Northampton Roadworks: Billing Road to 9 Oct, A43 Nights

Billing Road in Northampton has daytime closures for resurfacing until Friday 9 October. The council’s register books them off peak, 9.30am to 3.30pm. It is one of the main roads into the town centre from the east, so expect traffic to spill on to Wellingborough Road and Bedford Road. The same road then has an overnight closure for survey works from 8pm on Monday 12 October to 6am on Tuesday.

The A43 southbound between Syresham and Brackley is closed for four nights next week. National Highways has it shut from 8pm to 6am on Monday 5, Tuesday 6, Wednesday 7 and Thursday 8 October, with the Syresham southbound entry slip shut too. On the Monday night the A5 is also closed in both directions between Kilsby and Halfway House.

Mayorhold multi-storey will not reopen. The council confirmed on 2 October that the car park, shut since 20 July, is closed permanently. The other long closures have not moved: Nobottle Road at Harpole is still booked to 12 February 2027, Derby Road to 3pm on 1 November and Blisworth Road at Gayton to 11 November. Below is every dated restriction on West Northamptonshire’s roads between now and 16 October, from the council’s own live register, plus what National Highways has on the motorway and trunk roads and what the railway has on the Northampton line.

Closed or restricted right now

These are the restrictions the council’s register showed as in force on Saturday 3 October 2026, in and around Northampton, Daventry, Towcester and Brackley. Works on the HS2 route in the far south of the district are excluded where they run for years. Where the register names a diversion road as well as a closed one, only the closed road is listed.

Two dates moved since our last read. Raynsford Road, booked to 1 October on 30 September, now runs to 8 October. Tintern Avenue started a day late, on 2 October, and now ends on 12 October rather than 11.

Two planned closures have dropped off the register. Station Road at Castlethorpe, on the Milton Keynes border, was booked to 23 October for a damaged headwall. Wicken Park Road at Wicken was due to shut from 5 to 23 October. Neither is listed now, and the register does not say whether they were finished, cancelled or put back. Check the map before relying on either road. Cotton End, which left the register before its 2 October end date, has not come back. (West Northamptonshire Council roadworks register)

Nobottle Road: still booked to February

The Nobottle Road closure at Harpole is for “major reconstruction works, roundabout construction and associated development works”, and it has been in place since 5 January 2026. The end date has moved a long way:

• End date on 9 September: 25 September 2026
• End date on 23, 27 and 30 September and 3 October: 12 February 2027

That is a slip of twenty weeks, recorded on the register with no explanation and no council news release we can find. It is now the longest-dated job in the district outside the HS2 works. If Nobottle Road is your way between Harpole, Nobottle and the A428, it is not coming back this year on the register’s current timetable.

Derby Road: shut since April, still shut until November

The register’s entry has not changed. It still reads “emergency closure due to dangerous structure adjacent to the highway”, the responsible body is still the council, and the end date is still 3pm on 1 November 2026, where it has sat since we read it on 2 September. The closure started at 8am on 30 April 2026, so the register now schedules it to last six months and a day. The council has published no news release about it. Derby Road runs through Phippsville in NN1, and Magee Street carries the signed diversion.

Coming up, 5 to 16 October

Six entries in that list run longer than a day’s patching and are worth planning around.

• Green Street, Milton Malsor: 5 to 30 October. Cadent gas works, the next link in the chain below.
• Merthyr Road, Northampton: 8 to 21 October. Western Power Distribution has two weeks for electricity reinforcement, a few streets from its Tintern Avenue job.
• Puxley Road, Puxley: 9 to 15 October. Gigaclear is laying broadband ducts.
• Claydon Road, Aston le Walls: 14 to 20 October. A new electricity connection, on a road that also has HS2 closures on 3 to 4, 5 to 6 and 10 to 11 October further north at Boddington.
• Naseby Road, Naseby and Clipston Road, Sibbertoft: 13 October to 1 November. Anglian Water mains renewal, joining the Sibbertoft Road closure at Naseby that already runs to 1 November. Three roads around Naseby will be shut at once for almost three weeks.
• Boughton Green Road, Northampton: overnight from 7pm on 15 October. The register books drainage works through to the end of 16 October.

