A1 Northumberland: Morpeth to Felton scheme

Overview

This consultation has now closed. Please visit the scheme webpage for further information and updates on the scheme.

We are consulting on the A1 Northumberland, Morpeth to Felton scheme. 

This follows on from our options consultation in 2016 and our selection of the preferred route which we announced in September 2017.

This consultation is your opportunity to express your views on the design of the proposed scheme in advance of our application for a Development Consent Order (DCO). 

A DCO is a special type of planning application, which is needed for a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP). Following the submission of the DCO application, the Planning Inspectorate will hold a public examination before making a recommendation to the Secretary of State for Transport who will decide whether or not the project should go ahead.

Businesses, local authorities, public bodies, road users and the communities and neighboring areas can play an important part in the development of the scheme design. Your feedback is therefore essential to this consultation as it will enable us to improve the scheme before we start the planning process.

About the scheme

The A1 is one of the longest roads in the country, connecting London and Edinburgh. The route currently consists of motorway and dual carriageways, with some sections of single carriageway between Morpeth and Ellingham. 

In Northumberland, the A1 takes motorists through rural countryside and close to the coastline.  This section of the A1 is used by a wide variety of people for many different reasons. This includes people travelling long-distance between Newcastle and Edinburgh for work, local traffic accessing rural areas and tourists who come to visit the coastline and the area’s many historic attractions.

The A1 Morpeth to Felton scheme will upgrade the A1 to a dual carriageway. Starting at Warreners House (Northgate, Morpeth) and travelling in a northerly direction, the existing A1 carriageway will be widened up to Priests Bridge. From here, the new A1 alignment will shift west of its current position and continue in a northerly direction over Tindale Hill and Causey Park. At a point north of Burgham Park, the new A1 carriageway will re-join the existing A1.

The A1 will then be widened to a dual carriageway to tie-in with the existing dual carriageway at Felton. The old section of the A1 carriageway will be de-trunked (de-trunked means that this section of road will be owned and maintained by Northumberland County Council) and become a local road.

As well as upgrading the route to dual carriageway standard, we also propose a number of other improvements, including 3 new junctions with bridges over the A1 and the replacement of private access roads.

Fly through video

Please see the below video for a visual fly-through of the proposed scheme.

How to get involved

Please take part in the consultation: all of the consultation information is available on this webpage including a brochure with a summary of the proposed route and our consultation response form.

You can also attend a public consultation event

Public consultation events where you can see the proposals and meet with members of the project team will be held as follows:

Visit a public information point

Consultation material will be available to view from Monday 18 June until Sunday 29 July 2018 in the following places during normal opening hours:

• Morpeth Library: Royal Sovereign House, Manchester Street, Morpeth, NE61 1AF - Tel: 01670 620 391
• Alnwick Library: Green Batt, Alnwick, NE66 1TU - Tel: 01670 622 156
• Highways England *: Great North House, 20 Allington Way, Darlington, DL1 4QB - Tel: 0300 470 1660
• WSP *: Amber Court, William Armstrong Drive, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE4 7YQ - Tel: 0191 226 2000

(*By prior appointment only)

Please read through the consultation brochure below and give us your views using the online survey.