Safety fears over traffic diversion in Morpeth

Works are being carried out on the road off the A197, which runs to newly-built homes on the Saint George estate and the St George's Park mental health hospital, by Linden Homes – the home sales division of Vistry Partnerships North East.

Although people can access the Morpeth NHS Centre car park, a section of the road beyond that is currently closed 24-hours a day. This is for a minimum of 14 weeks from a start date of August 8 after a delay from the original start date in July.

Traffic is being diverted via Cottingwood Lane as a private road that follows from the top of the lane to the hospital site has been opened up.

Northumberland County Council has been working with Vistry and the local authority has suspended all resident parking on Cottingwood Lane for the duration of the works, with alternative nearby locations being offered to resident permit holders affected by the diversion.

But Chris Tudor, one of the Saint George estate residents having to use the diversion, has a number of safety concerns.

He said: “The road we are being diverted down is in very poor condition, with several very wide and deep potholes.

“It is also not wide enough for two cars to pass, which results in all sorts of difficulties with cars going up onto the pavement or having to wait and backing up more traffic.

“When you finally reach the junction with Cottingwood Lane, it gets even narrower and has several blind spots – it is only a matter of time before there is a collision there.

“And to make matters more hazardous, we also have the King Edward VI School there. As soon as they come back from the summer break, anyone who wants to get out for work in the morning will have to deal with the school traffic, which will effectively prevent anyone getting down Cottingwood Lane.

“I agree the road needs to be improved for all the new houses being built here, but it would help us to understand why it has to all be done in one go and why it will take so long.”

A Vistry Partnerships North East spokesman said: “Prior to work starting, we carried out the necessary remedial works on the private road to the north of Cottingwood Lane. This included assessing the road surface and cutting back hedgerows to enhance visibility.

“The road is deemed suitable for the volume of two-way traffic for the duration of the necessary works.

“There is a 20mph speed limit in place and street lighting has been provided along the private road to the north of Cottingwood Lane, with existing lighting columns being repaired where required.”

A county council spokesman said: “It has not been possible to use a traffic light system to manage the works along St George’s access road due to the complexities of the engineering operation.

“Whilst Vistry will be responsible for managing the arrangements along the diversion route including Cottingwood Lane, our Streetworks team will be monitoring and inspecting the diversion route regularly. 

“In addition, we have arranged with Vistry to install additional 20mph repeater signs.”