A1 Northumberland Dualling

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c2R
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Re: A1 Northumberland Dualling

Post by c2R »

Update on the Highways England page with the following:
Progress report

We are holding a public consultation to ask for your opinions on the options for the scheme. This will run from 14 November to 23 December 2016.

We are holding public exhibitions to provide information and allow you to ask questions of the project team. These will take place on the below dates:
Date Time Location
Friday 18 November 12pm to 7pm Northumberland Hall, Market Place, Alnwick, NE66 1HS
Saturday 19 November 10am to 5pm Northumberland Hall, Market Place, Alnwick, NE66 1HS
Wednesday 23 November 11am to 7pm The Maltings, Eastern Lane, Berwick-upon-Tweed, TD15 1AJ
Thursday 24 November 11am to 6pm Morpeth Masonic Centre, Winton House, Dacre Street, Morpeth, NE61 1HW
Friday 25 November 11am to 7pm Felton Village Hall, Main Street, Felton, NE65 9NH
Saturday 26 November 10am to 5pm Bell View, 33 West Street, Belford, NE70 7QB

Feedback received at the events, along with safety, economic and environmental analysis, will inform the decision on the option to be taken forward. We have been working closely with Northumberland County Council and other local parties as we develop improvement proposals for the scheme.

We’ve also established a working group of local road users and interest groups to ensure the development makes best use of local knowledge. Environmental surveys are currently ongoing and we thank all landowners for their help, assistance and patience whilst these continue.
http://roads.highways.gov.uk/projects/t ... umberland/
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jackal
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Re: A1 Northumberland Dualling

Post by jackal »

The consultation is now open, and brochures including the options are online. At first glance the designs are as you'd expect - Morpeth to Ellingham is dual carriageway with compact GSJs, north of there is just the odd bit of 2+1 and tidier at-grade junctions.

https://highwaysengland.citizenspace.co ... umberland/
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Re: A1 Northumberland Dualling

Post by Altnabreac »

jackal wrote:The consultation is now open, and brochures including the options are online. At first glance the designs are as you'd expect - Morpeth to Ellingham is dual carriageway with compact GSJs, north of there is just the odd bit of 2+1 and tidier at-grade junctions.

https://highwaysengland.citizenspace.co ... umberland/
All look reasonable. Green option would be much the best for Morpeth to Felton and is similar to the preferred option from last time.

On the northern section the overtaking lanes are quite close together and appear to have been chosen for cheapness of delivery rather than to deliver the best spacing of overtaking opportunities. Would still be a good addition though.
fras
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Re: A1 Northumberland Dualling

Post by fras »

The usual inadequate budget means the inevitable spatch-cocking and fiddling around where the road remains single carriageway north of Ellingham. Pleased to see the single carriageway section between Morpeth and Alnwick is to be dualled.
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A303Chris
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A1 North of Newcastle - Latest HE Proposals

Post by A303Chris »

The HE have finally gone out to consultation on there proposals for the A1 between Newcastle and Berwick which are in two parts.

The first consultation involves making the single lane sections between Morpeth and Felton and Alnwick and Ellingham dual carriageway, with three options proposed between Morpeth and Alnwick a mixture of on and off line, a single on line scheme for Alnwick to Ellingham. All the details are here

The second consultation is for the 19 mile section between Ellingham and Berwick and this is just for adding the odd overtaking lane. The report says it is not viable to dual this as the flows do not justify it, the details are here

There are also exhibitions over the next few weeks, dates here and an online survey of the proposals is here.

My view is surely with increasing traffic and the works Transport Scotland are doing on there section of the A1, the whole lot should be dualled to offer a fast reliable alternative to the M74/A74(M) corridor
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Re: A1 North of Newcastle - Latest HE Proposals

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Re: A1 Northumberland Dualling

Post by Chris5156 »

A303Chris's thread has been merged with the existing one on this subject.
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Re: A1 Northumberland Dualling

Post by Altnabreac »

A303Chris wrote:The HE have finally gone out to consultation on there proposals for the A1 between Newcastle and Berwick which are in two parts.

The first consultation involves making the single lane sections between Morpeth and Felton and Alnwick and Ellingham dual carriageway, with three options proposed between Morpeth and Alnwick a mixture of on and off line, a single on line scheme for Alnwick to Ellingham. All the details are here

The second consultation is for the 19 mile section between Ellingham and Berwick and this is just for adding the odd overtaking lane. The report says it is not viable to dual this as the flows do not justify it, the details are here

There are also exhibitions over the next few weeks, dates here and an online survey of the proposals is here.

My view is surely with increasing traffic and the works Transport Scotland are doing on there section of the A1, the whole lot should be dualled to offer a fast reliable alternative to the M74/A74(M) corridor
There is no chance of complete dualling any time soon on either English or Scottish side.

