Blyth Relief Road business case revisions save key Cramlington slip road but push back timeline

Northumberland County Council is updating its business case for the scheme, which will be submitted to the Department for Transport for approval, and will take into account concerns raised by residents at a consultation last year.

The proposed scheme would see new dual carriageway laid and widening existing single carriageway along the A1061, creating a dual carriageway route between the Three Horseshoes roundabout on the A189 and the A193 roundabout at South Beach.

A new single carriageway link between Chase Farm Drive and Ogle Drive is also proposed, with the scheme designed to reduce congestion and journey times in Blyth.

The need to update the outline business case for the project means a planning application for the relief road is unlikely to be submitted until the back end of the year, despite previous hopes that it would be submitted in April 2024.

The version of the proposal that was consulted on last year had involved closing the southbound slip road onto the A189 from the Shankhouse area of Cramlington, as it does not meet modern road design standards.

Cramlington residents, including Cramlington North councillor Wayne Daley, had raised concerns that this would cause issues for the area’s residents and result in more congestion in the town.

The council confirmed on Friday, June 7 that this suggestion has been dropped from the Blyth Relief Road outline business case on the evidence of traffic modelling, accident statistics, and the potential for making minor improvements.

Cllr Daley said: “I am absolutely delighted that they have seen common sense and have listened to residents because the impact of this closure would have been significant, particularly for the north of Cramlington.

“It would have resulted in hundreds of additional vehicle movements going north every day to come south or, as was the worst element of the plan, would have sent hundreds and hundreds of drivers every morning and evening through the centre of Cramlington, which is already congested.”

“I think the arguments that myself and local residents put forward were listened to, which is great.

“Overwhelmingly, there is a huge sigh of relief from residents because everybody knows that the impact would have caused gridlock and mayhem in the town.”

Cllr Daley said it was “sad” that Cramlington had not initially been included when the consultation events were announced last year, with extra events in the town later scheduled, but he added that “that is history” and he was overall “delighted” with the outcome.

Other updates to the county council’s outline business case will, following Department for Transport feedback earlier this year, involve updated traffic modelling following the Covid-19 pandemic.

The plans have also been updated to reflect further feedback from the consultation programme held last year and to provide more detail on how the road improvements tie in with other developments in the area like the Northumberland Line and new cycle corridors.

Construction had been anticipated to begin in early 2025 and be complete by spring 2026, but this programme now appears likely to be revised due to the revisions to the business case.