£1m boost for roads to help Castle Street upgrade

‘SCHEME WILL BRING SIGNIFICANT BENEFITS’: Coun Daren Hale

Hull City Council has been awarded £1m by Highways England to carry out improvements to the city’s roads.

The funding will support a range of measures to assist in mitigating the traffic impact at various locations near the main A63 Castle Street works, including roads which will be used as diversions during the upgrade scheme.

Councillor Daren Hale, portfolio holder for regeneration and economic investment, said: “We welcome this funding and commitment from Highways England to improve our city’s transport infrastructure.

“The grant has been awarded so that we can deliver mitigation schemes on the local transport network, whilst complementing the existing programme of works which are taking place across the city.

“We are currently in the midst of transforming the way in which our roads work for us, and although this will mean motorists may experience some short-term disruption, the long-term investment will deliver significant benefits for those thousands of motorists who use the city’s roads on a daily basis.”

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. It will also help reunite the city centre with its waterfront, supporting the city’s economic growth and improving journeys to the city centre and the port, the council said.

Castle Street is a key scheme in Transport for the North’s strategic transport plan and will see the creation of a new junction by lowering the level of the A63 at the Mytongate junction.

Highways England senior project manager James Leeming said: “We have been working with Hull City Council for several years to identify areas where we can help the local authority to increase the resilience of its network. This funding will enable local routes to cope better with increased traffic flows.

“We start work at the Mytongate junction in the new year to create more space for the preparatory work needed for the new underpass, which is an important stage in the progress of the scheme.”