Highways England will host an exhibition and public drop in session on its plans to increase the capacity of the A1 carriageway near Gateshead.

The proposals come after a recent £61 million project to increase the number of lanes from two to three between Coal House and the Metro Centre at junction 71.

In total, eight miles of extra lanes have been added to the A1, while two new parallel link roads have been created along a stretch of the carriageway between Gateshead Quays and Lobley Hill.

The plans have now been put forward to add more lanes to the current dual carriageway between Coal House (junction 67) and Birtley (junction 65). As part of the scheme, Allerdene Railway Bridge, which carries the A1 over the East Coast railway line, will also be replaced.

Nicola Wilkes, Highways England Project Manager, commented: “These events are a chance for local people to meet the project team, find out more about the proposals and give us their feedback.”

The events will be held over two days:

From 1pm – 8pm at Chowdene Children’s Centre, Waverley Road on Friday, September 9.

From 10am – 4pm at Birtley East Community Primary School, Highfield on Saturday, September 10.

Earlier in the month, a campaigning councillor called for a Buckden bypass as part of the A1 upgrade.

Buckden councillor Terry Hayward welcomed Highways England’s A1 East of England Strategic Study, which calls for major improvements to the key route through Cambridgeshire.

The report says parts of the A1 in the region are amongst the worst performing along its entire length and described sections of its layout as “incoherent”.

Cllr Hayward, who chairs the A1 Safety Group, said: “There is no alternative to a bypass for Buckden otherwise they would have to bash down an awful lot of houses and I can’t see that happening.”