The gas works rolling through the villages south of town

Cadent has a run of gas main replacement closures through the villages between Northampton and Towcester this autumn. These are the ones on the register on 3 October:

• Blisworth Road, Gayton: now entered as 28 September to 11 November
• Towcester Road, Milton Malsor: 28 September to 17 October
• Green Street, Milton Malsor: 5 to 30 October

Milton Malsor has two of its streets affected at once from 5 October, overlapping for thirteen days. The Blisworth Road entry was replaced on the register between our reads: on 27 September it ran from 24 September to 9 November, and it now starts on 28 September and ends on 11 November. The entries carry no diversion detail beyond the standard signed routes, and the council has published no news release about the programme. If you drive between Gayton, Blisworth and Milton Malsor, expect signed diversions well into November.

Lining crews on the roads getting enforcement cameras

The overnight “lining and signing works” on Kingsthorpe Grove, Harborough Road and Lincoln Street ran on Sunday 27 September and have left the register. Two more jobs are still booked:

• Weedon Road and Harlestone Road: overnight, 6 to 8 October, labelled “MTE works and line refresh”
• Cliftonville Road: 8pm on Wednesday 7 October to 6am on Friday 9 October, “lining and signing work”

The register does not spell out what MTE stands for, and it does not say these are camera sites. What the record does show is that Harborough Road, Weedon Road and Cliftonville Road are all on the list of ten locations where Cabinet approved moving traffic enforcement cameras on 15 September. Harborough Road has two yellow box sites, Weedon Road one at the Spencer Bridge Road junction, and Cliftonville Road one at the entrance to the hospital. Each camera’s six month warning period starts when it goes live, so fresh lines on those junctions are worth noticing. The full site list, and how the warning notices work, is in Northampton traffic cameras: 10 new sites.

The longer view: a new transport strategy is out for comment

The council opened consultation on a draft Northampton Area Transport Strategy on 29 September. It looks ahead to 2036 and beyond. The council says 155 possible improvements were assessed and 61 picked as priorities for further work, including bus priority, new walking and cycling routes, mobility hubs and traffic management changes. Named corridors include Harborough Road and Kettering Road, plus better links to Brackmills and Weston Favell. Nothing has been decided, and the survey closes on 15 November 2026. (West Northamptonshire Council, 29 September 2026)

National Highways: four A43 nights at Brackley and one on the A5

National Highways publishes a rolling seven-day closure report as a spreadsheet, with one sheet per day. The current edition covers Friday 2 to Thursday 8 October 2026.

There is again nothing at M1 Junction 15, 15A, 16 or 17, which is every junction Northampton uses. The closest M1 entries are south of Milton Keynes: the northbound Junction 12 exit slip at Toddington overnight from 5 to 8 October, and a northbound Junction 10 carriageway closure overnight on 5 October.

In and around the district:

• A43 southbound, Syresham to Brackley: closed 8pm to 6am on the nights of Monday 5, Tuesday 6, Wednesday 7 and Thursday 8 October, with the Syresham southbound entry slip shut on the same nights. This is part of National Highways’ junction improvement scheme between the Barley Mow roundabout and Towcester, which also carries 24-hour narrow lanes and speed restrictions. The diversion uses National Highways and council roads.
• A5 both directions, Kilsby to Halfway House: closed 8pm Monday 5 October to 6am Tuesday, under the Weedon Bec to Danes Way horticultural scheme, with laybys in both directions shut from 1pm that day.
• A45 southbound at Earls Barton: exit and entry slips closed overnight on Thursday 8 October, for electrical works on the Great Billing to Earls Barton stretch. Earls Barton is in North Northamptonshire, about three miles east of Great Billing.

The A5 closures between Kilsby and Weedon Bec on 30 September and 1 October are finished and do not appear on the current report. (National Highways road closure report)

Trains: Bushey changes, then late-night buses in half term

London Northwestern Railway’s own calendar and the National Rail notices list these changes on the Northampton line:

• Saturday 3 and Sunday 4 October: a reduced late-night and morning service at Bushey, on the Euston to Northampton route.
• Sunday 4 October: engineering work at Rugby. London Northwestern services via Rugby are retimed until about 11:50, and Avanti trains are diverted and will not run via Northampton.
• Saturday 10 October: until 21:00, trains between Euston and Milton Keynes Central or Northampton leave Euston slightly earlier and arrive slightly later. Euston to Tring stopping trains do not run.
• Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 October: several late Euston to Northampton trains skip Bushey. Buses also replace trains between Rugby and Stafford via Nuneaton, which matters if you change at Rugby for the north.
• Monday 12 to Friday 16 October: late night and early morning Euston to Northampton trains are amended at Bushey. From Monday to Thursday the 22:39 from Euston will not call there, and the 22:09 and 23:42 call to drop off only.
• Saturday 17 and Sunday 18 October: amended services to and from Tring and Bushey, including trains between Euston, Milton Keynes Central and Northampton.
• Monday 26 to Thursday 29 October: buses replace late-night London Northwestern trains to and from Northampton. This is half-term week. The calendar entry does not yet give times.
• Saturday 31 October: the 00:09 and 00:39 Euston to Northampton services are amended.

