Member Article

Second tunnel legal challenges reaches end of road

A legal challenge to the building of a second Tyne tunnel has reached the end of the road. Mr Bryan Atkinson of South Shields brought the legal action in protest at the validity of a study into the impact the £185m crossing would have on the environment. Mr Atkinson’s appeal against his defeat in the High Court in May was this week dismissed at a personal hearing in the Appeal Court. This means that plans to build a second vehicle tunnel under the River Tyne, linking Jarrow and East Howdon, can continue. Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Authority chairman, David Wood, said: “The New Tyne Crossing is vital if we are to attract investment and create jobs in the Tyne and Wear conurbation. Few would argue that it makes any sense to have two miles of single carriageway in a 70 mile stretch of dual carriageway linking the principle areas of population in the North East of England. “The vast majority of people in Tyne and Wear including, most importantly, the majority of the communities that will be directly affected by construction, support the need for the New Tyne Crossing.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .