Northallerton’s MP has called a summit to investigate options for resolving the traffic problems caused by the town’s three railway level crossings.
Rishi Sunak has called the meeting to see what could be done to ease the congestion caused by the crossings which can hold up traffic for up to 20 minutes at peak times.
The move follows talks the Richmond MP had with Network Rail managers who revealed that a major upgrade of the crossings is planned in 2021.
The three crossings – at Low Gates, Romanby Road and Boroughbridge Road – are lowered for between three to four minutes a time to allow passenger and freight trains to and from Teesside to pass through the town.
About 40 passenger train services and between 30 and 40 freight services a day pass through Low Gates, the busiest crossing at the north end of the High Street. The barriers are down for about 4.5 hours in every 24.
The Richmond MP said constituents raised the problem with him regularly and he experienced the same frustration travelling between his home in Kirby Sigston and office off Darlington Road
“Since I was elected, people keep asking me what could be done about it,” he said. “I am well aware that this is a longstanding problem and I know there isn’t an easy solution – if there was it would have been implemented.
He said Network Rail’s 2021 £5m upgrade of the three manually operated crossings to fully automated barriers presented an opportunity to look at the wider issues of congestion.
“The purpose of the summit would be to establish what might be feasible and, crucially, an estimate of what the likely costs would be.”
Mr Sunak said that while the building of a bridge over the East Coast mainline and a link between Darlington and Stokesley Roads as part of the North Northallerton development would help, it was not known how big a difference it would make.
He said: “The new bridge and link road – funded by a very welcome £6m from the local enterprise partnership – should improve the flow of north-south traffic through the town and ease the pressure at Low Gates.”
But there was uncertainty about the future level of freight and passenger rail traffic on the Teesside line which could make matters worse, he added.
Virgin East Coast was planning to introduce 12 direct train services between Middlesbrough and London by 2020 and Teesport could be expanded under Government plans to develop the Northern Powerhouse which could lead to a big increase in freight traffic.
Representatives of the three local authorities covering the town – North Yorkshire County, Hambleton District and Northallerton Town councils – and Network Rail have been invited to attend the meeting.
Cllr Carl Les, Leader of North Yorkshire County Council, welcomed the summit. He said: “We are all familiar with the difficulties and the time taken to get in, out or through Northallerton at certain times so I welcome the opportunity to look what options might be available.
“As Rishi says, there are no easy or quick ways to addressing the issue but by bringing all the interested parties together we shall all gain a better understanding of what might be possible and what it might cost.”
Cllr Mark Robson, leader of Hambleton District Council, said he was pleased his authority could contribute, adding: “We are confident that the new £6m bridge and link road to be built as part of the North Northallerton development will make a difference to the problem at Low Gates but we don’t know what the future holds as far as rail traffic volumes are concerned.
“The summit will be useful in exploring what might be done if circumstances warrant it.”
The summit meeting will be held next month (June).