Go ahead given for A19 junction upgrade to help bring thousands of jobs to new manufacturing park

Today, Thursday, July 16, the application for the A19 Downhill Junction Scheme has been given development consent by the Secretary of State for Transport.

This will increase the capacity of the junction between the A19 and A1290 Downhill Lane in Sunderland and Boldon, supporting plans for the International Advanced Manufacturing Park (IAMP) to the north of the Nissan plant.

It will involve the construction of a new bridge to the south of the existing (A1290) bridge across the A19.

Together with the existing bridge, this will form a more traditional roundabout layout above the A19.

New slip roads will connect the A19 to the south and to the north, link roads will tie into the A19/A184 Testo’s Junction, where work is already underway to create a flyover over the existing roundabout to allow A19 traffic to travel without the need to stop.

The application was submitted to the Planning Inspectorate for consideration by Highways England on the in January last year and accepted for examination the next month.

Following a time where the public, statutory consultees and interested parties were given the opportunity to give evidence to the Examining Authority, a recommendation was made to the Secretary of State in April 2020.

The Planning Inspectorate’s Chief Executive, Sarah Richards said: “This is the 91st nationally significant infrastructure project to have been examined and decided within the timescales laid down in the Planning Act 2008.

"The Planning Inspectorate is committed to giving local communities the opportunity of being involved in the examination of projects that may affect them.”

Highways England project manager Helen Apps said: “This major junction upgrade will ease congestion, reduce journey times and support plans for an advanced manufacturing park near Sunderland.

"This is good news for drivers, the local community and the North East economy.

“We welcome the Secretary of State’s decision and look forward to progressing this transformational upgrade.”

The decision, the recommendation made by the Examining Authority to the Secretary of State and the evidence considered by the Examining Authority in reaching its recommendation is publicly available on the National Infrastructure Planning website.

It can be found by clicking here.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website.

While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

The dramatic events of 2020 are having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers and consequently the advertising that we receive.

We are now more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news by buying a copy of our newspaper.

We have arranged a special 20 per cent off subscription offer for people to take advantage of.

Visit www.localsubsplus.co.uk, choose the newspaper title, the type of subscription and enter your details.

Thank you.