Mayor admits more money needed to end travel 'nightmare'

FAR more money is needed to end the North East's transport “nightmare” despite a £1.85bn boost, the region's mayor admits.

- By DANIEL HOLLAND

Last week brought the news that the Tyne and Wear Metro will be extended to Washington thanks to confirmation of a major funding settlement from the Government to fund a variety of infrastructure upgrades, with that new line expected to be open by 2033.

But mayor Kim McGuinness said on Tuesday that there was still an “awful lot more to do” to resolve travel headaches across the North East, as she backed calls to revive the dualling of the A1 and improvements to bottleneck roundabouts on the A19. The widening of the A1 in Northumberland and upgrades to the notoriously congested A19 junctions at Moor Farm and Seaton Burn have all been deemed poor value for money by the Government.

Ms McGuinness told a meeting of the North East Combined Authority's (NECA) cabinet that the A1 is an “absolute nightmare” and that the A19 projects were also “completely crucial”, adding that last week's cash injection “cannot be the end of our ambitions”.