Highways Agency

• A69 Haydon Bridge Bypass

A69 Haydon Bridge Bypass

Background Information

The Highways Agency is proposing to improve part of the A69 Trunk Road at Haydon Bridge with a single carriageway bypass on the south side of the village.

An Environmental Statement has been prepared for this scheme in which the effects on the environment are described in detail. This document explains the proposals and summarises the Environmental Statement in nontechnical language. It describes why the proposed scheme is necessary, the potential effects on the environment and the measures to be taken to minimise these effects.

Why the Bypass is Necessary

The existing A69 Trunk Road passes through the centre of Haydon Bridge. The high numbers of cars and heavy goods vehicles passing through the community every day cause congestion, poor air quality and traffic noise, which are a nuisance and safety concern to local residents and pedestrians. These conditions will continue to deteriorate as traffic levels increase. To alleviate these problems, the Highways Agency is proposing to construct a new 2.9km single carriageway bypass around the southern side of the village.

Route Options

The proposal to provide a bypass to Haydon Bridge was first investigated in the 1970's and again in 1984 where 5 routes were considered. Further studies in 1992 and 2001 confirmed the optimum route for a bypass was to the south of Haydon Bridge.

Additional engineering and environmental assessment work was carried out in 2002 where 3 routes and various standards of carriageway ranging from a single carriageway to a dual carriageway were assessed. A single carriageway was considered most appropriate as it had lower environmental impact, it was consistent with the route standard of the A69 betweenHexham and Carlisle and it was the most cost effective solution. Following completion of this assessment work a single route was subject to a public consultation in March 2003 where the proposals received strong support and this route was announced as the Preferred Route in December 2003.

Scheme Objectives

The main objectives of the scheme are:

• To improve safety for all road users in Haydon Bridge by removing through traffic and by providing a better standard of trunk road.
• To reduce congestion and delays along the A69.
• To ease the existing problems of community severance, noise and air pollution by improving the environment for residents, pedestrians and cyclists in Haydon Bridge .
• To provide an environmentally acceptable solution that minimizes the impact on the built and natural environment.

What is Proposed

Figure 1 (see: Non-Technical Summary of Environmental Statement - June 2005 (370KB PDF)) shows the location of the bypass scheme. The new route would start to the west of the existing A69/U8128 junction to West Rattenraw and would head in a south-easterly direction over the Newcastle to Carlisle railway line and the River South Tyne. A key feature of the proposal would be a new viaduct, designed to span across both the railway and the river. Continuing in a south-easterly direction from the river, the route would cross farmland on embankment then pass over the U8049 minor road between East and West Land Ends where a new underpass would be provided to maintain access. The route would continue through farmland, to the south of East Land Ends Farm, and veer to the east heading towards Cemetery Road, where a new underpass would take the bypass over Cemetery Road.

From Cemetery Road, the route would head in a north-easterly direction and pass over the Langley Burn in Gee's Wood on a new bridge. North east of Gee's Wood, a new junction would be formed to maintain access onto the A686 Alston Road and into the village from the east end. Finally, the new route would rejoin the existing A69 near to Crossley Burn. New junctions would be formed at both ends of the scheme to maintain access to Haydon Bridge.