Work starts on £11.4m road scheme

Work is due to start on a long-awaited £11.4m new road in County Durham.

Children from Bowburn Infant School will help cut the turf to mark the beginning of work on the A688 Wheatley Hill to Bowburn link road on Thursday.

The 4km road, which will take 15 months to complete, will improve links between the A1(M) and the A19.

Durham County Council is also hoping that improving access to the area will also boost the economy by attracting more businesses.

The road scheme was first granted planning consent in 2002, but ran into a series of delays including legal challenges and a public inquiry, all of which were overcome.

Wide ranging

However, the delay has added significantly to the cost of the scheme, £10.5m of which is being met by the Government and the remainder by the county council.

The road, will run from a new roundabout on the B6291 (formerly the A177), just south of the A1 interchange at Bowburn, to another roundabout which will be built at Cassop Moor.

Coun Bob Pendlebury, the Council's cabinet member for transport and sustainability, said: "The benefits of this new road will be significant and wide ranging.

" We are delighted that, after a long wait, work is ready to start."