Great Yorkshire Way in Doncaster drives forward Yorkshire economy

A major link road, which will cut journey times to Doncaster Sheffield Airport and help to create thousands of new jobs and homes in Doncaster, has officially opened as Great Yorkshire Way.

Planning for the link from the south of Doncaster to Junction 3 of the M18 started over a decade ago as part of the Finningley and Rossington Regeneration Route Scheme (FARRRS).

The three mile long section has now opened and been named to acknowledge its prominence as a prime gateway into Yorkshire and to reflect its importance as a catalyst for transforming the regional economy.

Great Yorkshire Way is already facilitating significant new developments along its corridor including the first two high quality logistics units at the £400m iPort and the first of 1,200 new homes at Torne Park on the regenerated former Rossington Colliery site.

The new link road will also significantly reduce journey times to Doncaster Sheffield Airport, bringing an extra one million potential passengers to within a 60 minute drive.

Great Yorkshire Way is predicted to trigger £1.7b of private sector investment creating 20,000 new jobs and 5,000 new homes. It is also expected to provide a 3% boost to the Sheffield City Region’s economy.

This scheme, project managed by Doncaster Council, has been delivered by a team made from public and private sectors. The partnership between Doncaster Council, Peel Group, Verdion and Harworth Estates plus Mott MacDonald’s design and Carillion’s construction expertise made this £56m road a reality.

The Peel Group, Verdion and Harworth Estates contributed £34m to the scheme to add to £18m of Regional Growth Funding with the balance met by the council. The scheme also received extensive backing from the Sheffield City Region Local Enterprise Partnership, Doncaster Chamber and the business and residential communities.

Work started in October 2013, and six new bridges were built, including an 12 metre high structure to carry the road over the East Coast Main Line with highway embankments built by re-using a million tonnes of material from the old colliery spoil heap.

Mayor of Doncaster, Ros Jones, said: “This is a landmark occasion and the culmination of years of hard work to deliver one of the most important projects ever seen in Doncaster.

“Great Yorkshire Way is not only the gateway to the Sheffield City Region and Yorkshire it is the gateway to unprecedented levels of private sector investment which in turns sees thousands of new jobs and homes created.

“The local and regional economy is being transformed by this infrastructure scheme as many of the expected outcomes are already coming to fruition with the expansion of our fantastic Doncaster Sheffield Airport, the exciting iPort project really starting to take shape and brand new homes being built in Rossington.”

Steve Gill, managing director of Doncaster Sheffield Airport, added: “This is truly a momentous day.

“The opening of The Great Yorkshire Way delivers greatly enhanced connectivity to the Sheffield City region’s airport, placing Doncaster Sheffield Airport within minutes of the UK’s major motorway network and bringing global business closer to Sheffield’s £28bn economy.

“We have already begun to see impressive planned growth as a result of the new road with increased capacity from our incumbent airlines Thomson and Wizz and new airline Aer Lingus and Flybe seeing the potential of flying from the Sheffield City Region.

Peter Nears, strategic planning director, The Peel Group, also commented: “We are proud to have invested more than 160 million in the airport and the opening of the new link road is a tribute to a strong partnership with both the public and private sectors. It is also a symbol of Peel’s wider commitment to the Northern Powerhouse. This gateway to the Sheffield City Region project is truly transformational and the new road will be a huge draw to passengers, business and cargo bringing huge economic benefits to the region.”

Michael Hughes, CEO of Verdion, said: “The opening of the Great Yorkshire Way is a key milestone: the final road link that seal’s iPort’s strategic position in Doncaster, one of the UK’s strongest logistic locations with excellent motorway links and close proximity to the Humber Ports. Seeing is believing, and now we can see the link road open, bringing the scheme that much closer to the Doncaster Sheffield Airport, and our first two speculative units being built, getting closer to completion. In addition, work has now started on the iPort Rail facility, the final piece of the intermodal picture.”

Owen Michaelson, chief executive of Harworth Estates, stated: “Great Yorkshire Way has been a long time coming and I applaud Doncaster Council in getting this delivered. The challenge now is for ourselves, Peel and Verdion to make the most of this fantastic new infrastructure and turn the area into a Northern Powerhouse demonstrator project - delivering thousands of new homes, jobs and supporting export-led growth.”

Nigel Brewster, cice chair of Sheffield City Region Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), said: “This is excellent news for the Sheffield City Region economy and shows global investors that our City Region is an even better place to do business than ever before. The airport link road takes our City Region a step closer to delivering its vision of creating 70,000 new jobs and 6,000 new businesses over the next decade. Crucially, it makes getting into and out of the Sheffield City Region faster and easier for thousands of holiday makers and international business people who live and work here. It has already led to major new flights from Sheffield City Region to some of the biggest airport hubs in Europe including Paris, Berlin and Amsterdam.”

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