Stockton Northern Connectivity: Stockton Town Centre to Norton

Norton Road connects Norton Village with Stockton Town Centre. It is a busy route with lots of vehicle movements, bus use, walking, wheeling and cycling. Traffic can be busy at peak times, causing delays for all vehicles including buses. There is an opportunity to make bus journeys more reliable, improve road safety and have dedicated walking, wheeling, and cycling routes away from busy traffic.  We want to make bus journeys, walking, wheeling, and cycling easier between Stockton and Norton.

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

The A139 Norton Road connects Norton Village with Stockton Town Centre, an important destination for work, leisure, and shopping. Along the route there are other important destinations including North Shore Academy, as well as various shops, cafes, food, and retail outlets.​ It is a busy road which also provides an important link to Billingham and the A19. There are lots of conflicting vehicle movements on Norton Road due to side roads and cars parked along the street, which causes frequent congestion resulting in delays for all road users.​ Walking, wheeling, and cycling options are also limited and there are no dedicated cycle lanes along Norton Road, which makes cycling an unappealing option.

The Norton Road corridor was identified in the Tees Valley Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP) as a priority route for investment due to the high potential for journeys to be made by cycle along the route, if improved cycle routes were provided.

In 2021, a consultation was held to gather feedback on how to improve Norton High Street. The proposals included a new one-way system to the southern end, cycle parking, flexible events spaces, and public realm improvements to provide a more pedestrian-friendly environment to support the area’s growing economy. The scheme is part of the Council’s Town Centres Investment Programme, with building work.

We want to complement the planned improvements to the High Street by delivering improvements on Norton Road. This would connect with the proposals for the High Street and help deliver a joined-up network of walking, wheeling, and cycling routes in the area providing better access to opportunity for people living nearby.

Current transport issues between Stockton and Norton

We have identified the following issues between Stockton town centre and Norton:

A139 Norton Road (between Stockton town centre and Norton)

• There is no dedicated cycle route between Stockton town centre and Norton.
• Cyclists can use the part-time bus lanes along part of the route, but this can feel unsafe especially where buses stop and cyclists need to pass.
• Norton Road is very busy and there are lots of side roads with conflicting traffic movements which slows traffic.
• Traffic can often get delayed on Norton Road due to on-street parking for homes, shops, and services.
• Buses get caught in traffic on Norton Road resulting in longer and unreliable journey times.
• Buses often get delayed at the traffic lights at the Norton Road / Norton Avenue junction travelling south bound due to the location of the bus stop and high volume of traffic.
• There are lots of conflicting movements at the Norton Road/ Hills Drive junction that can cause delay to all road users.

A139 Billingham Road

• Parked cars on Billingham Road make it difficult for buses approaching the roundabout.
• No dedicated cycle facilities along the A139 Billingham Road, meaning cyclists have to share road space with cars.

If you think there are other issues along this route, please let us know on the feedback form.

Opportunities

We want to deliver improvements to help improve walking, wheeling, cycling and bus journeys. Here are some opportunities that may help address the transport issues in this area:

• There is an opportunity to provide a continuous route for people walking, wheeling, and cycling.
• Provide new segregated cycle lanes along sections of Norton Road.
• Upgrade crossing facilities and junctions to allow walkers, wheelers, and cyclists to cross the road safely.
• Introduce bus priority over other vehicles, such as more or longer dedicated bus lanes.
• Traffic light systems that give buses priority at junctions.
• We could improve the layout of junctions and roads.
• We could implement intelligent traffic management systems to reduce overall congestion and improve traffic flow.
• Review on-street parking where it is creating issues.
• Review turning movements at side streets to reduce the number of conflicting movements.

Benefits

These may offer the following benefits:

• Safer and more attractive journeys for people walking, wheeling, and cycling between Stockton town centre and Norton.
• Dedicated space for cyclists means they do not need to share road with vehicles, reducing conflicts with other road users.
• Contributes to the delivery of a full and connected network of cycle routes across Stockton.
• Buses can bypass waiting traffic, so they can move ahead more quickly.
• Buses could move through junctions more efficientlyand red-light waiting times could reduce.
• Quicker journey times for buses using priority measures.
• Reduced delay and queuing could result in more reliable journeys for all vehicles.
• Formalised car parking to make it safer and easier to park.
• Fewer conflicting turning movements makes the route safer and reduces congestion.

Impacts

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

• Reduced space for other road users.
• Vehicles might need to give way to buses.
• Cars and other vehicles may have to wait slightly longer at the traffic lights or junctions.
• We may need to review the existing on-street parking.
• We may need to review some turning movements into and out of side roads.

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