Road Junction Capacity Improvements

Planned works are to take place on 3 major routes into Bishop Auckland.

The planned works are to improve the road infrastructure at three key junctions which are currently inadequate to accommodate the current and projected number of road users.

The works will help to support:

Economic growth,
Provide a safe and serviceable road network,
Provide a free flowing network for all users,
Improve the environment by reducing pollution and congestion
Provide an accessible and integrated road network

£4.5 million has been allocated to deliver the highway infrastructure which also includes improvements for pedestrians and cyclists on the south western gateway into the town around the Tindale Crescent retail scheme.

Alongside the highway improvements, new car parking facilities within the town centre will also be developed to accommodate current and projected visitors. The reconfiguration of the bus station will unlock the land for the proposed additional car parking facilities.

Once the road junction improvements have been made it will support businesses by attracting visitors to Bishop Auckland, address shortages in car parking and increase footfall into the town centre.

A688 junction improvements

Work to reduce queuing and congestion along the A688 in Bishop Auckland are now complete.

In the summer, improvements were made to the Princes Street roundabout, which involved widening the road from the roundabout northwards towards Tenters Street to allow extra queueing capacity in the left-hand lane.

The works were completed in October and are part of a £539,000 project, funded by the government’s Future High Streets Fund, to improve capacity at Princes Street, Kingsway, South Church roundabout and Coundongate roundabout junctions.

Improvements to Kingsway, South Church and Coundongate will be carried out once designs for each are complete.

Works at each junction will be staggered to reduce disruption to road users.