Failure to dual A1 in Northumberland branded ‘appalling’ after sixth person killed in a month

A BMW collided with a HGV near Causey Park on Monday, June 22. The passenger in the BMW, a woman in her 50s, was pronounced dead at the scene.

It follows two tragic incidents in May that saw five people killed in the space of nine days that reignited calls to upgrade the road to a dual carriageway.

Much of the A1 north of Morpeth is single carriageway despite a decades-long campaign calling on Westminster to carry out the upgrades.

Northumberland County Council leader Glen Sanderson said it was “appalling” that the A1 remained in this way and said the authority would start work on research to make the case for the dualling project.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Coun Sanderson said: “It is another tragedy for relatives and friends. It must be a hellish thing to have to go through. “Our hearts are with everybody involved. It is terrible.

“I will do all I can to try and prevent this. This may well have been avoided had that road been dualled.

“It is not a safe road. It’s absolutely appalling that we still have this ridiculous road, something must be done.

“I can say that instead of just talking about it, the county council is pulling together some officer time to start building a proper business case to the Government about why it is only right that they reconsider the decision to cancel the project.

“The road is simply not able to deal with the level of traffic. Any major road change costs money, but in real terms this is not a huge amount of money to get this job back on the drawing board.”

In Autumn 2024, the current Government scrapped a scheme to dual 13 miles of the road between Morpeth and Ellingham after predicted costs spiralled to more than £500 million. That came after a string of delays in granting the final approval under the Conservative Government, with the green light only coming after a general election had been called.

As well as safety aspects, campaigners also say creating a dual carriageway up to the Scottish border would help boost economic growth.

In relation to this point, Coun Sanderson said: “It would mean that the country recognises Northumberland as a hugely important part of the region.”

The Government committed to carrying out safety improvements along the A1 in Northumberland after the dualling scheme was scrapped. However, further details of this, including timescales, have not yet been revealed.

Some residents have called for lower speed limits and the installation of average speed cameras. However, Coun Sanderson insisted this would not solve the issues.

He added: “It is a ridiculous mix of single and dual carriageways north of Morpeth. It was bad enough 40 years ago, but now it is just absurd.”

The Government has said it had to make “difficult decisions” about a number of road projects due to the “challenging financial picture” inherited from the previous administration. It also said there were a number of projects, including the A1, which the Tories had “failed to fund”.