OPTIONS for dualling the remaining single carriageway sections of the A66 have been announced by the secretary of state for transport Chris Grayling.
The project is expected to cost about £1billion.
The transport secretary made the announcement at the Fox Hall Inn, along the A66, last Thursday.
Three options have been proposed for the section running between Fox Hall and Mainsgill Farm, and two options for the stretch between Rokeby and Cross Lanes.
Only one option has been proposed for the Bowes bypass.
Mr Grayling said dualling the A66 will not only make drivers’ journeys quicker, safer and more reliable, but will also help business opportunities spread out across the north of England.
He added: “This is absolutely long overdue. I see this as a particular priority.
“It takes frustratingly long sometimes because you have to do environmental surveys, you have to do public consultations, and you then have to do go through the development and consent order process.
“But this is the start of a process that will lead to the work and the road will be opened in due course.”
Senior operations manager for Highways England Matt Townsend said it is hoped the final routes will be decided by spring 2020, after which works could stretch on until about 2025.
Both options for the single carriageway between Rokeby and Cross Lanes call for the junction at Cross Lanes to be moved further east and will allow those entering the A66 there to travel either east or west.
The first option is to divert both carriageways to the south of the Old Rectory and St Mary’s Church.
The second option is to create a new west-bound carriageway alongside the current highway.
This will mean that some buildings to the south of the carriageway will have to be demolished.
However, if the second option is taken those travelling from Abbey Bridge to the A66 will only have the option of turning east onto the A66.
Those coming from the Barnard Castle wanting to travel west to Brough will have to use the new junction at Cross Lanes. However, it is not clear which route westbound HGVs would take because large lorries are banned from driving over the County Bridge.
All three of the options proposed for the stretch of the A66 near Ravesworth will see the existing single carriage way become an access road for Mainsgill Farm and Fox Hall Inn.
The first option is to create a new dual carriageway south of Mainsgill and Fox Hall, with a new junction created just east of Fox Hall Inn.
Another option is to build a new dual carriageway to the north of both facilities, with a new junction created just north of the existing junction at Mainsgill Farm.
The third option proposes that the new dual carriage way will pass north of Mainsgill before meandering around the south of Fox Hall Inn.
The only option for the Bowes bypass is to widen the carriageway north of Bowes to create a new east-bound slip road at the A67 junction.
This will require the demolition of some derelict buildings and a neighbouring barn.
The old Roman road, known as The Street, between Bowes and the A66 will be closed.
A public consultation has been launched on all of the options with a number of events planned where people can give their comments.
Mr Grayling said: “Big road works like this affect communities and we need to get people engaged about what are the best ways of doing it and what the best routes are.
“We are not doing this to say we might do something sometime. This is the start of the formal process that will lead to construction on the A66.”
People wanting to give their views can take part in consultation events at The Witham, in Barnard Castle, from June 11 to 14, between 11am and 7pm, and on June 15, between 10am and 2pm.
![A COUNTY councillor is backing a campaign to get a pedestrian crossing in Staindrop. Frustrated parish councillors in the village summoned their county council representative Cllr George Richardson to their latest meeting to discuss several issues, including the call for a safe way to cross the A688. Earlier this year their request for a crossing was turned down by the county council’s highways officers. Parish council chairman Jonothan Raper described the reasons for the refusal as “spurious” and called on Cllr Richardson to support their campaign. He added: “One of the arguments they made was there is no clear line of desire when they studied the village – well this isn’t a clear line of desire because there isn’t a crossing, people cross whenever they can. “When the lollipop person was there, one of the things I noticed was people would walk all the way down to the lollipop person to cross the road to go to the shop or to go to the school.” He added a problem of parking at the primary school is exacerbated because people are too afraid to walk their children across the road. Cllr Richardson said he had supported previous attempts for a crossing point with the first being made about 15 years ago. He added: “We went fairly well down the road with that and they looked into it. The only recommended place was where the bus stop is and to get the visibility splays, people on the other side of the road would lose their parking. “That didn’t go down well so it just died a death.” Cllr Raper said he suspected the real reason for the officers’ refusal was the cost of installing a crossing. He added that much of the cost could be recovered from savings made on not having to employ a lollipop patrol. Cllr Raper said: “A lollipop person only provides a benefit of crossing for three hours of the day. You are getting 21 extra hours of crossing time [with a pedestrian crossing].” Cllr Richardson said he would raise the issue with the county council’s cabinet member for highways, Cllr John Shuttleworth.](https://teesdalemercury.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/georgeR-120x86.jpg)