None of these is a full daytime closure of the line to London from Northampton. (London Northwestern Railway, upcoming engineering works; National Rail, Rugby, 4 October; Tring, 10 October; Bushey midweek, 12 October)

For fares, season ticket costs and the station car park, see Northampton train times to London.

Parking: the four streets that went up 25%

The council’s premium on-street parking zone is in force in Northampton town centre. Its news release announced the change on 6 August but did not say which streets were affected or by how much. The statutory notice of variation does.

Four streets moved to the premium tariff:

• Abington Street
• Mercers Row
• George Row
• St Giles Street

Every other on-street pay-and-display street in the notice is unchanged at £0.80, £1.60 and £3.20 for the same stays. That list includes Albion Place, Bridge Street, Castilian Terrace, Castilian Street, Church Lane, Derngate, Fetter Street, Guildhall Road, Hazelwood Road, Newlands, Regent Square, Sheep Street and Spencer Parade. So the cheaper rate is often one street away.

How to tell where you are: the machines are colour coded. Premium machines have been painted red; standard machines stay black. Charges are shown on the machine, so check before you pay.

Cllr Richard Butler, Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport, said: “Some areas are in very high demand and can become full quickly, while there is often capacity in nearby locations.” (West Northamptonshire Council)

Residents’ permits and waivers are unchanged: £45 for an annual resident permit, £22.50 for six months or less, £450 for a business annual permit, and £17.50 for a first-day waiver.

Car parks: what is shut and what is going

Two separate things are taking spaces out of use now, and a third is on the way.

Mayorhold multi-storey is closed permanently, the council confirmed on 2 October. It shut on 20 July after crumbling concrete was found on an internal post of the 50-year-old structure, with the council saying at the time it would decide on reopening after further surveys. That survey found corrosion that is “not confined to a specific location” and is likely to get worse. The ground floor and access ramps would need repairs before it could reopen, and the council says it cannot justify the cost on a building already due for demolition in the Greyfriars scheme. It names Grosvenor, St Michael’s, Wellington Street and Newlands as the nearest alternatives. Our full report: Mayorhold car park will not reopen. (West Northamptonshire Council, 2 October 2026)

Update, 3 October 2026: earlier versions of this section described Mayorhold as not reopening before the council had said so. Until 2 October the council’s position was that it was closed until further notice, pending surveys.

Upper Mounts and Newlands lost about 200 spaces between them on Tuesday 1 September. Archaeological investigations started that day and are expected to finish by the end of October, with the council hoping to reopen the spaces before Christmas. The digging is a precondition of the Greyfriars scheme. (West Northamptonshire Council)

In Daventry, the St John’s Square closure has been put back to Monday 19 October. About 28 of the car park’s 62 spaces will close from that date until early June 2027, for construction materials and contractor cabins during building work at the nearby leisure centre. It had been due to start in late August. Cllr Richard Butler said the works “have been pushed back due to a delay signing one of the agreements”. The council said advance signs would go up from Friday 2 October.

While the closure runs, cars will get in and out of the car park via Chapel Lane only. Abbey Street will remain open as normal. Daventry town centre car parks are free within the posted time limits, and the council counts more than 800 other free spaces nearby. (West Northamptonshire Council, 23 September 2026)

Update, 27 September 2026: an earlier version of this section, based on the council’s 3 August release, said the St John’s Square spaces closed on 28 August and that Abbey Street was shut to vehicles. The council has since moved the start to 19 October and says Abbey Street stays open.

What the town centre car parks cost

These are the council’s own tariffs, Monday to Friday up to 6pm. Blue Badge holders and motorcycles park free at all of them.

The pattern is worth reading before you drive in. St Michael’s multi-storey is the cheapest large car park in the town centre at £6.60 all day, £4.60 less than St John’s for the same day and only a few minutes further out. Marefair, Market Street and Abington Place match that £6.60 rate but are much smaller.

