Final approval for Hull’s huge Castle Street improvement scheme has been welcomed.
The £355 million upgrade - the largest the city has ever seen - was given the green light by Transport Secretary Grant Shapps last week.
Work will start this summer, with Balfour Beatty awarded the contract.
At the core of the project is a complete transformation of the existing Mytongate junction - used by 47,000 vehicles a day in normal times.
Highways England senior project manager James Leeming said: "This is fantastic news for Hull. We are delighted that the decision has been signed off, and we can now look forward to delivering improvements that will genuinely transform the city.
"These changes will make life considerably easier for road users and pedestrians. I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has supported our plans, and I’m sure they share our delight in hearing the news we’ve been waiting for."
The main A63 east-west route through the city centre to the industrial east will be lowered under a new carriageway linking Ferensway and Commercial Road.
The section between Princes Dock and Myton Bridge will be widened to three lanes while another pedestrian footbridge will be constructed at Porter Street.
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Councillor Daren Hale, portfolio holder for economic regeneration and planning at Hull City Council said: "We are thrilled to see this long-awaited projecting finally given the green light. Over the past 20 years the council has worked tirelessly alongside Highways England, our colleagues in the LEP and our local MPs to lobby for this essential upgrade and to ensure this scheme is high on the agenda for the Department for Transport.
"We are pleased that the Government has finally recognised how crucial the upgrade to the A63 is, providing a key component of the city’s transport infrastructure improvement and wider long-term regeneration plans.
"The council is also working closely with Highways England and Balfour Beatty on what we hope is just the first of many employment opportunities that will become available for local people in the city.
"Now we’ve been given the full go ahead for this significant transport scheme to progress, it is time for the real work to begin."
The five year scheme is led by Highways England, with funding agreed by the Treasury as part of March’s Budget package.
It had originally been given a March 31 deadline but slipped back to May due to the coronavirus outbreak, as the extent of the response required to deal with the pandemic became clear.
Humber Local Enterprise Partnership interim chairman Stephen Parnaby OBE said: “The Humber LEP is incredibly pleased to see that the A63 Major Highway Improvement Scheme has been formally approved by Government.
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“This scheme is of vital importance to the future of the Humber economy, as by improving congestion on this major route we can also improve access to Hull’s port and industrial sites, which in turn can also benefit the 海角视频 economy by further boosting trade links with the rest of the world.
“The approved upgrades will also help unlock further development opportunities to the east of Hull, which has the potential to attract new jobs and investment in the city, while also improving links between Hull city centre and the Marina and Fruit Market regeneration area.”
Transport for the North included the scheme in its Strategic Transport Plan, published in February 2019. Peter Molyneux, major roads director with the Department for Transport statutory partner, said: “We’re pleased that this essential scheme has now been given the go-ahead after already being included in the March 2020 Budget.
“It will make a significant improvement to local connectivity, reduce congestion on a road that is used by around 47,000 vehicles each day, open up the waterfront area to visitors, and also make the docks more accessible for freight movements.
“This represents another piece of the jigsaw being fitted into place in Transport for the North’s long-term vision to create a multimodal transport network to support our region’s people and businesses for generations to come.
“We look forward to seeing activity start on the ground so that the benefits to the city of Hull can be realised as soon as possible.”
The construction of the new £22.5m footbridge over Castle Street between the marina and Princes Quay was done in advance of the main improvement scheme.
It is to be named after Hull’s first female GP, Dr Mary Murdoch. It has been part-funded with a £4 million contribution from the Humber Local Enterprise Partnership’s Local Growth Fund programme, tapping into the government's Northern Powerhouse pot.