A MAJOR £10m-plus project to improve Middlesbrough’s highways over the next three years is set to get underway.
A programme of works has been drawn up which will see an initial £3.8m invested in the town’s roads, paths and verges in the first year – 2015/16.
Included in the first phase will be resurfacing of sections of the A66, Ladgate Lane and Stockton Road and works to remove two rush hour “bottlenecks”.
This would be achieved by widening and remodelling works at the Cranmore Road and Cargo Fleet Lane junction in Pallister Park and by upgrading the traffic light signals at the Longlands Road/Cargo Fleet junction to allow greater flexibility of traffic control.
Other important works will be for a walking and cycling between Ormesby Beck and Cargo Fleet lane, providing enhanced access to the new Middlesbrough Sports Village and a new route in the Church Lane area of Acklam.
Middlesbrough Council’s Executive Member for Regeneration Cllr Charlie Rooney will be asked to approve the works in a Town Hall meeting on Monday, February 9.
Cllr Rooney said: “The main driver for this increased investment is to improve the quality of the borough’s roads, footways and verges.
“Poor road condition has significant impacts on the local economy, the appearance of neighbourhoods, the number and severity of road casualties, increased fuel consumption and emissions, congestion and travel time and public perception.
“This provides the twin benefits of improving the streets for local residents and businesses and reducing the council’s risk of costs resulting from the appearance of potholes and footway defects, which in turn reduces insurance claim liabilities.”
He added: “Strategic investment in the highway network using the principles of ‘prevention is better than cure’ provides many advantages over the piecemeal reactive ‘pothole filling’ sticking plaster approach.”
The £3.8m capital funding for the works in 2015/16 is made up of £2.9m from the Local Transport Plan grant and £900k from the Council’s Capital Programme.
The initial £3.8m investment would be followed by a further £4.1m in 2016/17 and then another £3.3m in 2017/18.