‘We will deliver’: A63 upgrade on track for spring opening in 2025
COMPLEX: Work on the new underpass at Castle Street. Picture credit: Octovision Media Ltd
By Angus Young
National Highways say it still aims to complete the long-running A63 improvement scheme in Hull city centre by spring next year.
The government agency’s latest progress update on the works at Castle Street follows speculation that it was running several months behind schedule.
Construction on the huge £355m project started in 2020 with an expectation it would take around five years to finish.
But Covid and subsequent supply chain issues caused early problems. Recent poor weather over the winter fuelled rumours that the most expensive road scheme ever seen in the city was suffering more delays.
However, a National Highways spokesperson said: “We are currently still working towards a completion date of spring 2025.”
The current focus of the project is on the construction of a 400m-long underpass which will eventually take east-west traffic under a new road connecting Ferensway to Commercial Road.
It’s the most technically challenging part of the entire project, with engineers having to design and install a mini-tunnel structure within complex layers of ground conditions and a high groundwater table which fluctuates in response to tidal conditions on the nearby Humber.
The new lay-out is replacing the previous Mytongate junction and has been designed to ensure a free flow of traffic on the route to and from the city’s eastern docks.
The spokesperson added: “The major excavation works for the underpass at the Mytongate junction are continuing. In this section we are digging as deep as seven metres.
“This is followed by installation of the slabs and panels to then form the underpass and create the new bridge structure at Mytongate.
“We will also be connecting the underpass to the newly-built pumping station for the drainage solution.
“Work continues at the junction at Market Place/Queen Street. A new underpass walkway has opened at High Street, removing all pedestrian crossings across the A63 at this section.
“The final A63 roadworks and slip road completion will then take us through to the end of the project.
“The opening of the split-level junction from Ferensway to Commercial Road forms the final phases of the scheme.”
Main contractors Balfour Beatty have had to juggle construction work along the 1.5km route while keeping the carriageway open to traffic for most of the time, with any necessary closures being limited to overnight and weekends.