A busy Middlesbrough road will be temporarily closed from next week as major resurfacing work gets under way.
Sections of Marton Road will be shut to traffic for five hours every evening from today (Monday 5 February) as a fortnight of work to improve the road surface begins.
Diversions will be in place, but residents – including those using The James Cook University Hospital – are being urged to plan their journeys ahead and consider avoiding the area.
Work will take place from 7pm and has been programmed to avoid rush hour traffic on the busy route.
The temporary closures are as follows:
- From Monday 5 February for six nights, a section of Marton Road from the main entrance to The James Cook to just north of Marton Way will be closed between 7.20pm and midnight. The main entrance to the hospital will not be accessible to the public during this time, with diversions in place. Non-emergency vehicles will have to access James Cook via the Roseberry Park entrance.
- From Saturday 10 February, for four nights, the section of Marton Road between Breckon Hill Road and the Borough Road junction close to the town centre will be closed between 7pm and midnight.
- From Tuesday 13 February, for two nights, a short section of Marton Road will be closed near to the junction for Roseberry Park hospital between 7.20pm and midnight.
- On Thursday 15 February, for one night a short section of Marton Road from Egmont Road down to the roundabout at Longlands Road will be closed between 7pm and midnight.
- Then from Friday 16 February, for two nights, a short section of Marton Road – including the Grange Road junction and Fife Street, will be closed between 7pm and midnight.
Middlesbrough Council has worked with the NHS Trusts which run James Cook and Roseberry Park hospitals to develop a traffic management plan for diversion routes during while work is ongoing.
Emergency vehicles will continue to have direct access at all times to the main entrance, as will vehicles carrying members of the public with life threatening injuries or illnesses.
Other visitors to the hospital sites will be able to enter and exit the site by following the diversion routes in place.
Some bus services which use Marton Road will be diverted on an evening while resurfacing work is ongoing.
The service 29 will run via Green Lane, Acklam Road and Ladgate Lane, while the service 63 will run via Longlands and Ormesby Road, during the six nights of works outside the hospital.
Cllr Peter Gavigan, executive member for environment, said: “These resurfacing works are vital to maintain a key route through Middlesbrough and many residents will be happy with the improvements we’re putting in place to upgrade a very busy and well-used road.
“Unfortunately, there’s no perfect time to complete works like this but they have been planned outside the busiest periods of traffic to cause as little disruption as possible.
“We would advise residents to plan their journeys and apologise for any inconvenience.”
For more information, contact Middlesbrough Council.