Hopes high for action on gridlock

Backers of the Castle Street scheme say the next few days are critical because of the prospect of a general election and the uncertainty it will create.

Castle Street, the city's busiest road and a vital artery to the docks, has been a priority scheme for years but has been waiting for the final go-ahead by the Government.

Business leaders had feared the scheme was on the verge of being lost, but pressure from behind the scenes, including that of Hull MP Alan Johnson, is credited with keeping the scheme alive.

One source said he expected Transport Secretary Lord Adonis to make the so-called "preferred route" announcement by the end of the week.

Mr Johnson, the Home Secretary and West Hull and Hessle MP, said: "I think we have done as much as we possibly can to ensure that the A63/Castle Street is not just part of the preferred route announcement but that it's made before we go into the general election period and with a realistic prospect of starting on schedule."

Mark Jones, head of economic development and regeneration at Hull city council, said: "We are hopeful and optimistic and we and our partners have been pushing to get the earliest possible preferred route announcement to enable work on preparing the scheme to continue.

"It will be very welcome both from the city council and the numerous partners who have striven for years to secure this key investment in Hull's infrastructure which will allow the progress of city centre regeneration schemes and future growth of the port."

An announcement could include another important scheme for the area, the upgrading the roads to Immingham, the East Coast's busiest port, for the 13,000 vehicles, which include many heavy goods vehicles, which use the route.

The scheme focuses on upgrading the three-mile section of the A160 Humber Road from its junction with the A180 at Brocklesby to the port entrance.

The project was given an extra 30m by the Government in 2008, and last February was confirmed as a priority by the Yorkshire and Humber Assembly, which has allocated 110m to it.

The problem of how to bridge Castle Street to link Hull's waterfront with the city centre has dogged urban planners and transport experts for decades.

Castle Street carries more than 54,000 vehicles a day and is the main route in and out of Hull, linking motorway traffic from the M62 in the west with Alexandra Dock and the ferry terminal at King George Dock in the east.

The Highways Agency has put forward two options for improving traffic flow, controversially rejecting a tunnel scheme and three alternatives including a land bridge.

Of the two options the council prefers the underground option because it would be less physically intrusive and an elevated road would increase the perception that the city was being cut off from the waterfront – an area where millions of pounds of regeneration money is being spent.

A Highways Agency spokeswoman said there was no fixed date for any announcement about the route.

Meanwhile Hull Council is warning of "significant" congestion this weekend in the Spring Bank, Spring Bank West and Princes Avenue area during the final stages of the long-running junction improvement work.

Work will start on removing the old carriageway surface from 8am on Sunday.

From Monday to Wednesday the team will be working from 7pm until about 1am to lay the new surface.

Traffic will be controlled by temporary traffic signals which will inevitably lead to delays.