§ Mr. Dormandasked the Secretary of State for Transport what are the reasons for the need to repair at this time the A19 road in the Teesside area, the length of road involved, the estimated cost of the repairs and their estimated date of completion; what traffic safety precautions are being taken during the period; and who will bear the cost.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeThere is a need to carry out repairs to the A19 trunk road in Cleveland in order to strengthen the carriageway to withstand the heavy traffic that has been attracted on to the Teesside diversion. The opportunity is being taken at the same time to improve the effectiveness of the drainage system in places where this is now considered necessary and to renew surfacing over some of the bridge joints on the Tees viaduct. Cracks that have appeared in certain piers of the Tees viaduct are also being sealed and deflects in the bearings of the viaduct are being investigated.
In this financial year carriageway repairs are being carried out on the southbound carriageway over a length of two miles (3.2km), from A66 Stockton road interchange to A174 Parkway interchange. In the next financial year it is planned to carry out similar repairs over the same length on the northbound carriageway.
The lowest tender price for this year's work was submitted by Tarmac Roadstone (Northern) Ltd in the sum of £529,478, and contract completion is expected at the end of November 1981. In the next financial year the works are estimated to cost a similar amount and are planned to be carried out between April and August 1982.
Traffic safety precautions have been the subject of careful pre-planning between my Department and Cleveland county council as agent authority and highway authority for the local roads. The precautions consist essentially of contraflow traffic arrangements on the open 30W carriageway of A19 together with selected closures of slip road accesses as and when required. The necessary safety arrangements are being carried out by the contractor.
The whole of the cost of these trunk road repairs are a charge on central Government funds.