IN Brief:
- National Highways estimates the proposed design and build package at £700 million excluding VAT.
- The scheme would dual 6.5km of the A46 between Farndon and Winthorpe roundabouts.
- Supplier engagement continues while government considers proposed changes to the RIS3 programme.
National Highways has opened preliminary market engagement for a design and build partner on the A46 Newark Bypass, putting a £700 million construction proposition before contractors while the project remains subject to government decisions over the third Road Investment Strategy.
The proposed scheme would widen 6.5km of the existing single carriageway between Farndon and Winthorpe roundabouts near Newark-on-Trent, creating two lanes in each direction. National Highways estimates the design and build package at £700 million excluding VAT, with highway construction, engineering design and technical support included within the scope.
The engagement exercise will inform the commercial and procurement strategy before any formal competition is launched. National Highways intends to issue a recorded supplier presentation on 20 October, followed by one-to-one engagement sessions from 26 October. Organisations seeking to participate have been asked to register by 13 October.
An indicative tender notice is currently expected in July 2027, with the published procurement timetable showing a possible contract period from December 2028 to December 2038. Those dates remain provisional because the engagement notice makes clear that National Highways has not committed to running the procurement.
The uncertainty stems from the Department for Transport’s proposed changes to RIS3, which include the Newark scheme. National Highways states that no decision has yet been made on the project, leaving the commercial team preparing a potential route to market while its funding position remains unresolved.
The bypass has nevertheless moved considerably beyond an early concept. Development consent was granted in October 2025, following design, consultation, environmental assessment and statutory planning work. The scheme is intended to improve the strategic connection between Leicester and the M1, the A1 and central Lincolnshire while reducing congestion around Newark.
Its scope reaches beyond additional traffic lanes. Project objectives cover journey reliability, road safety, connections for walkers and cyclists, environmental mitigation and improvements to the resilience of a heavily used strategic corridor. Ecology and archaeology surveys have already formed part of the preparatory programme.
Opening supplier engagement allows National Highways to continue testing how the project could be delivered without committing government to the construction spend. Contractors and consultants can contribute to decisions around risk allocation, packaging, programme and commercial structure before tender documents are fixed.
That work will have to address a substantial range of construction interfaces. Widening an operational strategic road involves traffic management, structures, earthworks, drainage, utilities, environmental controls and connections with existing junctions. Temporary arrangements will be required to keep traffic moving while new carriageway and associated infrastructure are built.
Early engagement can also expose assumptions that would be expensive to resolve after competition begins. Buildability, access, temporary works, utility diversions and sequencing can materially affect the price of a large road package, particularly where bidders are expected to carry design responsibility alongside construction risk.
The latest procurement step follows calls for the A46 Newark Bypass to be postponed rather than cancelled as part of the RIS3 review. Retaining a route into a later road period would preserve more of the design, consent and procurement work already completed, although the final decision rests with government.
The estimated ten-year contract period also reflects the scale of the potential commitment. A main delivery partner would be entering a programme covering far more than initial construction activity, with design development, mobilisation, phased works and completion obligations extending across several years.
For the supply chain, the engagement notice provides visibility of a project that remains commercially active even though its construction programme is not secure. Major civils contractors, designers and specialist suppliers can begin assessing the emerging delivery model before a formal competition is authorised.
The next immediate milestone is the October supplier engagement programme. National Highways will use those sessions to develop its procurement approach while ministers continue considering the future road investment programme. Until that review is settled, the A46 Newark Bypass remains a consented project with an active commercial strategy but no guaranteed route into construction.
