A bit of good news this week: the Highways Agency have announced the preferred route for the upgrade to the A1 between the Coalhouse junction at the south end of the Team Valley (junction 67) to Birtley (junction 65). The upgrade comes with a significant challenge: crossing the main East Coast railway. A new bridge is to be built to the south of the existing Allerdene Railway Bridge and the A1 will be realigned to accommodate this change. The road will be upgraded to 3 lanes in each direction. The Smithy Lane Bridge (I'm on it in the photo above) will be replaced.
This work is not going to be cheap. The improvements will cost £250-£350 million. Work is expected to start in 2020. We've got three years before the roadworks start!
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