Closures at busy A19 junction until spring as new cycle and pedestrian crossings installed

The Mandale Interchange off the A19 is seeing new lights installed on slip roads and improved pedestrian and cycle crossings installed in a bid to create a safer link between Thornaby and Acklam.

Middlesbrough Council officials say the intermittent works will last until spring, with overnight road closures of the A19 to allow safe working.

Construction work will take place between Sundays and Fridays between 7.30pm and 6am – with no work on Friday and Saturday nights.

Cash from the Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA) is funding the improvements.

A 5ft parapet is being built at the north of the Interchange to protect cyclists and pedestrians as well as traffic lights off the southbound A19 slip road.

Complaints and irritation about traffic backing up from the interchange has irked leaders in Thornaby for years.

The prospect of more than 1,600 new homes from a country park south of the major junction sparked warnings of gridlock from Thornaby Mayor Steve Walmsley.

But Middlesbrough leaders have pointed to planned wider improvements off the A1130 with future cash from housing developers.

Cllr Walmsley welcomed the cycling links and works as an “acknowledgement” it was a “dangerous interchange”.

But he believed more needed to be done.

The mayor added: “We brought up a better cycle network during talks on Thornaby’s town deal.

“It’s all welcome if it’s coming from the joint authority – that’s OK but we’ve got bigger problems which need sorting out.

“Any time something happens on the A19 or A66, everything is routed through Thornaby – the lot.”

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