Representation by Howard Charlesworth
- Date submitted
- 17 August 2022
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
I am concerned about the Rokeby Junction on the upgrading of the A66. No one I know agrees with the Highways England option of the "Black" route which moves the junction well to the West of the present route. The consequences of this are: 1 Increased traffic down the road (B6277) into Startforth. This road has very narrow footpaths close to the river in Startforth, a real hazard to pedestrians. 2 Increased traffic for the "County Bridge" to cross the Tees which must lead to more wear and tear on this historic bridge dating from the 14th Century which is a grade 1 listed building. 3 Longer queues at the three way traffic lights to cross the bridge which will then affect the speed of traffic going up the narrow "Bank" into town as traffic parks on both sides hence more congestion. More traffic will use this route coming from the East as it will be the shortest distance into the town centre and the Sat Nav rules. 4 HGV traffic from the East will have to travel back towards the present Rokeby junction to access the present road so they can cross the Abbey Bridge which is the only legal crossing point of the Tees for them. This will take them close to Rokeby Church increasing the wear and tear on that historic building. 5 No bike or footpath access to cross the A66 ( which exists at the moment at the junction) to link with bridleways and footpaths exist in the plan which means walking or riding further on the Black route compared with the Blue route on a section of road which all the HGV's will travel on, giving extra safety concerns. The Blue route has so many advantages compared with the Black, in fact when I talked to Highways England representatives in the Witham Hall they preferred it. It is Historic England which is the problem. They want to preserve the "Park" which is a load of Tosh. There is a narrow strip of new planted trees next to the present road which is what they want to preserve, the rest of the Park is farm land (crops). It beats me how that strip can be called "Historic". It was all changed years ago (1978) from the plans that Historic England seem to be working from. There is no evidence of their justification on the ground. I asked them if they had actually inspected at the site but got no reply. Historic England's preferred route will put a lot more pressure on truly Historic buildings and traffic flow through Barnard Castle, increasing congestion, and consequently pollution.