Hartlepool Council look for £4million for road scheme

Hartlepool Borough Council are hoping for the investment from the Tees Valley Combined authority to bring forward the construction of a Western Growth Corridor for the town, expected to cost a total of £18million.

The project consists of the development of a by-pass for the village of Elwick and an overbridge and compact grade separation at the current Elwick North junction to the A19.

Hartlepool Council is funding £9.655 million of the investment through borrowing.

This leaves a funding gap of £8.345million and it is proposed the combined authority invests half of the amount in grant funding.

For the remaining £4,172,500 it is proposed the combined authority work with Hartlepool Council to submit an application to Homes England for HIF funding for the cost.

A report from Tees Valley Combined Authority head of transport Mark Wilson states the move would be a positive for the future of the town.

The report said: “The project is the preferred option to ensure the continued and sustainable growth of Hartlepool, which currently only has two main road routes in and out of the town from the A19.

“This will provide a third main route into Hartlepool, enabling the development of significant levels of new housing in the West of the Borough.

“The project will facilitate full development of these sites and relieve pressure on existing access points, particularly onto the A689, A179 and A19.

“These accesses will have capacity to support further economic growth elsewhere in Hartlepool including the Port and strategic industrial areas of south east Hartlepool.”

The proposed new road will also directly result in the creation of new homes to

the West of Hartlepool set out in the Hartlepool Local Plan.

Sites at High Tunstall Farm, Quarry Farm, North Farm/Potters Farm in Elwick and Briarfields have land identified for approximately 1,500 new dwellings.

This will form part of an overall requirement for 6,000 additional homes in Hartlepool in the next 15 years.

The report has also found the plan will have a number of road safety benefits.

Between 2008 and 2017 there have been 10 killed or seriously injured personal injury collisions in the vicinity of Elwick crossroads, five of which resulted in a fatality.

The report from Mr Wilson said: “These figures suggest that the Elwick Crossroads part of the network has a particular road safety issue that the Western Growth Corridor will help to address.”

It is recommended the combined authority approves the funding plans for the new road at its cabinet meeting on Friday.

The meeting will take place at Cavendish House at Teesdale Business Park from 10am.

Nic Marko , Local Democracy Reporting Service