Roadworks causing mayhem in Cramlington during rush-hour

Councillor Mark Swinburn in Cramlington town centre, which is backed up with traffic at peak times due to long-running roadworks.

Parts of Crow Hall Lane, Station Road and Westmorland Way in Cramlington have been closed by the county council as part of ongoing work in the town centre agreed as part of plans to build a new housing development.

Some sections have been closed for months so Fred Mence Construction, on behalf of developers Bellway and Persimmon, can improve the local infrastructure.

Work started in the summer to completely remodel the Station Road roundabout, construct a new roundabout at the A1171 and Nelson Village junction, widen roads and build new footpaths to support 500 new homes nearby.

However, the project is running months behind schedule. Fred Mence say some of the delays have been caused by unidentified services located in the ground, which were not picked up during surveys.

Coun Mark Swinburn, who represents the Cramlington Village Ward on Northumberland County Council, has called on the authority to urgently review the situation due to the “sheer volume” of traffic.

He said: “This recent closure has created significant congestion, in fact at peak times it is just chaos. The work on the first road has not yet been finished and I feel this road should have been opened before another was closed.

“The remaining roads left for detours cannot cope with the sheer volume now having to transport most of the traffic from one side of the town to the other. It is also having a severe impact to the nearby retail area.

“This plan may have looked all right to some in 2016, but in the reality of 2023, it simply doesn’t work, and our residents and businesses cannot be negatively affected this way for this long. There are also significant concerns over emergency vehicle access while these traffic delays are ongoing.

“We need a more sensible solution to be put in place.”

Local traffic is currently diverted via Nelson Drive, Station Road, Low Main Place and Dudley Lane. Cramlington-bound traffic from the Morpeth/Bedlington direction has to go via the A1068 Fisher Lane and Station Road.

The order from the council is in place until March 31. Northumberland County Council has been contacted for comment.