We've got a few updates to share with local residents at Newsham, including the opening of the new bridge for the A1061 to cross the Northumberland Line.
Public information event
This event will be held on Tuesday 16 July between 5.30pm and 8pm at Blyth Town Football Club, Sandringham Drive, Blyth Northumberland, NE24 3PS. Please note that there is free parking available at the venue.
At the event, members of the team will be on hand to discuss details of the works and answer any questions you may have about these or the Northumberland Line project more generally. Please note that this is a ‘drop-in’ event to allow people to talk one-to-one with the project team, so there will not be a formal presentation.
Closure of Newsham Level Crossing and opening of new A1061 road bridge
Construction of the new section of the A1061, which includes the new road bridge over the railway line, is continuing. The bridge is due to open on Saturday 27 July, and Newsham Level Crossing will be closed immediately after the bridge is open to traffic. A number of tasks need to be completed to enable the bridge to open, and there is a possibility that this date will change. We will communicate any significant changes through further updates.
Access to Blagdon Drive and the Railway Cottages will be maintained at all times.
Closure of bus stop on A1061
In preparation for the closure of the level crossing and further to our recent letter about traffic management on South Newsham Road to construct the new station car park, the last westbound bus stop on South Newsham Road (please see image below) will be closed and moved to a temporary location just before the existing roundabout between Monday 8 July and Saturday 27 July.
Station opening
As the above update shows, progress is being made on readying Newsham Station for opening.
In order for passengers to be able to start using it at the earliest opportunity, we have decided to initially restrict car parking to the larger eastern car park, which will be accessible via the A1061 (South Newsham Road) from the east. The remainder of the car parking spaces will be under construction, along with the modifications to the highways approaches, until spring 2025 when all parking spaces will be available. An application will be submitted to Northumberland County Council (as the local planning authority) to vary our current planning permission to make this new scheduling possible and allow us to open the line to passengers as soon as possible.
We understand that this change may lead to local concerns about passengers parking on residential streets in the short term. We will be monitoring traffic flow and car park capacity in the area to assess and minimise any adverse impacts.
Newsham signal box
We are also working with Network Rail to confirm next steps for Newsham signal box. Recent surveys have confirmed that it is not structurally sound and, if left, would need extensive ongoing maintenance. This means that it is likely to need to be removed. We will share more information about this as next steps are confirmed.
I thought drivers were supposed to be starting route familiarisation in June. Now it's nearly August. I can't see line opening before October half term at this rate...
Looking forward to the end of the Newsham obstacle course of roundabouts and lumps and bumps this Saturday. But is it really still on schedule? I didn't see much in the way of progress when I drove past at the weekend. Would be good if the bridge does open on Saturday, but given the lack of progress and what in my opinion is a lack of candor about delays I have my doubts. Why is it taking so long to open a bridge that looks to have been largely complete for some time? Was it built wrong?