New road to reduce congestion on A69 in Northumberland

Approaching the Bridge End roundabout on the A69 at Hexham from the east. Picture from Google Maps.

Highways England is creating a new road under the Bridge End roundabout at Hexham for drivers wanting to continue along the A69 and cutting delays for traffic travelling from Newcastle to Carlisle or vice versa.

Highways England project manager Russell Mclean said: “Work to prepare for the major scheme will begin this month (February) and a number of overnight A69 closures will be needed. We need to divert a number of utilities and clear some of the vegetation, however we will be planting more trees and shrubs along the road once we have finished.

“The main construction work starts in April and we expect to have the new junction completed by spring 2020.”

This scheme is part of the £220million Congestion Relief Fund announced in March 2017. It also included similar improvements at the Styford junction but with traffic using a bridge over the junction.

Work at the Styford junction to improve safety and congestion have been put back until later in 2020 to allow Highways England to carry out further design work with local residents and stakeholders in this area.