The longer A45 and A43 picture

The A45 Northampton Growth Management Scheme is the programme reshaping the town’s southern and eastern ring. It covers seven junctions between M1 Junction 15 and Great Billing:

• M1 Junction 15
• Wootton interchange
• Queen Eleanor interchange
• Brackmills interchange
• Barnes Meadow interchange
• Lumbertubs interchange
• Great Billing interchange

Queen Eleanor was delivered first, with work starting on 31 March 2025. The council’s own project page says the remaining junctions will follow “as funding becomes available”, so there is no published schedule for the other six. The overnight survey and maintenance slots at Barnes Meadow and Brackmills on National Highways’ current report sit under that programme’s banner. (West Northamptonshire Council)

North of the town, the North West Relief Road opened on 17 December 2025. The £57.4 million route links the A428 Harlestone Road with the A5199 Welford Road near the Windhover. It is the main alternative to driving through Kingsthorpe if you are crossing the north of Northampton.

Potholes and resurfacing

The council published its road maintenance position on 7 August 2026. In the year from May 2025 it resurfaced 106,600 square metres, more than double the previous year, while pothole reports rose 42% over the same period. Its own estimate of what it would take to bring the whole network up to standard is about £300 million.

Cllr Richard Butler said: “By continuing to prioritise preventative maintenance, targeting investment where it will have the greatest impact and focusing on long-term asset management rather than short-term reactions, we can make steady and sustainable improvements.” (West Northamptonshire Council)

The practical reading is that resurfacing is being concentrated on the routes that carry the most traffic, so residential streets will wait. The Billing Road surfacing to 9 October is that policy in action.

What it means for you

• If you drive into town from the east on a weekday, Billing Road has off-peak closures until Friday 9 October. Bedford Road and Wellingborough Road are the ways round. It shuts again overnight on 12 October for surveys.
• If you head south on the A43 past Brackley late at night from Monday 5 to Thursday 8 October, the southbound carriageway from Syresham is shut from 8pm to 6am.
• If you use the A5 north of Weedon on Monday night, 5 October, it is shut between Kilsby and Halfway House.
• If you used Mayorhold, it is not coming back. Grosvenor and St Michael’s are the large multi-storeys nearby; St Michael’s is the cheaper for a full day at £6.60.
• Nobottle Road at Harpole is not reopening this year. The register runs the closure to 12 February 2027.
• Blisworth Road at Gayton is shut to 11 November, and Milton Malsor has Towcester Road shut to 17 October and Green Street from 5 to 30 October, all for gas main replacement.
• Derby Road is still not reopening this autumn. The register runs the emergency closure to 3pm on 1 November. Magee Street carries the diversion.
• If you live near Naseby, three roads there will be shut at once from 13 October to 1 November.
• If you are coming home from London late in half-term week, buses replace late-night trains to Northampton from 26 to 29 October.
• If you park on Abington Street, Mercers Row, George Row or St Giles Street, you are paying 25% more. An hour costs £2.00 rather than £1.60. Sheep Street, Guildhall Road, Derngate and the rest are still £1.60.
• If you have views on buses, cycling or congestion in Northampton, the draft transport strategy survey is open until 15 November.

Checking what is live today

Roadworks change weekly and no page can stay ahead of them. These are the sources that are current on the day:

• West Northamptonshire Council roadworks is the register the tables above come from. Note that the council still carries a warning on that page saying it is “aware of an issue with roadworks currently not displaying”, so if the list looks empty, use the map instead.
• one.network for Northamptonshire is the map the council itself links to. Search by postcode.
• National Highways road closure report for the M1 and the trunk sections of the A5, A43 and A45, which National Highways manages rather than the council. The spreadsheet link changes every week, so take it from that page.
• London Northwestern Railway engineering works for the Northampton to Euston line.
• Public Notice Portal carries the council’s statutory Section 14 notices. Read the wording: an order the council intends to make is a proposal, and the date can move.

Frequently asked questions

Why is Derby Road in Northampton closed?

An emergency closure for a dangerous structure next to the highway, in force since 8am on 30 April 2026. The council’s live roadworks register gives an end date of 3pm on 1 November 2026, unchanged on every read since 2 September, most recently on 3 October. When we read it on 26 August it gave 1 September, so the closure was extended by two months at that point. Magee Street carries the signed diversion.

Why is Nobottle Road at Harpole closed, and when does it reopen?

The register lists “major reconstruction works, roundabout construction and associated development works”, in place since 5 January 2026. On our 9 September read the end date was 25 September 2026; on 23 September it had moved to 12 February 2027, and it was unchanged on 27 and 30 September and 3 October. The council has published no news release explaining the extension.

Is Billing Road in Northampton closed?

