Last week brought the news that the Tyne and Wear Metro will be extended to Washington thanks to confirmation of a major funding settlement from the Government to fund a variety of infrastructure upgrades, with that new line expected to be open by 2033. But mayor Kim McGuinness said on Tuesday that there was still an “awful lot more to do” to resolve travel headaches across the North East, as she backed calls to revive the dualling of the A1 and improvements to bottleneck roundabouts on the A19.
The widening of the A1 in Northumberland and upgrades to the notoriously congested A19 junctions at Moor Farm and Seaton Burn have all been deemed poor value for money by the government.
“Absolute nightmare”
McGuinness told a meeting of the North East Combined Authority’s (NECA) cabinet that the A1 is an “absolute nightmare” and that the A19 projects were also “completely crucial”, adding that last week’s cash injection “cannot be the end of our ambitions”.
Transport bosses are also desperate for ministers to back a £400 million replacement of the Metro’s signalling system, described as essential work without which the Metro will cease to function, as the nation awaits the full details of Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ Spending Review on Wednesday.
Speaking at Tuesday’s NECA meeting in Durham, Northumberland County Council leader Glen Sanderson repeated his pleas for a government U-turn on the long-debated A1 dualling.
He said the route simply “cannot cope” with the volume of traffic seen at peak holiday times and leads to surrounding towns and villages being used as rat runs
The Conservative council leader added: “We have got to get some of these really important road schemes completed. For example, the Blyth Relief Road and the Moor Farm Roundabout which I am grateful to you [Ms McGuinness] for having raised. Our new £10 billion data centre campus [in Cambois] cannot manage, nor can the new hospital at Cramlington, the increased level of traffic we have using the A19 and that roundabout unless we make significant improvement soon.
“There is no point in saying there is not a good business case – of course there is a good business case, it is there for everyone to see, the queues stretch for miles.”
Gateshead Council leader Martin Gannon, NECA’s lead on transport issues, said that the Moor Farm project in particular had been hamstrung by the government not taking into account the economic benefits of potential future development around the junction when assessing its economic value.
Coun Sanderson also praised the “incredible” growth of the recently reopened Northumberland Line train service, which has had more than 300,000 passengers in six months, as proof of the public’s desire for public transport that is reliable and value for money as he called for better bus services into rural parts of the region.
£13.9 million investment package
Tuesday’s meeting at The Story also saw the NECA cabinet sign off on a £13.9 million investment package which includes:
£3.5 million to be spent on upgrades to 195 bus stops across Tyne and Wear and Northumberland with measures such as new shelters, CCTV, lighting, real-time information screens, widened pavements, and dropped kerbs. This is in addition to 444 bus stops in County Durham that the mayor announced would be upgraded last month;
£6 million to improve the attractiveness of nine rail or Metro stations, used by millions of passengers every year – potentially covering Heworth Interchange, the Metrocentre, Manors, Palmersville, Jarrow, Fellgate, Hebburn, St Peter’s, and the Northumberland Line’s Bebside, Seaton Delaval, and Newsham stations. The upgrades will include CCTV and lighting, cycle parking, active travel link improvements, and signage;
£4.42 million to install up to 166 new electric vehicle chargers at 58 sites across Tyne and Wear and Northumberland, including 72 rapid chargers, targeted to rural areas, key tourist hotspots, park and ride sites, and council car parks.
