Work to transform one of Hull’s busiest roads will start in summer.
The A63 Castle Street scheme will improve transport links between the Port of Hull to the A63 and M62 along with the wider strategic road network.
The scheme also help to reunite the city centre with its waterfront, supporting the city’s economic growth and improving journeys to the city centre and the port.
Following the green light from the Transport Secretary, Highways England can now set up a site compound and start work on the ground.
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.
How the A63 Castle Street will look after the works.
“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 major Highways England project, which is a key scheme in Transport for the North’s strategic transport plan, will see the creation of a new junction by lowering the level of the A63 at the Mytongate junction.
Ferensway and Commercial Road will cross the A63, creating a split-level junction. The eastbound carriageway between Princes Dock Street and Market Place will be widened to three lanes, and a new bridge built over the A63 at Porter Street.
Meanwhile the city’s new bridge also funded by Highways England with a £4m contribution from Humber Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), which is to be named after Hull’s first female GP Dr Mary Murdoch, will be unveiled this summer. It will connect the city centre to the Marina and Fruit Market. The structure is to cross the dual carriageway of the A63, allowing pedestrians and cyclists to safely cross the road. It will also ease congestion on the A63.
This is who Hull’s A63 footbridge will be named after.https://t.co/7momh6qPw7
— Hull CC News (@Hullccnews) April 30, 2020
The structure is being part funded with a £4m contribution from the Humber Local Enterprise Partnership’s local growth fund programme, secured through its growth deals with Government and part of the Government’s commitment to the Northern Powerhouse.
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.”
