Costs for Dualling the A1

[Malcolm Robinson]

http://www.newspostleader.co.uk/news/local/costs-are-revealed-for-dualling-the-a1-1-6932787

 

 

[Adam Hogg]

The dualling of the A1 in my opinion is something that is long overdue, when I travel up to Alnwick I always get stuck behind a tractor and a few cars behind it just after Morpeth going at 30mph.

 

One way the county council could do it is by not poring millions into Ashington and invest it on something that will benefit the whole county.

 

Need they be reminded they are Northumberland County Council, not Ashington District Council!

[Brillo]

I've always wondered if the real problem that's stopping it being dualled is the greedy landowners wanting big money for the land being used?

Mind I could be way off - compulsory purchasing at set levels..

[mercuryg]

Brillo, You're not way off at all. For a long time the Duke refused to allow it; I believe that was the last Duke, not the present one.

[Maggie/915]

Regardless of cost the road should have been 'Motorway' for years.

Imagine the benefit in trade for us all.

The debate on independence, could be said, to hinge on topics like this.

Travel South at any stage over the last ten / twenty years and clearly the road building projects have cost squillions!

Unfair advantage it seems to me!

On the other hand you could say ' they have paved paradise and put up a parking lot'

As Joni would say!

[mercuryg]

"imagine the benefit in trade for us all."

 

I'm  not convinced about this Maggie. Dualling the A1 would make it more comfortable for drivers who use it, but would it bring more trade to the region? I can't see much coming our way from Scotland, really? Selfishly, I'd rather it stayed as it is, as I hate the vast expanses of tarmac that crisscross the land everywhere!

[Maggie/915]

There is an argument that decent transport links mean people can travel out of the region/ town.

[mercuryg]

Very true, Maggie; I'm just of the opinion that what is attractive is to the south of here, in terms of commerce.

[Symptoms]

There isn't enough freight traffic currently using the road to warrant an upgrade.  The industrial heart of Jockoland is in the West so most stuff goes up the M6.

[Malcolm Robinson]

Yeah but the capial is in the east Sym and where do the head offices need to be.  

 

Plus the Jocks know they need to be closer to the aspiring, innovative and ambitious NE of England  rather than the NW!  

[Symptoms]

Hang on a minute ... we can't have huge tracts of Northumberland desecrated just because Adam gets stuck behind a tractor towing a slurry trailer.  Yep, the top Jockos might be based in the East but they let the train/plane take the strain;  they're unlikely to drive-up in their chauffeur driven Bentleys in sufficient numbers to warrant destroying the landscape.

[Malcolm Robinson]

Already destroyed.  We are just talking about putting another lane on each side of an existing roadway.  

[mercuryg]

I'm with Symptoms on this one. So there.

[Maggie/915]

Sadly the news is out about how beautiful our county really is, the result is traffic and congestion..

The tractors are contractors who travel huge distances, not just between the odd field.

We need a motorway!

When the railway was constructed between Bakewell and Buxton there was / is an incredible quote on a viaduct in Monsal Dale that the 'Sun-kissed valley was being ruined so any fool could get between the two towns in a short space of time'

Get out and walk the old railway line it is still beautiful.

Our County will still be one of the best place in the World after the construction of a Motorway.

[mercuryg]

"railway was constructed between Bakewell and Buxton..."

 

Know it well.....

 

"Our County will still be one of the best place in the World after the construction of a Motorway"

 

Still can't agree Maggie! I have admitted to selfishness in this, as I hardly drive these days!

[Maggie/915]

What about the pub at Monsal Head.

The tunnel is now open for walkers and cyclists.

We need more of the old railway lines opened up as cycle ways.