Skip to main content

New strategic road links planned for UK

New road upgrades are planned in the UK to reduce congestion and improve safety for vehicle drivers. Upgrades will be carried out to the A1 west of the city of Newcastle, the A12 in Essex to the east of capital London and the M62 motorway that connects the cities of Manchester and Leeds. Studies will be carried out first to identify the needs for other routes forming the country’s strategic road network. The necessary strategy will be produced for all routes in the second quarter of 2014, allowing a network
May 21, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
New road upgrades are planned in the UK to reduce congestion and improve safety for vehicle drivers. Upgrades will be carried out to the A1 west of the city of Newcastle, the A12 in Essex to the east of capital London and the M62 motorway that connects the cities of Manchester and Leeds. Studies will be carried out first to identify the needs for other routes forming the country’s strategic road network. The necessary strategy will be produced for all routes in the second quarter of 2014, allowing a network-wide assessment of problems and challenges and an overview of the steps needed to be taken to address problems. The study will also be used to prioritise solutions to be delivered during the next spending review period and beyond. An evidence based approach to assessing challenges on a network-wide basis will allow the 2309 Highways Agency and the 5432 Department for Transport to prioritise operational, maintenance and if appropriate, road improvement schemes, helping to inform investment plans for the next full spending review in 2015.

Meanwhile work on a new link road will go ahead in Taunton after receiving final approval. The work is needed to improve east-west connections across Taunton and open up access to new development. The scheme will see Somerset County Council construct a new road linking Staplegrove Road in the west of the town to Priory Avenue in the east. The work involves the construction of 1.6km of new carriageway and the realignment of a further 150m of existing carriageway. It also includes construction of a new bridge over the River Tone and the Bridgwater and Taunton Canal, the replacement of a former rail bridge, the replacement of and existing footbridge and provision of pedestrian and cycle facilities. Other works include a new roundabout at the junction of Staplegrove Road and Chip Lane and modifications to the existing roundabout at the junction of Priory Avenue and Priory Fields.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Upgrade work starts on junction of London’s orbital motorway M25
    February 20, 2015
    Work has started on a €136 million road improvement project on the UK’s London ring road, the M25 motorway. Crews from Balfour Beatty and Skanska have moved onto the interchange between the A13 national road and the M25 at junction 30 near Thurrock in the county Essex. The A13 on approach to the junction will be widened to four lanes in each direction and the junction itself will have dedicated link roads between the M25 and the A13. “Traffic at the junction is expected to grow by up to a quarter b
  • HA dismantles footbridge over M5 in England
    January 3, 2013
    Contractors worked solidly throughout the night during one Saturday and early Sunday morning in November (2012) to dismantle the Pegwell Brake footbridge over the M5 near Bristol, south west England. The concrete footbridge, located between junctions 16 and 17, needed to be demolished to make way for a new steel pedestrian bridge suitable for high-sided vehicles to pass under when the managed motorway is fully operational and the hard shoulder is used as a running lane. The dismantling and removal of the
  • Peru’s Matarani – Punta de Bonbon Highway
    January 5, 2016
    A major new highway project in Peru will improve connectivity for the Arequipa region - Mauro Nogarin writes Peru’s Matarani-Bonbon road project is an important route and forms part of the Camana - Dv Quilca - Ilo - Tacna highway project. The road stretches through several provinces in the Arequipa region. The deadline for completing the work is 720 days after January 2015, and it is scheduled to be completed by December 2016. Progress has been good and as of July 2015, it was 80% completed. The main
  • Turner & Townsend picks up services deal for Stonehenge in the UK
    April 6, 2018
    Professional services company Turner & Townsend has been appointed to provide commercial services for two major Highways England programmes, including its flagship A303 Stonehenge scheme. The A303 upgrade includes plans to build a road tunnel near Stonehenge, a prehistoric monument in western England believed to have been built around 3,100 BC. The road project is part of a series of planned upgrades to A303/A358 corridor to improve connectivity between the south east and south west of England. The