At off-peak times until Friday 9 October 2026, for surfacing works. The register books the closure from 9.30am to 3.30pm. There is a separate overnight closure for survey works from 8pm on Monday 12 October to 6am on Tuesday 13 October.

Is Cotton End in Northampton still one-way?

The temporary one-way between New South Bridge Road and Cattle Market Road, in force since 1 September, was booked to 4.30pm on 2 October. By 30 September it had gone from the council’s register altogether, and it was still absent on 3 October. That usually means the job is finished or stood down, though the register does not say which.

When does Raynsford Road in Northampton reopen?

The register now runs the Western Power Distribution closure to Thursday 8 October 2026, a week later than the 1 October it showed on 30 September. Access is maintained for residents throughout. It has been closed since 11 September.

Is the A43 closed near Brackley this week?

Overnight, southbound only. National Highways has the A43 southbound shut between Syresham and Brackley from 8pm to 6am on the nights of 5, 6, 7 and 8 October 2026, with the Syresham southbound entry slip closed too, for junction improvement works.

Is the A5 closed near Northampton this week?

For one night. National Highways has the A5 shut in both directions between Kilsby and Halfway House from 8pm on Monday 5 October to 6am on Tuesday 6 October 2026, for horticultural works.

Are there M1 closures near Northampton this week?

No. National Highways’ seven-day report for 2 to 8 October lists nothing at Junctions 15, 15A, 16 or 17. The nearest entries are at Junction 12 (Toddington) and Junction 10.

Is Mayorhold car park reopening?

No. The council confirmed on 2 October 2026 that Mayorhold is closed permanently. A structural survey found corrosion across the building, and it is due for demolition in the Greyfriars scheme.

Which roads are shut overnight for lining in Northampton?

Weedon Road and Harlestone Road overnight from 6 to 8 October, and Cliftonville Road from 8pm on 7 October to 6am on 9 October. The Kingsthorpe Grove, Harborough Road and Lincoln Street lining night was 27 September.

Are trains running from Northampton to London this week?

Yes. On Sunday 4 October, services via Rugby are retimed until about 11:50, and from 12 to 16 October some late-night trains are amended at Bushey. The first bus replacement on the calendar is for late-night trains from 26 to 29 October.

Which Northampton streets are in the premium parking zone?

Abington Street, Mercers Row, George Row and St Giles Street. An hour there is £2.00 rather than £1.60, and two hours £4.00 rather than £3.20. The machines are painted red.

Which Northampton car park is cheapest for a full day?

St Michael’s multi-storey at £6.60 is the cheapest of the large ones. Marefair, Market Street and Abington Place match that rate but are much smaller.

Is Upper Mounts car park closed?

About 160 spaces went out of use on 1 September for archaeological trenching, with Newlands losing 36. The council expects the work to finish by the end of October and hopes to reopen the spaces before Christmas.

Sources

• Roadworks register, West Northamptonshire Council, read 3 October 2026. Locations without a town in the register were matched to a parish using postcodes.io. Where the register’s own description is a contractor’s shorthand, such as “P3 repairs” or “MTE works”, it is quoted rather than interpreted.
• Road closure report, National Highways, seven-day report for 2 to 8 October 2026.
• Upcoming engineering works, London Northwestern Railway, read 3 October 2026, for October.
• Engineering works notices, National Rail, for 30 September to 16 October, read 30 September 2026.
• Mayorhold car park to close permanently, West Northamptonshire Council, 2 October 2026.
• Cabinet decisions, 15 September 2026, West Northamptonshire Council, for the moving traffic enforcement site list.
• Notice of variation of charges, ref N/392, West Northamptonshire Council, dated 23 July 2026 (PDF).
• Premium parking zone to be introduced in Northampton town centre, West Northamptonshire Council, 6 August 2026.
• Temporary parking changes affecting St John’s Square, Daventry will now take place from October, West Northamptonshire Council, 23 September 2026.
• Decision to close Mayorhold car park, West Northamptonshire Council.
• Archaeological investigations to begin at Upper Mounts and Newlands car parks, West Northamptonshire Council.
• Investing in better roads for the long term, West Northamptonshire Council, 7 August 2026.
• Council car parks in Northampton town for tariffs and space counts.
• Residents invited to help shape Northampton’s future transport network, West Northamptonshire Council, 29 September 2026.
• Major highways projects, West Northamptonshire Council.
• West Northamptonshire Council opens North West Relief Road.

Tariffs, closures and dates change at short notice. Check the council’s map or one.network before you travel.