Durham County Council is set to commence the final phase of work near Aykley Heads and County Hall o complete the project to improve the city’s active travel infrastructure.

The scheme is being delivered as part of the North East Local Transport Plan, with funding provided through the North East Combined Authority for the latest phase of work.

The project has received £1 million from the government’s Transforming Cities Fund (TCF) to deliver a shared use cycling and pedestrian route from Aykley Heads roundabout to County Hall. This is part of a £2.8m allocation for walking and cycling improvements in Durham City from the TCF.

Cllr Lyndsey Fox, our Cabinet member for economy and partnerships, said:

“The improvements we are delivering are all about enhancing walking and cycling access between key employment sites around Aykley Heads, such as the hospital, Land Registry and council offices; and the train station, city centre and wider walking, wheeling and cycling network around Durham. The improvements will help people traveling between the city, station, and major employment sites to do so safely and without adding to congestion along this busy route.”

The last phase of work involves the stretch of the B6532 between Aykley Heads roundabout and County Hall and aims to upgrade footpaths to support shared pedestrian and cycle use, including widening of existing footpaths.

It also includes upgrades to existing traffic light-controlled crossing points between County Hall and the University Hospital of North Durham and improvements to street lighting.

The work gets underway on Monday 23 June and is expected to last 10 weeks, with a current scheduled end date of 29 August.

This final phase of the work will be carried out with the northbound lane of the B6532 closed in the interests of public safety, and the southbound lane maintained for the duration of activity. A contraflow arrangement will be in place to the north section of the B6532 at Dryburn Road.

(Pic: Durham County Council)