Moor Farm and Seaton Burn roundabout upgrades in Northumberland at risk after being deemed 'poor value for money'

Plans to ‘significantly improve’ the Seaton Burn and Moor Farm roundabouts on the A19 either side of Cramlington have been in the work for years.

A 2016 report on Northumberland’s strategic road network by Highways England – now renamed National Highways – identified the project as a key future improvement based on various assessments.

However, speaking at a meeting of Northumberland County Council, deputy leader Coun Richard Wearmouth warned: “Those junction improvements at Seaton Burn and Moor Farm are something that we have lobbied for, for a long time. They were mentioned in various potential funding announcements.

“National Highways have completed their phase one assessment and have recently told us that all upgrades represent poor value for money. They have stood down their project team.

“The project will be considered in the spending review in due course, but I can’t imagine we will be particularly optimistic about the outcome.”

Cllr Mark Swinburn, who represents the Cramlington Village ward, said: “I find it disgraceful that they have completed Testos Roundabout and the Silverlink Roundabout, but once they get to Northumberland it seems we are not important enough.

“Locally, all users know the huge congestion and the safety issues around those roundabouts.”

A spokesman for National Highways said: “As part of our Stage One (Options Identification) work on the A19 North of Newcastle project, we assessed a number of potential interventions at the Moor Farm and Seaton Burn junctions.

“High-level images showing the layout of these potential interventions have been shared with stakeholders including Northumberland County Council.

“All potential options are appraised against a range of factors including Value for Money (VfM), as well as affordability, deliverability, environment and stakeholder views. We’ve followed the Department for Transport’s Transport Analysis Guidance – which all major highways projects do – and this has concluded that when comparing the cost of the scheme against the potential benefits that all solutions have either a low or poor VfM.

“All National Highways and DfT spend is subject to the Secretary of State’s capital review and the cross-government spending review. This means the status of any scheme can’t be confirmed until those conclude.

“The final decision rests with government.”