Sunderland Strategic Transport Corridor (SSTC)
Over the next ten years it is predicted that over 2,500 more vehicles per hour at peak times will be travelling into Sunderland City Centre from across the region and beyond. Whether people wish to travel into Sunderland by car, bus, bicycle or on foot, their route must be properly planned and co-ordinated to make access as easy and as pleasant as possible.
Sunderland City Council and Sunderland arc are working in partnership to deliver the right transport route for the future success of the city. This new transport route will include dedicated footpaths, cycle routes and bus lanes, wherever possible.
The Sunderland Strategic Transport Corridor (SSTC) project will provide a new means of access to development sites in central Sunderland, providing the infrastructure for their ongoing and continued role within the city.
A new river crossing will be constructed, potentially in the form of an iconic bridge spanning the River Wear and serving vehicular, cyclist and pedestrian traffic. This new bridge will provide an exciting new gateway into Sunderland city centre and will help to ease the congestion currently experienced at existing access points.
It is hoped the new bridge will provide an iconic symbol for the city's regeneration aspirations and present the local community with a piece of structural architecture they can feel proud and honoured to call their own.
Following a number of public consultation exercises relating to the location of possible routes and new bridge crossing options, a finalised option has been agreed for the full route. The agreed route begins at the A19 / A1231 intersection, along Wessington Way, across the River Wear via a new bridge crossing at Claxheugh and travelling east towards the Port via land on the southern banks of the River Wear.
Due to the sheer size and scale of the SSTC, the project has been broken up into a number of project phases.
In July 2005 a Major Scheme Business Case for funding of the first phase of the SSTC project was submitted to Department for Transport (DfT).This first phase comprises a bridge over the river Wear springing from the A1231 into the Grove site, together with the highway links each end linking the South side of the bridge to European Way. In July 2006 DfT confirmed that the scheme is an accepted scheme, in principle, for funding. Discussions are continuing with DfT to secure approval for this funding. It is anticipated that the scheme will achieve DfT Programme Entry in summer 2008.
Proposal:
- New road and modifications to existing routes
- Improvements to A19 interchange and Wessington Way
- New iconic bridge over the River Wear
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Proposed Transport Corridor