New Tees Crossing

A New A19 Tees Crossing is one of the key transport priorities for the region and is essential to facilitate growth and jobs.

The main north-south road network in the Tees Valley comprises the A1(M) and A19, both of which form part of the strategic road network managed by Highways England. These key links provide vital connectivity to the rest of the UK.

The A19 Tees Viaduct is the key north-south crossing of the River Tees. This section of the A19 currently carries 106,000 vehicles per day – the parallel A1(M) carries only 43,000 at the point at which it crosses the River Tees, emphasising the importance of this route. The current crossing is a congestion pinch point on the A19 with only 55% of journeys classed as being “on time” by Highways England.

The preferred option for the A19 New Tees Crossing will provide localised widening of the existing viaduct structure to provide three southbound lanes throughout the length of the existing Tees Viaduct between the A1046 and A66 intersections. In addition, it will also provide a new bridge structure to carry local northbound traffic, to the west of the existing Tees Viaduct structure.

The scheme will relieve this bottleneck on the strategic road network, enhance journey time reliability, reduce journey times and improve network resilience. This is critically important in facilitating the growth aspirations of Tees Valley and the north and supporting key strategic sites including Teesworks and Teesport, particularly given the ambition to secure a freeport.

The scheme is well supported by the public and stakeholders. In the consultation 84% of consultees supported the need for additional capacity over the River Tees and 74% favoured the preferred capacity enhancement scheme.

Delivery of a new Tees Crossing will require a significant financial commitment from Government. An Outline Business Case has been submitted to Government and TVCA is awaiting a funding decision. The current programme would see construction start in 2025 and the scheme open to traffic in 2028.

You can still view the public consultation documents in the online Virtual Consultation Room by clicking here.

Our Assurance Framework states we will publish transport business cases on our website for 3 months prior to an investment decision being taken. You can download the Outline Business Case here.

If you have any questions or comments about this project please contact us