BUSINESS leaders have backed calls for urgent road changes before the launch of the £260m second Tyne Tunnel.
The calls follow fears that roundabouts in North and South Tyneside could end up gridlocked unless they are improved to cope with increased traffic flow after the completion of the New Tyne Crossing.
There are fears of huge traffic jams between th
e tunnel and the already badly-congested Silverlink roundabout in North Tyneside.
But improvements to some road junctions are not planned until at least 2016, five years after the second tunnel, linking Jarrow and East Howdon, is due to open.
The North East Chamber of Com-merce (NECC) has highlighted the need for improvements along the A19 corridor.
Ross Smith, the chamber's head of policy, said: "Members believe the full benefit of the new £260m Tyne Tunnel will not be felt unless work to upgrade surrounding roundabouts is progressed quickly.
"The tunnel is due to open in late 2011, but it will be the following year before the first of the junctions will be completed. Others are not yet guaranteed to be included in a set of transport projects to be funded before 2016."
Chamber officials have written to the Highways Agency, pressing it to prioritise the junction upgrades.
Last month, Trevor Jackson, managing director of Tyne Tunnels 2 (TT2), the concessionaire leading the New Tyne Crossing Scheme, told the Gazette: "The danger is that traffic could be backed up all the way from Silverlink to the tunnel."
Mr Jackson is one of hundreds of people who have signed a petition organised by North Tyneside Council, demanding that road changes costing £70m are brought forward.
A Highways Agency spokesman said all road schemes planned had previously been agreed by regional transport bosses.
The full article contains 298 words and appears in Shields Gazette newspaper.
