Highways England has appointed a pair of contractors to deliver improvements to the A19/A1058 Coast Road junction in North Tyneside.

A £40M contract was awarded to a joint venture of John Sisk & Son and Lagan Construction Group last week.

The scheme – starting in 2016 – will upgrade the current grade separated roundabout to a three level interchange, placing the A19 in an open cut underpass. Work is expected to complete in mid 2018.

Highways England assistant project manager Darlene Procter said: “The A19 is a vital strategic link providing access to the Tyne Tunnel trading estate, Silverlink retail park, Cobalt business park and South East Northumberland.

“This scheme will improve journey times on the A19 by reducing congestion and improving safety for the thousands of drivers that use the junction each day.”

The scheme will also improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists by providing two new shared use bridges over the A1058 slip roads.

John Sisk & Son civils UK general manager Wayne Metcalfe said: “We are delighted to be working alongside our joint venture partner to safely deliver this vital junction improvement.”

Lagan Construction Group operations director John Cunningham added: “We look forward to delivering this significant infrastructure project on behalf of Highways England.”

Photo courtesy of Department for Transport