North Road/Beaumont Hill traffic management update

DARLINGTON Borough Council has issued an update on traffic management arrangements for a main route in and out of town, following major congestion earlier this week.

Motorists were faced with delays on the A167 North Road at Beaumont Hill on Tuesday (22 August), after electric cabling work by a third party contractor was halted due to health and safety concerns.

A temporary solution was put in place on Wednesday, to enable traffic flow to return to near-normal.

To enable work to progress, the Council has put in place the following arrangements for Thursday and Friday:

• Burtree Lane from Princess Road to the A167 will be closed to traffic heading towards the A167
• There will still be access into Burtree Lane from the A167 as normal, enabling bus services to operate as normal
• Temporary two-phase traffic lights will be in place on the A167, next to the White Horse pub – these will be manually controlled between 7.30am and 6.30pm.
• Diversions will be signposted during the works
• All traffic restrictions will be removed on Friday afternoon for the Bank Holiday weekend and put back on the morning of Tuesday 29 August, with all works completed the following day.

A Darlington Borough Council spokesman said: “We appreciate motorists will be frustrated by these works, particularly if they were affected by the congestion earlier in the week.

“We would like to thank drivers for their continued patience and assure them that all possible steps have been taken to minimise disruption and to ensure the safety of all road users.”

“We understand some people may be caught unawares by the sudden introduction of these restrictions and of course we apologise for any inconvenience caused.

“However, with the school holidays coming to an end, it was felt that these essential works should be completed as soon as possible when traffic is generally lighter. Had we delayed, the potential for delays and congestion would have been significantly greater.

“We have taken these steps to minimise the impact on the public and bus services.”