Middlesbrough Western Connectivity: Town Centre to Newport Bridge

Closing Date: 28th February 2025

Location: Middlesbrough

Travel

Middlesbrough Town Centre to Newport Bridge

Walking, Wheeling, and Cycling Improvements

Based on further development work Tees Valley Combined Authority, with Middlesbrough Council, have made some further changes to the proposals for Newport Road, with the aim of making walking, wheeling, and cycling safer and more attractive options. 

Have Your Say 

Your responses helped to develop these proposals further, and we want to now show you our latest plans. Please view our plans for Newport Road here.

For an enlarged version of the map, please click here.

Visualisations

For an enlarged version of the visualisation, please click here.

This scheme is due to be implemented in summer 2026.  If you have any remaining questions or feedback about the updated proposals, you can: 

  • Complete this short feedback survey before 28 February 2025
  • Join us at the Newport Community Hub on Saturday 15 February from 11am to 3pm located at St Pauls Rd, Middlesbrough TS1 5NQ
  • Email any questions or comments to: [email protected]
Next Steps  

The plans will be finalised based on further feedback from the survey closing on 28 Feb 2025. Once finalised, Middlesborough Council, in their role as the Highways Authority, will advertise Traffic Regulation Orders later in the spring.  

Additional plans to improve transport plans in Middlesbrough will be coming forward later this year; please sign up to stay up to date.


Newport Road is one of the main access routes for people walking, wheeling, cycling, and taking the bus into Middlesbrough town centre with the bus station being located at the western edge of this route. However, buses are often delayed in this area, and walking, wheeling, and cycling may not be appealing due to the busy road. There is an opportunity to provide bus priority improvements and create better infrastructure for walking, wheeling, and cycling. This will make these travel options more attractive for more people.

Current issues

Many people live and work in Middlesbrough town centre and use Newport Road as an important link into the town centre. We know that buses can often face delays when travelling along Newport Road, which causes long and unreliable journeys. Crossings for pedestrians, wheelchairs or mobility scooters, and cyclists along the route are also limited. There are also fast-moving vehicles which causes safety concerns for people walking, wheeling, and cycling.

We have identified the following transport issues on Newport Road:

  • Buses can travel slowly during busy periods, so bus journeys take more time than they should.
  • Congestion prevents buses from accessing bus lanes.
  • There are limited cycle links, especially between Newport Bridge and Middlesbrough town centre.
  • The busy and wide road could make it difficult for people travelling by foot, wheelchair, or bike to cross.
  • Lots of vehicles turning in and out of side roads, business parks and supermarkets can cause delay to other road users. 

By improving bus, walking, wheeling, and cycling journeys we will empower more people to take the bus; or to walk, wheel, and cycle shorter journeys.

Opportunities

Here are some opportunities that may help address the issues in this area:

  • Introduce measures to give buses priority over other vehicles, such as new or extended bus lanes.
  • Improve the layout of junctions and roads to allow buses to get ahead of vehicles at junctions.
  • Changes to bus stops, so that it is easier for buses to rejoin traffic after stopping.
  • Combine existing bus stops (where they are close together) to improve bus travel time. 
  • Change the layout of junctions along Newport Road to improve traffic flow and safety for all road users.  
  • Implement intelligent traffic management systems to reduce overall congestion and improve traffic flow.
  • Introduce cycle priority measures such as new segregated cycle lanes, creating a continuous route to Middlesbrough town centre.
  • Improve road crossings for walkers, wheelers and cyclists including safer crossings.
  • Improve paths for walking, wheeling, and cycling.
  • Signage to help walkers, wheelers and cyclists know where they are going.
Benefits

These may offer the following benefits:

  • Quicker journey times for buses using priority measures.
  • Buses can bypass waiting traffic.
  • Buses could move through junctions more efficiently and red-light waiting times could reduce.
  • Reduced congestion and queuing could result in more reliable journeys for all vehicles.
  • Joined up and safer walking, wheeling, and cycling paths.
  • Safer walking, wheeling, and cycling crossings.
Impacts

We recognise that there may be some impacts, these could include:

  • Vehicles might need to give way to buses.
  • Existing grass verges may need to be reduced.
  • Cars and other vehicles may have to wait slightly longer at the traffic lights or junctions.
  • The existing carriageway may need to be narrowed to provide space for bus, cycle and walking facilities.
  • May reduce available space for other road users.

Have your say on Middlesbrough Town Centre to Newport Bridge

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Timeline

Stage 1 - Sharing ambitions and vision for transport improvements across Tees Valley. Summer 2023
Stage 2 - Public engagement looking at key issues and opportunities around potential transport solutions. Summer 2024
Stage 3 - Specific consultations after transport plans are further developed with public feedback taken onboard. Spring/Summer 2025

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