A1(M) Darrington Hook Moor

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Scheme Outline

Upgrade of existing two-lane all purpose dual carriageway A1 to three-lane motorway standard, from Darrington (south of M62) to Hook Moor (M1). This is part of the Highways Agency's strategy to upgrade the A1(M) from Doncaster to Barton. The new dual three-lane road will be created off-line and the original A1 narrowed.

Timeline

1961
Doncaster Bypass built and opened as A1(M) between present-day junctions 34 and 38. New upgrade proposals fall short of connecting with the Doncaster bypass by 7 miles at the southern end.
1999
M1 extension at Leeds means upgrade of A1 between Micklefield and Bramham to motorway standard as A1(M), with carriageways up to 6 lanes wide, between junctions 44 to 45.
2002
Department for Transport announces upgrade to A1(M) of remaining all-purpose sections between Darrington and Scotch Corner.

Project Statistics

Cost
Unknown
Finance
Central government/DBFO
Estimated duration of works
2003-2006
Length of new road
14.5km (9 miles)

Progress

Summer 2002
Department for Transport announces planned upgrade.
Spring 2003
Work has started, with boundary fences in place and tree clearance east of the A1.
Summer 2004
Support structures are in place and sliproads marked out around the new M62 interchange, with lane closures in force to complete these works. Work on the A1 in this section is not yet evident.
Autumn 2004
Major excavation and clearance work is well under way and in several places complete along the section of the route south of Hook Moor.
February 2005
Traffic south of Hook Moor is now using the new A1(M) alignment past Micklefield and as far as Ferrybridge. The existing dual carriageway running parallel will be downgraded as above.
April 2005
Much of the new carriageway between Hook Moor and the M62 is being broken up and relaid due to problems with the construction of lower layers of the road surface. It is claimed the mistakes will cost a further £33m to repair, though this cost should be met by the contractor and not the taxpayer. More information is on the Highways Agency's website here.
June 2005
It has been confirmed that all new sections of road from Hook Moor to Darrington will be ripped up and relaid as there are serious problems with the base of the roadbed.
January 2006
Darrington to Hook Moor scheme is complete and open.

More Information

Website
Darrington-Dishforth at www.highways.gov.uk

With thanks to AJ, Nick Lamb, Jonathan Roberts, James Fletcher, Matthew Kilburn, Gerry McKenna, Toby Speight and Thomas Dennison for information on this page.