OVERNIGHT closures will be in place along a stretch of the A1 near Darlington this week.

The closures, between 8pm to 6am, will allow work to take place on a concrete bridge which carries the A1(M) over at the Barton Interchange (junction 56).

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Beacuase engineers will be working on both the main carriageway and the underside of the bridge, there needs to be a series of overnight full closures of the A1 between junctions 56 (Barton) and 58 (Darlington) and the exit to the A66(M).

Hayden Green, National Highways programme delivery manager said: “Safety is our top priority and it’s extremely important we carry out this essential maintenance work, enhance the structural integrity of the bridge and reduce the need for its future maintenance.

“We understand overnight closures will cause some disruption, so I'd like to thank people for their patience in advance, as our team of engineers will work as quickly and safely as possible to complete the job.”

Closures will take place overnight from Monday to Sunday, November 15 to 21, with signed diversion routes in place.

The northbound carriageway will be closed to traffic on November 15, 16 and 21 where traffic will exit the A1(M) at junction 56 (Barton) and will then be diverted through Barton Village, Blackwell Roundabout and Darlington to re-join A1(M) at junction 59 (Newton Aycliffe).

The southbound carriageway will be closed to traffic on November 17, 18 and 19 where traffic will exit the A1 at junction 59 (Newton Aycliffe) through Darlington, Blackwell Roundabout and Barton Village to re-join the A1(M) at junction 56 (Barton).

The work is part of National Highways’ extensive regional maintenance programme which looks after around 670 miles of motorways and A roads and the scores of bridges it includes across Yorkshire and the North East.

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