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Improved A1 to remove 'missing link'

The “missing link” of motorway between Tyneside and London has been given the go-ahead by the Transport Secretary. The Dishforth to Barton scheme, in North Yorkshire, will upgrade 24 miles of the A1 dual carriageway to three-lane motorway standard. The 24-mile long section of road from Dishforth to Barton will mean the A1 eventually becoming a motorway link between Newcastle and London.

Department for Transport officials said the upgrade will be in two phases, the first starting in the autumn. The whole project is expected to be underway in three years.

Phase one of the scheme will see work on the Dishforth to Leeming section starting in the autumn of this year. The northern section, from Leeming to the current point of the A1’s three-lane running at Barton, near Darlington, will start in 2011.

Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly said: “The A1 is a vital route for the North East. The improvement I’m announcing today will for the first time provide drivers with a seamless motorway link all the way from Newcastle to London.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .