Drivers, business owners and local residents are invited to find out more about plans to upgrade the A19/A1058 Coast Road junction into a triple decker roundabout in North Tyneside.

Contractors for Highways England will be lowering the A19 beneath the existing A1058 Coast Road and roundabout, which will reduce congestion and improve the reliability of people’s journeys.

The £75 million scheme is on the main route to and from the Tyne Tunnel and will mean that people travelling along the A19 will no longer have to queue at the roundabout to go straight on. Instead drivers will be able to use a new section of road which will run under the existing junction.

The improvements, which are part of the government’s 5 year £15 billion roads investment programme, are designed to support opportunities and economic growth in the North East as part of the Northern Powerhouse initiative.

The scheme will also improve safety for the thousands of drivers that use the junction each day as well as providing better facilities for pedestrians and cyclists.

Ahead of the main construction work starting later in the summer, a two day public exhibition will be held where people can find out more.

A computer generated video showing the new triple decker junction has also been released.

Highways England project manager Julie Alexander said:

Once complete, this scheme will improve journey times on the A19 by reducing congestion and improving safety for the thousands of drivers that use this junction each day as well as cyclists and pedestrians. The A19 is a vital strategic link providing access to the Tyne Tunnel Trading Estate, Silverlink Retail Park, Cobalt Business Park and South East Northumberland. During construction we will do everything we can to keep disruption to a minimum and ensure that traffic does keep moving. I encourage anyone interested in finding out more about the work and how it may affect them to attend the public exhibition.

The event will take place at the Village Hotel on Cobalt Business Park, West Allotment, Newcastle, NE27 0BY on Friday 1 July between 2pm and 8pm and on Saturday 2 July between 10am and 4pm. Representatives from Highways England and its contractors Sisk Lagan will be available to answer questions about the work. The first stage of the work will involve creating a road from the site compound to the A19 and putting up site cabins.

When the main construction work starts in August narrow lanes and a 30mph speed limit will be in place along the A19 and the slip roads during the work and the speed limit on the A1058 Coast Road will be reduced to 30mph for the duration of the work.

Some overnight carriageway closures will be required throughout the project but these will be advertised closer to the time.

More details are available on the scheme website.

General enquiries

Members of the public should contact the Highways England customer contact centre on 0300 123 5000.

Media enquiries

Journalists should contact the Highways England press office on 0844 693 1448 and use the menu to speak to the most appropriate press officer.