Morgan Sindall Infrastructure has handed over the A1(M) between Leeming and Barton at its official opening by Secretary of State for Transport, Chris Grayling, on Thursday 17 May.
The £400 million Highways England project, which began in March 2014, has seen this thirteen-mile section of road widened from dual carriageway to a three-lane motorway. Both carriageways were opened to traffic by the end of March, a significant milestone in the wider A1(M) improvement scheme.
The A1(M) improvement scheme has been designed to boost economic growth by providing a safer, continuous motorway-standard route between London and Newcastle. This project follows the A1 Dishforth to Leeming improvement works, which Morgan Sindall Infrastructure began in 2009 and completed in 2012.
In addition to the new motorway, the A1 Leeming to Barton project also required 10 new bridges, four modified bridges and 11 miles of new local access roads to be built. In total, around 600,000 tonnes of road surface was used, 2.8 million cubic metres of earth was moved, and 18 miles of new hedgerows, 28 hectares of new woodland and 14 hectares of new wildflower grassland were planted.
This region is of historical importance, with two Scheduled Ancient Monuments along the route, as well as significant archaeological finds which the team uncovered around the Scotch Corner junction. The project team worked closely with English Heritage to share the finds with the local community.
This is a highly acclaimed project, with over 30 awards being won by the project team over the course of the improvement works. These awards have been in the fields of road safety, innovation, training, and sustainability, from bodies such as the Considerate Constructors Scheme, the British Construction Industry Awards, New Civil Engineer magazine, and Constructing Excellence.
Morgan Sindall’s Infrastructure's managing director Simon Smith said: “The whole A1 Dishforth to Barton scheme has been a real team effort, culminating in this official opening of the Leeming to Barton section.”
Morgan Sindall Infrastructure’s managing director of Highways, Paul Gott, adds: “I’m incredibly proud of the whole team for their sustained efforts and commitment to the end goal, delivering improvements that will benefit the travelling public for many years to come.”
Highways England senior project manager Tom Howard said: “This is great news for the almost 70,000 drivers who already use this section every day and whose journeys will be safer and faster.
“At the same time we’ve also made it easier for local people to access the A1 safely, and we’ve planted miles of hedgerows and acres of woodland.
“This has been the biggest road project in the north and I would like to thank everybody involved in the scheme for their hard work and commitment in making it happen.”