Two of Highways England’s major upgrade schemes are reaching important milestones this week that will see drivers benefit from additional road capacity in the North East and the South East.

 

The first phase of a project to widen the A1 between Leeming and Barton in Yorkshire (pictured) will open to traffic on Friday while the A21 Tonbridge to Pembury upgrade in Kent is also set for its official opening this week.

 

A 9.5km stretch of the Leeming to Barton scheme will open to provide a three lane motorway standard route from the project’s southern end at Leeming to a new grade separated junction at Catterick.

 

Once finished this winter it is said that the full 20km scheme will complete a ‘missing link’ of motorway standard highway between London and Newcastle using the M1 and A1(M).

 

Highways England project manager Tom Howard commented: “We are pleased to be able to open this section ahead of the main completion to give drivers the benefits of motorway standards as well as smoother and safer journeys. 

 

“This is an important milestone and means we are now half way to completing this major scheme on this vitally important route.” Once fully open journey times between Leeming and Barton are expected to be reduced by approximately 20%.

 

However the project has suffered from delays to its original programme, which would have seen it open in full last spring. This is in part due to archaeological discoveries made on site as well as complicated ground conditions that have impacted on the method used to stabilise an embankment near the River Swale.

 

North Yorkshire County Council leader councillor Carl Les recognised the difficulties that the project has faced in keeping to programme, which he said have been disruptive to communities and travellers.

 

“But I am sure that once the road is fully open all of that will be forgotten because of the improvements to our lives that will come in terms of safety and faster journeys,” he said.

 

Highways England’s upgrade of the A21 between Tonbridge and Pembury in Kent has experienced a delay of around nine months, in this case because of an unexpectedly large amount of contaminated soil discovered on site which needed to be removed.

 

Nevertheless the official opening of the project this week is expected to benefit 35,000 drivers a day who travel along the route. The scheme has involved construction of a new 4.1km dual carriageway – including a new flyover above a congested roundabout – to speed up journeys, improve safety and boost the economy.

 

(Photo: Highways England)