A North East section of the A1 is to be widened after the scheme was selected as the Government’s 100th Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project.
The infrastructure development will see a 6.5km section of the A1 widened between Birtley and Coal House, including the road passing the Angel of the North.
Once completed the southbound carriageway between junctions 65 and 67 will be widened to four lanes, while the northbound carriageway will have three lanes with lane gain to provide extra capacity.
The work will also involve the replacement of the Allerdene Railway Bridge, which carries the A1 over the East Coast Mainline.
Construction and engineering company Costain and consultancy firm Jacobs have been earmarked to carry out the work.
The Planning Inspectorate’s chief executive Sarah Richards said: “This marks the 100th Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project and 36th transport application 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.
"Local people, the local authority and other interested parties were able to participate in the examination where the examining authority listened and gave full consideration to local views before making their recommendation.
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“This is a tremendous achievement for our Inspectors and casework staff. The Planning Act 2008 has streamlined and greatly improved the decision-making process for major infrastructure that the country needs, whilst ensuring proposals are properly and robustly examined and ensuring local people can have their say.
“We have had to change how we work over the past few months, have done so with great success, and are aware that we have to keep evolving and challenging ourselves as an organisation in order to keep improving.”
Due to its close proximity to the Angel of the North, extra considerations were made during the project’s planning stage, including consulting with the work’s sculptor Antony Gormley.
The application was originally submitted to the Planning Inspectorate in August 2019 and was accepted in September the same year.
Following a consultation period a recommendation to approve the scheme was made to the Secretary of State in October 2020.
The widening of the A1 is the 100th Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project and the 36th transport application of its kind.
Other Nationally Significant projects that have been approved include the A38 Derby Junctions and the Dogger Bank Offshore Wind Farm, which is set to be the world’s largest offshore wind farm, providing a major boost to the North East economy.