 24 October, St Albans Abbey, 28 October, 23:44 Bedford to Brighton, 9 October, 09:48 West Hampstead Thameslink to Sutton, 11 October, 22:54 Luton to Sutton, 12 to 15 October and Three Bridges to Brighton, 13 to 16 October.
• Thameslink St Pancras International lift refurbishment notice, last read on 2 October 2026 (it refused our request on 6 October), 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, checked 6 October 2026, for its step-free access listing and the escalator renewal notice.
• 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 for county and utility works.
• 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 6 October 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.