The A509 is a short A-class road (around long) for north–south journeys in south central

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, forming the route from

Kettering Kettering is a market and industrial town in North Northamptonshire, England. It is located north of London and north-east of Northampton, west of the River Ise, a tributary of the River Nene. The name means "the place (or territory) of Ket ...

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

to the A5 in

Milton Keynes Milton Keynes ( ) is a city and the largest settlement in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of its urban area was over . The River Great Ouse forms its northern boundary; a tributary ...

, via M1 J14. From north to south, the road begins at

Wicksteed Park Wicksteed Park is a Grade II listed park in Kettering, Northamptonshire, England, which includes an amusement park within its grounds. The park is located in the south-east of Kettering, on the western edge of Barton Seagrave village. The par ...

in the outskirts of

. It then crosses the A14 (where it becomes a

primary route The United Kingdom has a network of roads, of varied quality and capacity, totalling about . Road distances are shown in miles or yards and UK speed limits are indicated in miles per hour (mph) or by the use of the national speed limit (NSL) sy ...

) and goes through

Isham Isham is a village and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is on the A509 road, three miles south of Kettering and a mile to the west of Burton Latimer. The River Ise is to the east of the village. Administratively, it forms part of N ...

and

Great Harrowden Great Harrowden is a village and civil parish in North Northamptonshire, with a population (including Hardwick) at the 2011 census of 161. The village sits astride the busy A509 running between Kettering and Wellingborough - although a bypass ...

. After this it goes on to form the

Wellingborough Wellingborough ( ) is a large market and commuter town in the unitary authority area of North Northamptonshire in the ceremonial county of Northamptonshire, England, 65 miles from London and from Northampton on the north side of the River Nen ...

western bypass before leaving

to cross into the

City of Milton Keynes The City of Milton Keynes is a unitary authority area with both borough and city status, in Buckinghamshire. It is the northernmost district of the South East England Region. The borough abuts Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire and the remainder o ...

(and

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

). From there, it crosses the

A428 The A428 road is a major road in central and eastern England. It runs between the cities of Coventry and Cambridge by way of the county towns of Northampton and Bedford. Together with the A421, (and the A43, M40 and the A34), the eastern se ...

at a roundabout and cuts through the centre of Olney. South of Olney the road passes

Emberton Emberton is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority area of the City of Milton Keynes, in Buckinghamshire, England. The village is near the borders with Northamptonshire and Bedfordshire, just to the south of Olney and four miles ...

, meeting the

A422 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, it is a narrow sin ...

just north-east of

Newport Pagnell Newport Pagnell is a town and civil parish in the City of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The Office for National Statistics records Newport Pagnell as part of the Milton Keynes urban area. It is separated from the rest of the urban ...

, where the routes multiplex to form the Newport Pagnell eastern bypass. South of Newport Pagnell, the routes diverge at a roundabout with the A509 turning south and the A422 continuing westbound. Here the A509 is a single carriageway once more until it crosses the M1 at Junction 14, where it enters the 1967 designated area of Milton Keynes. From here, the road once more becomes a dual carriageway, running for a further past the edge of

Central Milton Keynes Central Milton Keynes is the central business district of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England and a #Civil parish, civil parish in its own right, with a town council#England and Wales, town council. The district is approximately long by w ...

(the

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...

) and the

Network Rail Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. Network Rail is an "arm's leng ...

National Centre (' Quadrant:MK'), to link up finally with the A5. Through Milton Keynes, the road is known as the H5 Portway.

Proposed Isham bypass

The A509 Isham Bypass is a proposal by

North Northamptonshire Council North Northamptonshire is one of two local authority areas in Northamptonshire, England. It is a unitary authority area forming about one half of the ceremonial county of Northamptonshire. It was created in 2021. Its notable towns are Ketterin ...

to improve transport links between

and

, to improve access from Wellingborough to the A14, and to remove 'through traffic' from

village. A bid for Major Road Network funding was submitted to the Department for Transport in March 2020, with a Strategic Outline Business Case in December 2020. In October 2021, £1.859m of funding from the Department of Transport was secured towards the next stages of developing the proposals for the bypass. A full planning application is due to be submitted by January 2023.

References

Roads in England Transport in Northamptonshire Transport in Buckinghamshire Roads in Milton Keynes {{England-road-stub