New Road Scheme Will Make North Middlesbrough More Accessible

Reference number: 9561
WORK on a major new road scheme to encourage regeneration and improve access off the A66 into the North Middlesbrough area starts on Monday, July 14, 2008.

The North Middlesbrough Accessibility Scheme will provide a new route from the Newport roundabout to and from the Riverside Park industrial estate. The aim is to ease congestion at the Hartington Interchange.

The work will also involve widening the A66 in both directions between the A19 interchange and the Newport interchange to further improve the flow of traffic in and out of Middlesbrough.
The capacity of the Newport roundabout will also be increased by providing an extra lane and increasing the traffic signal control.

The scheme, which was granted final Government funding approval in June 2008, is designed to ensure that the potential of Middlehaven and Riverside Park is fully realised.

The £15.4m scheme is largely funded by the Department for Transport with £2.3m from Middlesbrough Council and other local agencies.

The works have been designed by Halcrow and will be constructed by Balfour Beatty, with White Young Green managing the project on behalf of the council.
A significant advantage of the scheme is that most of the work on the new access road can be done with minimum disruption to the travelling public.

However, in order to widen the existing A66 carriageways, single lane closures and a temporary 30mph speed limit will be necessary. These lane closures will operate tidally to minimise the effect on peak morning traffic into the town or evening traffic leaving the town.

Off-peak works will also be necessary on Newport Roundabout and in addition a temporary closure of the eastbound slip road onto the A66.

Works on the A66 is expected to last for approximately 30 weeks with the scheme completed by Spring 2010.

All businesses adjacent to the works including the Letitia Industrial Estate and Discount DIY will trade as usual.

Contact information
Issued 11/07/08 by Ross Hamilton, Communications Unit, Middlesbrough Council on 01642 729504.

Taken from Middlesbrough Councils website