Member Article

£15 million phase 2 of Doncaster Sheffield Airport motorway link given green light

Doncaster Council has given the green light to the £15 million phase 2 completion of the link road from the motorway network to Doncaster Sheffield Airport.

Work on the first phase of the Doncaster Council led £56 million FARRRS (Finningley And Rossington Regeneration Route Scheme), is creating a three mile route from junction 3 of the M18 to Parrott’s Corner on the A638 south of Doncaster.

The second phase will include a link to Warning Tongue Lane delivering further economic and transport benefits for the area. It will improve access to the Yorkshire Wildlife Park, the fastest growing wildlife attraction, and reduce the impact for local residents living close by.

Consultation will begin in early 2015 followed by the submission of a planning application later in 2015. Subject to approval, construction will start in early 2016 when the first phase of FARRRS is due to be complete and open.

The FARRRS project received financial assistance from the Government’s Regional Growth Fund, backing from private sector partners Harworth Estates, the Peel Group and Verdion and is supported regionally by the Growing Places Fund and the Sheffield City Region Local Enterprise Partnership. The main contractor for the works is Carillion.

Mayor of Doncaster, Ros Jones, said: “This is an important milestone in our aspirations to complete the FARRRS link from the motorway network to our international airport.

“The first phase is unlocking major private sector developments including Verdion’s £400 million iPort and Harworth Estates 1,200 new home scheme on the former Rossington Colliery site.

“The second phase will see this important regeneration scheme encourage further inward investment, drive economic growth and deliver jobs and homes for people right across the borough.

“It will be a real boost for expansion at Doncaster Sheffield Airport and the new Enterprise Zone based there. Doncaster is moving forward at a rapid rate of knots.”

Steve Gill, managing director of Doncaster Sheffield Airport said: “FARRRS phase two will provide fantastic access to and from the airport from the motorway network.

“This key infrastructure development will help the airport to achieve its potential and will truly place Doncaster Sheffield Airport at the heart of the Sheffield City Region.”

Simon Carr, LEP Board Member, managing director of Henry Boot Construction and incoming chair of the National Federation of Builders, said: “The new link road will greatly improve connections to Doncaster-Sheffield Airport - cutting driving times from Sheffield to less than 25 minutes.

“The link road is already helping to create hundreds of jobs in the Sheffield City Region and will continue to do so as it opens up access to development areas at Rossington and at the airport’s new Enterprise Zone.”

Ellen Cutler, Sheffield City Region Inward investment director, said: “The new link road, alongside recent news about Doncaster’s selection as home of the National High Speed Rail College, the new Enterprise Zone site at the airport and the decision by Next to invest in a 900,000 sq ft logistics centre, are all part of Doncaster’s unfolding success story.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clare Burnett .