To be honest I'd rather see less of the A1 done to a higher standard without central reserve gaps etc than have it all dualled half heartedly.

Once these works are complete it would be good to see some new GSJs and gap closures between Felton and Alnwick for example. There are 15 or so central reserve gaps on that stretch and you could easily remove them all to be replaced by 2 GSJs at Old Felton and Whittle plus a couple of bridges. Better investment than dualling one of the very quiet stretches.

The Scottish side could do with another dualled section from Houndwood to the Eyemouth turn. On the English side something like Scremerston to Beal would be useful too.

You'd then have enough dualled sections to avoid platooning and frustration without needing to tackle all the most difficult / expensive bits.
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Mark Hewitt
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Re: A1 Northumberland Dualling

Post by Mark Hewitt »

I can see the arguments for leaving the sections North of Ellingham as S2 with overtaking opportunities as it's correct that the traffic levels aren't exactly massive.

But Morpeth to Felton desperately needs doing and has needed doing since the 1980's! It's madness that that was left alone when the rest of the dualling works went on, and it was madness that the scheme was cancelled in 2006 and so, 10 years later, we're still at the stage of thinking about routes etc.
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Mark Hewitt
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Re: A1 Northumberland Dualling

Post by Mark Hewitt »

http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/nor ... s-12529941

Dualling is planned at some point, maybe. It's just all very weak.
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Re: A1 Northumberland Dualling

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wrinkly
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Re: A1 Northumberland Dualling

Post by wrinkly »

I think the green route chosen for Morpeth to Felton is the same as last time round, isn't it?
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Re: A1 Northumberland Dualling

Post by Altnabreac »

wrinkly wrote:I think the green route chosen for Morpeth to Felton is the same as last time round, isn't it?
It's pretty similar but I'm not sure it's identical. Been trying to find the 2004 consultation document or 2005 preferred route but can't see them online anywhere.

My gut feel is the new scheme has slightly more in the way of local access roads and less in the way of LILOs. I also think the new road may be slightly further east at Causey Park than the 2005 scheme?

Very minor differences though from memory.
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jackal
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Re: A1 Northumberland Dualling

Post by jackal »

Statutory consultation on the Morpeth to Felton dualling including video:

https://highwaysengland.citizenspace.co ... to-felton/

DB617
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Re: A1 Northumberland Dualling

Post by DB617 »

This is the first time I've seen one of these fly-throughs for a modern D2. It's great to see LILOs with lead-in and lead-out distances that aren't terrifying. Those are probably longer than the ones on the M50, and easier to get to speed on, for that matter.
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Re: A1 Northumberland Dualling

Post by Paul7755 »

New lay-bys? I thought they weren’t a preferred option nowadays, I’ve seen a few being closed near me, although perhaps it is flow dependent.

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Stevie D
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Re: A1 Northumberland Dualling

Post by Stevie D »

Paul7755 wrote: Wed Jun 20, 2018 17:40New lay-bys? I thought they weren’t a preferred option nowadays, I’ve seen a few being closed near me, although perhaps it is flow dependent.
It isn't just dependent on flow, there are also considerations of alignment and sightlines. If traffic entering and exiting the lay-by has clear visibility of approaching traffic (and vice versa) and is not too close to another junction, then the lay-by is much less likely to be closed.

There is also a difference in design. The old style, where there was just space for a single line of traffic parked up with a dashed line separating them from the main carriageway, is very much out of fashion – the current standard is to have the lay-by physically separated from the main carriageway, and to include a driving lane and a parking lane, with decent acceleration zones.
Last edited by Stevie D on Wed Jun 20, 2018 21:18, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: A1 Northumberland Dualling

Post by Paul7755 »

Stevie D wrote: Wed Jun 20, 2018 20:34 It isn't just dependent on flow, there are also considerations of alignment and sightlines. If traffic entering and exiting the lay-by has clear visibility of approaching traffic (and vice versa) and is not too close to another junction, then the lay-by is much more likely to be closed.
Thanks, I think I worked out what you probably meant there... :D
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Re: A1 Northumberland Dualling

Post by Stevie D »

Paul7755 wrote: Wed Jun 20, 2018 20:41
Stevie D wrote: Wed Jun 20, 2018 20:34 It isn't just dependent on flow, there are also considerations of alignment and sightlines. If traffic entering and exiting the lay-by has clear visibility of approaching traffic (and vice versa) and is not too close to another junction, then the lay-by is much more likely to be closed.
Thanks, I think I worked out what you probably meant there... :D
I don't know what you're talking about :oops:
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jackal
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Re: A1 Northumberland Dualling

Post by jackal »

Consultation on Alnwick to Ellingham now open. Looks a good scheme.

https://highwaysengland.citizenspace.co ... py-of-a2e/
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