New Stretch of UK A1 to Open in Early September

Construction workers are making the finishing touches to a new 2.5 mile section of the UK’s vital A1 trunk route this week before it opens to traffic early next month.

The A1 between Leeming and Barton in North Yorkshire carries between 59,000 to 69,000 vehicles per day and the new section opening marks an important milestone in the £380 million Highways England scheme to widen 12 miles of the A1 from dual carriageway to motorway.

The 2.5 mile stretch of new road will open to traffic in early September. Traffic will switch to the newly constructed northbound section from Sowber Hill to Catterick Central early on Tuesday 6 September (subject to weather conditions). Southbound traffic will then follow later in the week.

Contractors working on behalf of Highways England will reconfigure the road markings and central barriers overnight on Monday 5 September to enable traffic to access the newly constructed section of the A1 the following morning.

Highways England Assistant Project Manager Charlotte Wright said:


“This is a key milestone and once completed will allow us to access the old A1 as a working area to convert this to a local access road along with finishing our works at Catterick South junction and demolishing old bridges.

“A total of three bridges will be demolished on the old section of the A1 – Catterick South, Tunstall and Manor House – as we move toward completing the project next year. When the scheme has completed drivers will benefit from an extra lane in each direction, improving journey times and tackling congestion.”

The Leeming to Barton scheme is the largest Highways England roads project under construction in the country.

Once completed, the scheme will complete the missing link of motorway between London and Newcastle, using the M1 and A1 (M), as well as improving journey times and increasing safety.

When the scheme is completed, journey times between Leeming and Barton are expected to be reduced by approximately 20 per cent.